Wenatchee School Board Opts to Pursue a 4-and-1 Redistricting Model

The Wenatchee School Board is close to adopting a district map for its members after the board approved a shift from five at-large districts to four director districts and one at-large position.

After the board earlier in the month found that at-large elections can be discriminatory to minority groups, which could leave the district open to a lawsuit, the board's only real choice was between three or four director districts.

Board Member Julie Norton took issue with the fact that the board can only use data from the 2020 Census to create their districts instead of more advanced demographic information the district paid for.

"The census data doesn't reflect the 400 or so new homes being built out in Sunnyslope, or the 300 homes being built out on 5th Street, or the apartment complexes, particularly in town," Norton said.

A public hearing will soon be scheduled for the community to weigh in on the plan. If the new district map gets the board's final approval before this November, then all five of the school board's seats will go up for election in 2023.

The proposed 4-and-1 plan would include a Hispanic-majority district, something the 3-and-2 plan did not.