Sarasota School Board attorney: Redistricting can't target conservative minority

The Sarasota County School Board will begin tweaking district maps Tuesday to ensure each of the five members represents an equal portion of the county's population.

State law requires the process to be completed in an odd year, which means the board has Tuesday's workshop and meeting, along with a workshop and meeting on Dec. 7, to complete the process.

Board members Shirley Brown, Tom Edwards and Jane Goodwin all said they would like to see which redistricting map the Sarasota County Commission adopts, and then use the same map for School Board member districts.

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The only problem is that it would render board member Bridget Ziegler ineligible for re-election in 2022 and Karen Rose ineligible for re-election when her term ends in 2024. They are the only two conservatives on the board.

All three maps currently under consideration by county commissioners, when applied to School Board members, would change Ziegler and Rose's districts.

In addition to longstanding bad blood dividing the School Board, the County Commission's redistricting process has elicited accusations of partisan gerrymandering.

County Commissioner Christian Ziegler, who is married to Bridget, benefits greatly from one of the county's proposed maps, so Edwards found it ironic that a map that helped one Ziegler (Christian) would hurt the other (Bridget).

“Sounds a little crybaby to me ... (any objection) kind of sounds like the pot calling the kettle black,” he said. “All of a sudden it could negatively impact you, and you are crying foul? Those three maps aren't favorable to a lot of people.”

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However, state law does not allow boards to redraw maps to cut a sitting member out of their district, School Board attorney Dan DeLeo said on Thursday.

“I would not let them do that,” he said. “It's not a thing. It's not going to happen.”

DeLeo said he expects only minor changes to the map. School Board members are elected countywide, so the changes will not impact who residents can vote for, but it could change where a board member must live.

Bridget Ziegler said an attempt to draw her and Rose out of their districts would deepen distrust between the community and School Board.

“It's this continuous disregard of what the fallout will be,” she said.

Rose said she had spoken to DeLeo, and he assured her that the board had to follow state law.

“He did give me assurances, so I am counting on him,” Rose said.

On Thursday, Brown said "it would be nice" if the County and School Board's maps lined up. After this story originally published, she said she had meant that in a perfect world the two would align, but she knew that was not feasible, given the implications.

Florida School Boards Association Executive Director Andrea Messina said she advises boards to never draw new lines that would specifically help or hurt any incumbent. She said school boards have multiple factors to consider when approving new lines.

Sometimes boards adopt the same lines as the county commission, to keep things simple for voters. Other times, they will draw lines to ensure elementary schools stay in the same district as the middle and high schools they feed into.

Often, Messina said, School Board districts end up not aligning with county commission because boards have tweaked them over the years to prevent a redistricting from moving someone out of their existing district.

DeLeo said he had brought up the need to redistrict at least six months ago but that the board did not get census data until September. He is confident the board can redraw the lines in time for the Dec. 31 deadline.

Ryan McKinnon covers schools for the Herald-Tribune. Connect with him at [email protected] or on Twitter: @JRMcKinnon. Support the Sarasota Herald-Tribune by subscribing today.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota Schools attorney: Redistricting can't target incumbents