Trustees Hold Public Hearing on Member District Boundaries

RISD Trustees outlined some specifics of the pending changes to the makeup of the board at a public meeting Tuesday night.

Earlier in January, the board voted to transition to a hybrid single-member structure from a fully at large composition. In the next election cycle, the RISD Board will take its first steps toward an eventual composition of five trustees from single-member districts and two at large representatives.

The change is part of the settlement of a lawsuit brought by former trustee David Tyson regarding the way board members are elected.

RISD Board President Justin Bono has called the settlement and decision to change the electoral process a win for educational equity across the district.

“This process was exhaustive, and our board put forth a collaborative and thoughtful effort to resolve the issues,” Bono said. “Since we worked with the plaintiff to achieve a resolution, we were able to craft a hybrid single-member district plan that keeps two members elected at large with five members elected from within smaller geographic areas. Our board members want more diversity at the decision table. We are optimistic that can be achieved with a new electoral plan. Hopefully, this system will result in successful elections for minority candidates.”

The decision to move to a hybrid system necessitates the drawing of board member district boundaries. But the board stressed that there is no perfect map. While some elementary school attendance zones are in different board districts under the proposed new configuration, the feeder patterns for all schools remain intact.

At its regularly scheduled monthly meeting on Monday, Feb. 4, the board is expected to vote on final board member district boundaries and request the federal court approve postponing the May election until November to accommodate the change to a single-member structure. Trustees anticipate court approval in advance of Feb. 15, which provides enough time to delay the May election, but the board and administration will be ready to hold a spring vote in the unlikely event the federal court doesn’t approve the request.

The move to a single-member district also comes with hard deadlines in 2019. Upon federal court approval of the request to move the election to November, the RISD trustees have until Aug. 7 to finalize the transition plan.

Potential candidates for a November trustee election must file to be on the ballot between July 20 and Aug. 19.

Public feedback is a critical part of the process. Stakeholders are encouraged to submit comments and questions through the website dedicated to this change in board structure.

The map, along with video and information from the public hearing, is available in the Resources section of the Board Member Districts website.