Board of Education redistricting committee is appointed
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on August 9, 2017 9:58 AM
Wayne County Board of Education Chairman Arnold Flowers has chosen three board members to serve on the newly formed redistricting committee, a day after the committee's formation.
Board member Rick Pridgen will serve as chairman of the committee, and will be joined by members Raymond Smith Jr. and Jennifer Strickland. The three of them will be tasked with working alongside Wayne County Public Schools leadership to determine ways to move forward on redistricting, which will then come before the full board.
The board voted to create the committee in a split 4-3 vote Monday night, with one of the "yes" votes only coming from an accidental abstention from board member Patricia Burden. Flowers said the divided vote caught him off guard.
"To tell you the truth, I didn't expect the board to be so divided on the issue," he said. "I expected it would just roll right on to the full board, and that's why I wasn't so prepared to make the appointment right there."
Flowers said he chose Pridgen to be the board chair because of Pridgen's experience. Pridgen has served on the board since 2002, over twice as long as any other board member.
"Mr. Pridgen is the senior member of the board, and he has some experience with redistricting," Flowers said. "I stopped by his office earlier today and spoke to him about it, and he agreed."
As for the other members, Flowers said every board member had been engaged during the discussion. He chose Smith and Strickland, he said, because of they are "young and energetic" and because they both have children in the school system.
It was unclear when the committee's first meeting will be, or when they will be expected to bring something back to the board. Pridgen could not be reached for comment as of press time.