Board of Education Residence Districts - Redistricting Plan Public Hearing, Tuesday Nov 23rd, 7pm

This is a reminder that the Montgomery County Delegation will hold its Montgomery County Board of Education Redistricting Plan Bill Hearing on Tuesday, November 23 at 7:00 p.m. The link to the bill is here. The bill in pdf is here. This is Bill MC 19-22, Montgomery County - Board of Education Residence Districts - Redistricting Plan.

Please click here to sign up to testify at this bill hearing. Further information about the Board of Education Redistricting Plan as well as a link to the different redistricting plan options can be found on the Calendar page of the website.

Please click here to view the Redistricting Plan bill draft. Any individual or group wishing to testify at Montgomery County Delegation public hearings should be aware of the following protocol: The Board of Education Redistricting Plan Bill Hearing will be held virtually. 

If you wish to testify please sign up by 4:00 p.m. on Monday, November 22, the day before the hearing; to sign up please click the above link - or you may e-mail: RStryer@house.state.md.us. 

Those registering later than that may be taken on a "virtual walk-in" basis the day of the hearing at the discretion of the Chair. 

Written testimony is not required, but if you choose to have it distributed, please email it by 4:00 p.m. on Monday, November 22 to RStryer@house.state.md.us to allow time for proper distribution to the Delegation Members. Written testimony will be made publicly available, and the bill number should be clearly indicated in the upper right-hand corner. Individuals will have two minutes in which to speak; representatives of organizations will have three minutes; elected officials will have five minutes. Organizations will be limited to one representative speaking for three minutes. There is no ceding of time. 

Please note that the speaking order is at the discretion of the Chair. This bill hearing will be live-streamed on the Delegation's YouTube page. Further specifics will be provided to those testifying. 

Rebecca Stryer 

Montgomery County Delegation Administrator 

Maryland House of Delegates 

Lowe House Office Building 

6 Bladen Street, Room 219 

Annapolis, MD 21401 

 301-957-6332 

 RStryer@house.state.md.us 

 www.montgomerycountydelegation.com

With the final vote tonight, here’s a timeline of what’s happened in the Howard redistricting process

Almost 10 months to the day after the Howard County Board of Education charged the superintendent to embark on a comprehensive redistricting process, the final vote to move 5,320 students for next September is today.

On Monday, the school board took three straw votes to move a total of 5,320 students; however, the final number of students affected will change because rising juniors being grandfathered was not factored in at the time of the straw vote. The school board’s plan currently looks to move 2,827 elementary, 486 middle and 2,007 high school students...

https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/howard/cng-ho-redistricting-timeline-20191007-4vofm7bchbh33kjtgq6ccnuqzq-story.html

Berthiaume will not Run for Re-election

Parents' Coalition has learned that Board of Education Member Laura Berthiaume (District 2), who lives in Rockville, will not run for re-election. Readers of this blog know her original district was carved into different districts by the Board of Education in the recent redistricting. The Board approved the overall redistricting plan unanimously. That redistricting plan was then approved by the General Assembly in Annapolis. More to follow...

Redistricting Petition Directed at Montgomery County Delegation

Support the Amendment to Congressional Redistricting Bill SB1

SB1 as passed by the Senate is unfair to Montgomery County residents, especially those living in diverse East County neighborhoods like Silver Spring. These neighborhoods will be placed into an oddly shaped congressional district that stretches to areas north of Baltimore City. An alternative is available that is fairer and will allow more Montgomery County residents to keep the same local congressional representation that they depend on. I look forward to your response.


http://www.change.org/petitions/the-governor-of-md-support-the-amendment-to-congressional-redistricting-bill-sb1

Listen to the Maryland General Assembly

Click Here for Audio of current and past House and Senate proceedings in Annapolis.

MD Redistricting -- Quick! Six days to comment

Redistricting of our federal legislative districts has come to Maryland. Just a few days ago, on October 4th, the Governor's Redistricting Advisory Committee made public their plans and maps for our newly drawn districts. So, quick! You the citizen have all of 6 days to comment on the proposed districts.

According to the Maryland State Department of Plannning -Redistricting,

The plan is open for public comment through October 11, 2011. Comments may be sent by email (Redistricting2011@mdp.state.md.us), via hard-copy (Redistricting 2011; Maryland Department of Planning; 11th Floor; 301 W. Preston St,; Baltimore, MD 21201; ATTN: Linda Janey) or submitted on-line.

According to the state Department of Planning, Districts 4, 5, 6 and 8 will be redrawn.

Greater Washington, D.C. Region

"Over the past decade, there has been a clear expansion of what has commonly been considered the "Washington suburbs," a trend that is reflected in the proposed map. This expansion has been spearheaded by the migration of nearly 40,000 Prince George's County residents to Charles County and the migration of over 43,000 Montgomery residents to Frederick County.

In revising Districts 4, 5, 6 and 8, the Committee drew 2 districts that are based in Southern Maryland/Prince George's County, and two districts that are based in Montgomery County and the I-270 Corridor, into Western Maryland.
Public testimony in these regions reflected a desire to have a Congressional map that better reflected patterns in this region – the growth in Southern Maryland from Prince George's County, and the growth of the suburbs along I-270. The proposed map eliminated the current overlap of districts in Prince George's and Montgomery Counties (District 8 into Prince George's and District 4 into Montgomery) to better capture what is occurring in the State.

Congressional Districts 6 and 8 are drawn to reflect the North-South
connections between Montgomery County, the I-270 Corridor, and western portions
of the State. All three western Maryland counties, Washington, Allegany and
Garrett, were kept together.

Consistent with public testimony, the proposed map reduces the number of Congressional Districts in Prince George's County from 3 to 2, and re-orients the Montgomery County districts to reflect population trends."

Go here to look at the proposed map and to comment on the map. And hurry! The state has given you 6 days to comment.

Hearing on Board of Education Redistricting Plan

The following hearing has been added to the Montgomery County Delegation 2011 fall calendar and has been posted to the Delegation website calendar page:

Thursday, September 15, 2011:

Joint House & Senate Hearing on Proposed Montgomery County Board of Education Redistricting Plan

4:00 p.m. - 3rd Floor Hearing Room, Stella Werner Council Office Bldg., 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD 20850

Please see below for details and a link to the Board's resolution, which includes the options and maps.

Click here to sign up to testify (after clicking this link, choose "Bill Hearing" to sign up)

Board of Education Redistricting

In Montgomery County, a Board of Education district means a geographic area in which an elected member of the Board must live. In Montgomery County there are five resident-district members and two at-large members of the Board; however, all Board members are elected by the county as a whole. 

According to Maryland state law, the five Montgomery County Board of Education residency districts must be redrawn after each decennial (10 year) census to make sure that the districts  are “substantially equal in population”. The 2010 Census revealed that over the last decade, the population of Montgomery County increased 11.3 percent and that the boundaries of the five Board of Education districts needed to be redrawn.  The Maryland General Assembly, at the request of the Montgomery County Delegation, must enact legislation during the upcoming 2011 special session to redraw the districts so that they can be in place for the April 2012 primary and November 2012 general elections.  

On August 24, 2011 the Board unanimously voted to approve a RESOLUTION to recommend a redistricting plan to the Montgomery County Delegation that both establishes districts substantially equal in population and allows for anticipated growth.   

The Board of Education has forwarded its recommendation to the Montgomery County Delegation. The Delegation will develop a local bill and has scheduled this hearing.