Districts on the line following changes in 2010 census figures

The Beaufort County Board of Education may face changes in the way its members are elected, depending on any population changes in the county uncovered by the 2010 census.

To help it determine what changes, if any, are needed, the board Tuesday unanimously approved a contract with Tharrington Smith, LLP, a Raleigh law firm that has represented it in other legal matters, to lead a possible school-board redistricting effort.

Under the terms of the contract, the board will pay Tharrington Smith $12,500 to develop three alternative plans under which board members will be elected for the next 10 years, beginning with the 2012 election.

Tharrington Smith will submit any redistricting plan for preclearance by the U.S. Justice Department, as required under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

If after reviewing the results of the 2010 census, the law firm determines that no redistricting is needed, the board will be charged the firm’s $250 hourly rate plus any mileage charges incurred, Beaufort County Schools Superintendent Don Phipps recently told a board committee charged with overseeing building and finance issues.

Some local elections observers have told the Washington Daily News that with the creation of new neighborhoods on the south side of the Pamlico River in the past decade, the population has shifted in the county enough to require the board to reconfigure its districts.

With five board members up for re-election in 2012, the board will have to work quickly to ensure that new districts are in place in time for the coming election cycle.

“The clock is ticking,” Kellie Harris Hopkins, director of the Beaufort County Board of Elections, said in a recent interview.

Just as it is the responsibility of the members of the N.C. General Assembly to draw their districts, the local school board is responsible for drawing its members’ districts.

The legislation that merged the City of Washington school board and Beaufort County school board in 1993 called for board members to be elected to alternating four-year terms from nine districts across the county, Hopkins said.

Three of the nine districts were designated as majority minority districts, meaning there is a strong likelihood the board members elected to represent those districts would be members of a minority group, she said.

Based on Beaufort County’s estimated population, each school-board district should have about 5,000 residents, she said.

Election laws allow a 5-percent variance in those population figures, she said.

So, for example, if District 4 — which includes much of Chocowinity and Cypress Landing — has seen a population surge in the past 10 years, some of that district’s population would have to be moved to another district.

Election-related changes in Beaufort County must be submitted to the U.S. Justice Department under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and its subsequent extensions and amendments. The act requires 40 North Carolina counties with a history of racial discrimination to get prior approval for any elections changes.

Generally, Justice Department approval takes about 60 days, Hopkins said.

In other business, the board:

• Voted 7-1 to name the gymnasium at Washington High School after former WHS basketball coach Dave Smith. Board Chairman Robert Belcher cast the sole dissenting vote. In an interview after the meeting, Belcher praised Smith’s coaching career, but said he disapproved naming any school buildings or property after individuals.
• Voted unanimously to approve personnel changes that include transferring S.W. Snowden Elementary School Principal Virginia Simmons to the position of director of Pathways at the Ed Tech Center effective July 1. Simmons replaces Patricia Horton in that post. Other changes include the appointment of Jeremiah Jackson to the post of Horizons director effective July 1.
• Voted unanimously to continue student athletic insurance coverage with American Advantage Insurance Co.
• Voted unanimously to approve the installation of new traffic directional signs at Eastern Elementary School. The signs will be donated by Sign Smith.
• Voted unanimously to approve field trips that include requests from Northside and Washington high schools to attend a Future Business Leaders of America National Leadership Conference in Orlando, Fla., a request from Southside High School students to attend a cheerleading camp in Chapel Hill and a request from Chocowinity Middle School students to attend a cheerleading camp in Raleigh.

Board member Cindy Winstead was absent from the meeting.