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Bill preserves school-district redistricting task force and sets voting-ward work ahead of new districts
Summary
The conference draft keeps a redistricting task force (report due 12/01/2025), requires collaboration with a public- engagement commission, sets average-district-size guidance (approx. 4,000–8,000 ADM), and funds mapping and facilitation supports for implementation.
Conference committee counsel described the bill’s provisions on school-district boundary work and voting-wards planning during the June 13 session. The draft retains a school-district redistricting task force and a separate working group to design voting wards for newly formed school districts.
The redistricting task force is composed of six legislative members (three from the House, three from the Senate) and five nonlegislative members (a mix of former superintendents, school board members or school business managers). The nonlegislative appointments would include two appointees of the Speaker of the House, two appointees of the Committee on Committees (Senate), and one appointee of the governor. Legislative appointees may not all be from the same political party or the same school district. The task force must start meetings on or before Aug. 1 and cease on June 30, 2026, and its final report is due Dec. 1, 2025.
The task force’s charge is to recommend district boundary proposals that, to the extent practical, create school districts with average daily membership (ADM) of approximately 4,000–8,000 pre-K–12 students, are demographically equitable, logistically feasible, and minimize disruption to students. One required boundary proposal must include supervisory unions/districts, permit continuation of the tuitioning system, and avoid splitting geographic areas that contain nonoperating districts.
Separately, a school-district voting-ward working group—composed of the secretary of state, municipal clerk-treasurer association appointees, school boards association appointees and the director of a mapping office—must convene by Oct. 15, 2025, to consult with the redistricting task force and prepare recommended voting-ward configurations and proportional-representation options for newly drawn districts. The draft appropriates $50,000 to the Agency of Administration for facilitation consultants, $100,000 to the Agency of Digital Services for mapping support, $10,000 to the Agency of Administration for nonlegislative compensation/reimbursement, and $10,000 to the General Assembly for legislative reimbursement to support the task force and mapping work.
Committee counsel said the language represents a negotiated compromise that combines house and senate concepts and that staff will continue editing for clarity before the committee signs off. No formal decision or vote occurred during the June 13 discussion.
