Akron school board takes step to restore public comment requirement for redistricting

The Akron Public Schools board took its first step toward reversing an "emergency" decision made last week to remove public comment requirements from its redistricting policy.

The board's legal policy and board contracts committee met Wednesday in a special meeting to start the process of adding back the public comment language.

The policy may end up looking slightly different, committee chair Rene Molenaur said, but the intent is to have multiple ways the public can participate in the redistricting process moving forward.

"Our redistricting policy had several equity initiatives intentionally placed into it," Molenaur said after Wednesday's meeting. "And I would like to see those community initiatives put back."

Last week, the administration asked the board to approve last-minute revisions to the redistricting policy in order to be able to approve the redistricting plan that had been in the works for months.

The plan had already gone through two readings when attorneys for the district recommended it be pulled off the agenda before a third reading. They cited a possible interpretation of the policy that would have required the district to start over again with public notification and three full readings because the plan had changed to include an additional school closure of Robinson Community Learning Center, which became the new home for NIHF STEM High School.

With the need to get redistricting approved quickly to allow students and staff to know their school assignments for next year, and to allow technology and transportation departments to prepare for the fall, the board passed an amended version of the redistricting policy that stripped out the requirements for notification of the public and public comment at meetings about redistricting.

That decision faced scrutiny from community members, including several who mentioned the board is facing a levy request soon and will need the support of the public.

But as part of that vote, the board also pledged to bring the policy back to committee to be revised again. Wednesday's meeting was the first step in fulfilling that pledge.

Molenaur said she also wants to revise the district's bylaws to bring clarity to the process of declaring an "emergency," which is what had to be done last week to pass the redistricting policy without its usual three readings.

It was a short meeting Wednesday, less than 20 minutes, with Molenaur and committee vice chair Barbara Sykes the only board members present, but it was the first required step in the policy revision process. Committee members in one meeting have to decide a policy should go through revisions and then they can place it on the following meeting's agenda for discussion. The next meeting, where it will be discussed more in-depth with the administration, will be April 15.

Molenaur said she wanted to call a special meeting immediately to start the process and show that it was a priority.

"We're fixing it," she said. "We're not going to put it off and forget about it until we're redistricting again. And hopefully, this signals to the community members — especially the ones that are concerned — that we do care, and this is a priority. They are a priority."

Contact education reporter Jennifer Pignolet at jpignolet@thebeaconjournal.com, at 330-996-3216 or on Twitter @JenPignolet.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: APS board revising redistricting policy changed in 'emergency' vote