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[1.01 Call to Order]

[00:00:03]

OKAY. I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD AND ORDER THIS SPECIAL MEETING OF THE FERNDALE SCHOOL BOARD.

THIS IS A PUBLIC HEARING IN REGARDS TO THE REDISTRICTING.

AND SO THE FIRST ITEM ON THE AGENDA FOR US.

WELL, FIRST, LET ME EXPLAIN TO THOSE THAT ARE WATCHING AND OR STREAMING.

WE'VE GOT A COUPLE OF BOARD MEMBERS WHO WILL BE JOINING US.

WE'VE GOT JESSIE WHO IS ON [INAUDIBLE] SPEAKERPHONE.

AND PEGGY WILL BE JOINING US VIA ZOOM HERE SHORTLY.

THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO MEET WITH US IN PERSON AND SO IN ORDER FOR US TO HAVE A QUORUM, WE NEEDED TO HAVE THEM JOIN BY ELECTRONIC MEANS.

AND SO THOSE WHO ARE WATCHING.

YOU'VE GOT MELINDA AND MY SMILING FACES, AND THE REST WE'LL HEAR BY VOICE.

SO, AGAIN, THIS IS A SPECIAL MEETING, THE PUBLIC HEARING IN REGARDS TO REDISTRICTING.

[2.01 Adopt Agenda]

AND SO THE FIRST ITEM ON OUR AGENDA WITH THAT IS TO ADOPT THE AGENDA.

AND SO IF I CAN GET A MOTION TO THAT EFFECT AND WE CAN ADOPT THE AGENDA AND MOVE FORWARD.

I WOULD MAKE A MOTION TO ADOPT THE AGENDA AS WRITTEN.

IT HAS BEEN MOVED TO ADOPT THE AGENDA AS WRITTEN.

ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE, AYE.

OK IT PASSES.

SO THAT TAKES US ON TO ITEM 3.01, WHICH IS TO RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE PROPOSED DIRECTOR DISTRICT CHANGES.

AND SO I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S ANYTHING THAT WE NEED TO SAY OR IF WE JUST NEED TO WAIT FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.

[INAUDIBLE] I'M GLAD WE ASKED BOB SCHWEITZER FROM SAMMAMISH DATA SYSTEMS TO JOIN US IN CASE THERE WERE QUESTIONS OR ANYTHING CAME UP. SO WE'VE GOT BOB ON THE LINE IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PROCESS WE TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT IN A COUPLE OF MEETINGS AGO.

BUT IT'S UNUSUAL.

WE ONLY DO IT EVERY TEN YEARS.

IS THAT RIGHT, BOB? AFTER THE CENSUS.

SO IT'S VERY INFREQUENT ACTIVITY THAT WE ENGAGE IN.

AND IT LOOKED LIKE IN REVIEWING THOSE CHANGES AND COMPARING THE TWO MAPS, THE CHANGES WERE FAIRLY MINOR.

WE JUST KIND OF MOVED A LITTLE HERE AND A LITTLE THERE, AND I ASSUME THAT'S JUST AN EVEN OUT POPULATION WITHIN THE DISTRICT.

DO YOU WANT TO JUMP IN ON KIND OF THE INTENT AND THE AND THE PROCESS [INAUDIBLE] SUMMARY LEVEL? SURE. ARE YOU ABLE TO HEAR ME JUST FINE? YES. YEP. EXCELLENT.

YEAH. THE YOU DID HAVE SOME GROWTH THROUGHOUT FROM THE LAST TEN YEARS, BUT NOT A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF GROWTH. THE DIRECTOR DISTRICTS YOUR GREATEST DEVIATIONS WAS A NEGATIVE 640 IN THE FIRST AND A POSITIVE 611 IN THE SECOND.

SO THE ONLY THE THIRD DISTRICT DID NOT NEED TO CHANGE MUCH.

WE'RE TALKING PLUS 414 FOR THE 5TH AND NEGATIVE 355 FOR THE FOURTH DISTRICT.

SO YEAH, RELATIVELY MINIMAL AMOUNT OF CHANGES WERE WERE NECESSARY TO JUST DO THE COME UP WITH THIS PROPOSED PLAN.

I BELIEVE PAGE NINE OF THE PROPOSED PLAN SHOWS THE THE OLD DISTRICT BOUNDARY LINES AND A WIDE GREEN TO THE TO THE NEW PROPOSED REDISTRICTING PLAN THAT I'M SUGGESTING.

YEAH, I DID I DID GO WITH THE COURSE OF ABSOLUTE MINIMAL CHANGES NECESSARY TO GET THE TO THE MOVEMENT OF THESE LINES.

THE LESS YOU MOVE THE LINES, THE LESS IT APPEARS TO BE GERRYMANDERING.

AND GERRYMANDERING IS ONE OF THOSE.

YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO SAY WORDS.

SO THAT WAS THE COURSE OF ACTION THERE.

SO LITTLE BITS HERE, A LITTLE BITS THERE.

ONE OF THE THINGS THEY DID TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION WAS THE THE PHYSICAL ADDRESSES OF THE BOARD MEMBERS, OF COURSE, DIDN'T WANT TO REMOVE ANY MEMBERS FROM THEIR DISTRICTS.

AND THE REDISTRICTING LAW SAYS THAT I SHOULD BE.

I SHOULD COME UP WITH A REDISTRICTING PLAN THAT NEITHER FAVORS NOR DISFAVOR AS A POLITICAL PARTY OR RACIAL GROUP.

[00:05:05]

SO FROM THAT ASPECT, MY INTENTIONALLY NOT DIS FAVORING ANY OF YOU IS IS GIVING YOU ALL EQUAL TREATMENT.

SO HOPEFULLY EVERYONE FALLS VERY NEATLY IN THEIR, IN THEIR CURRENT DIRECTORY DISTRICT AND THAT I DIDN'T ACCIDENTALLY THROW ANYONE OUT OF OFFICE.

I GET A BAD RAP IF I DO THAT ON ACCIDENT.

GO AHEAD. NO, I WAS JUST GOING TO SAY UNDERSTANDABLE.

THE OTHER THING I'LL JUST MENTION, FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT ARE EITHER WATCHING ONLINE OR OUT IN THE STUDIO AUDIENCE, THESE MAPS THAT WE ARE REFERRING TO ARE ON BOARD DOCS.

AND SO IF YOU WANT TO BE LOOKING AT THEM AND COMPARING THEM AND SEEING THOSE CHANGES, THEY ARE THERE FOR YOUR PERUSAL AS WELL.

I HAVE BEEN SLOWLY WAITING FOR MY INTERNET TO CATCH UP, AND IT'S NOT CATCHING UP.

BUT I DID HAVE A QUESTION WITH THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF OUR STUDENTS, ABOUT 52% WHITE, 20% HISPANIC, 9% NATIVE AMERICAN.

I DIDN'T DO THE MATH WHEN I WAS LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS ON ONE OF THE PAGES THAT'S IN THERE.

THEY SAID THE DISTRICT, DIFFERENT DISTRICTS AND WHAT THEIR DEMOGRAPHICS WERE THERE.

IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, WHITE WAS MORE THAN 50% IN EVERY DISTRICT.

IS THAT CORRECT? CORRECT.

BUT YOU ALSO HAVE THE THIRD DIRECTOR DISTRICT THAT HAS A MAJORITY OF THE THIRD DISTRICT HAS THE MAJORITY OF NONWHITE AND MIXED RACE.

SO IT'S SLIGHTLY LESS THAN 50% IN THE 3RD.

YOU'RE ONE DIRECTOR DISTRICT THAT NEEDED TO CHANGE THE LEAST IS IS A MINORITY DISTRICT.

I THINK AND I RECOGNIZE AND LOOKING AT THE DIFFERENT DISTRICTS, IT'S NOT LIKE THERE'S ANY WAY THAT YOU CHANGE THAT SORT OF THING.

BUT I THINK THINKING ABOUT WHO OUR STUDENTS ARE AND WHAT OUR DEMOGRAPHIC MAKEUP IS OF OUR STUDENTS, IT LOOKS TO ME LIKE IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT.

IT'S NOT DIFFICULT.

I THINK WE NEED TO HAVE AN INTENTION TO WORK TOWARD A BOARD THAT IS REPRESENTATIVE OF OUR STUDENTS, I GUESS.

WELL, IN THE CASE OF THE THIRD DISTRICT, I ACTUALLY INCREASED THE MINORITY COUNT EVER SO SLIGHTLY BY APPROXIMATELY TEN NON-WHITES AND OF MIXED RACE.

OH, I. I'M SORRY.

I DIDN'T MEAN TO PUT THAT ONUS ONTO YOU.

IT WAS MORE OF AN ONUS ONTO THE PUBLIC AND THE VOTING PUBLIC AND WHO RUNS FOR OFFICE AND THAT SORT OF THING.

I THINK IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE AS A COMMUNITY HOPEFULLY CAN PAY ATTENTION TO.

JUST A COMMENT. WELL, THE GOOD NEWS IS THERE IS NO APPEARANCE OF ANY KIND OF HACKING GOING ON EITHER.

NOT AT ALL. NO. IT DOES SEEM, THOUGH, LIKE WITH OUR TOTAL IN THE DISTRICT IS 32,443 AND THE WHITE TOTAL IS 25,364.

THAT'S WHAT ABOUT 65 OR SO PERCENT.

SO OUR CHILDREN ARE MORE DIVERSE THAN THE GENERAL POPULATION.

IS THAT RIGHT? I DON'T KNOW THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF YOUR CHILDREN.

THAT WAS NOT SOMETHING I ACTUALLY LOOKED AT.

YEAH, I THINK YOU'RE CORRECT.

AGAIN, IT'S [INAUDIBLE] NOT THAT THE DISTRICT MAP WOULD DO ANYTHING ABOUT THAT.

AND WE WANT TO GO WITH FACTS.

BUT I THINK IT'S SOMETHING FOR US AS ADULTS, AS VOTERS TO REMEMBER.

I THINK IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT TO POINT OUT THAT WHILE THE DIRECTORS ARE COME FROM THOSE DIFFERENT DISTRICTS, WE REPRESENT THE WHOLE DISTRICT AND THE WHOLE DISTRICT VOTES ON EVERY DIRECTOR, NOT JUST IN DISTRICT, BUT WITHIN YOUR DISTRICT.

YEAH. THE ONLY TIME IT'S IMPORTANT WHERE YOU LIVE IS WHEN YOU RUN FOR OFFICE.

OKAY. SO WITH THIS AS FAR AS.

CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, THAT IF WE HAVE NO PUBLIC COMMENT, THEN WE CAN GO AHEAD AND CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING AND THEN WE

[00:10:09]

CAN MOVE ON TO OUR NEXT MEETING.

SO SEEING NO ADDITIONAL PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE HEARING.

SO SEEING NO FURTHER COMMENT FOR THE PUBLIC HEARING IN REGARDS TO THE REDISTRICTING.

WE'LL GO AHEAD AND CLOSE THIS MEETING.

* This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.