Adjustments to the five districts that comprise the Tate County School District were presented at a public hearing Tuesday, Aug. 9.
Every decade after census data is released, counties, municipalities and school districts review changes to their population to ensure they have equally populated districts. Any deviation over 10% triggers the process of redistricting.
In Tate County School District’s case, the deviation was 23.2%. The proposed changes do not affect where students who reside in the Tate County School District attend school. The numbers are used instead to balance the population in each of the five districts represented by school board members.
With a total population of 17,730, each of the five districts has an ideal population of 3,546. Census data revealed Districts 1, 3, and 5 were overpopulated, and Districts 2 and 4 were under the ideal population.
Ben Smith, a consultant with Elliott & Britt Engineering, said data revealed the biggest changes from 2010 through 2020 occurred in District 1 which added 472 people for a total deviation of 13%. District 2 had a population dip of 351 residents for a deviation of 9.9%.
The major changes in redistricting came on the extreme east and west sides of Tate County. A section including the Evansville community in the western portion of the county was moved from District 1 to District 2, while territory east of Wyatte was changed from District 5 to District 4.
The proposal was not approved at the conclusion of the public hearing and tabled until the September meeting after Martha Jeffries, District 2 representative on the Tate County school board, requested more details on which specific areas will be added to her district.
