Glendale school board adopts ‘G2’ map, officially setting voting districts
The Glendale School Board voted 5-0 to adopt a map Tuesday night representing the school district’s five new voting districts in a move that comes after a months-long process in which the board considered several maps after gathering community input about how the districts should be drawn.
The switch from Glendale Unified’s current at-large system in which members are elected to the school board regardless of where they live in Glendale to a district-based one was a change the board was forced to make as part of a lawsuit settlement.
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Malibu attorney Kevin Shenkman filed the lawsuit against Glendale Unified in April 2015, alleging the school district violated the California Voting Rights Act.
The lawsuit was filed against the school district 10 days after local voters did not support Measure E, which would have paved the way for Glendale Unified to transition to a voting-district system. Prior to the lawsuit, Glendale Unified had been forced to conduct at-large elections under the rules of the city’s charter.
As part of the settlement, the school board was required to host a series of public meetings and hearings to weigh input from the community about how the new voting districts should be mapped out.
Those meetings began in March and culminated Tuesday as the board passed a resolution to adopt the map labeled “G2.”
According to the map, District A encompasses the Crescenta Valley and Montrose, while District B is made up of the northwest portion of Glendale.
District C includes the Verdugo Woodlands neighborhood, and District D consists of the Glenoaks Canyon and Adams Hill neighborhoods.
District E covers portions of south and southwest Glendale, including the traditional school attendance zones for Columbus, Edison Cerritos and Franklin elementary schools.
Board members passed the resolution with little discussion.
“It’s a good one,” said school board member Nayiri Nahabedian of the map. “I think it’s fair. It’s reasonable. I support it.”
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Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
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