Laurel group continues to seek at-large voting
Though the Laurel Highlands School Board rebuffed its efforts, the group of citizens seeking at-large school board elections starting with the 2005 primary and general elections remains committed to the task, and has plans to petition the court to resolve the issue. “We keep getting a lot of interest from people asking about our progress,” said Bill Elias, a former LH teacher and administrator and member of the Laurel Highlands Committee for Better Schools.
The committee has contacted the Mount Pleasant law firm of Echard & Snyder about taking their case. The firm is currently working on a similar case in an Armstrong County school district, Elias said.
Members of the committee presented a petition with more than 1,100 signatures to the school board in September, asking that the school district residents elect school board members on an at-large basis rather than the current regional system.
A motion was made at the September board meeting to start at-large voting in 2005, but the motion died for lack of a second. In October, a majority of the board members agreed to let the committee petition the court and not take up the issue at the board level, because they felt the matter would end up there whether they took action or not.
Depending on where a person lives, he or she can only vote for three of the nine seats on the school board, according to the regional system. In at-large voting, all district residents would have an opportunity to vote for the people they wanted in all nine seats.
Four seats on the school board are open in 2005, with the remaining five to come open in 2007. Laurel Highlands is the only school district in Fayette County that still elects school directors regionally.
Judy Browell, committee member and former school director, said an early investigation determined that the “one man, one vote” representation issue would not work in the district because its voting population has deviated less than 10 percent.
However, Browell said a provision exists in the Pennsylvania School Code that allows the committee to continue its pursuit of at-large voting.
The committee has already received some monetary donations to advance its efforts, but members estimate it will take between $2,500 and $5,000 just to get started.
“Once we get started, we’re going to carry it through,” Browell said. “People in this district should have the right to elect all their school directors, not just three.”