2021 City of Los Angeles  - LAUSD Redistricting Commission

PURPOSE

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Redistricting Commission is responsible for redrawing LAUSD’s School Board Member (Board of Education) district boundaries based upon census data and informed by community input and understanding of critical communities of interest. Commissioners recognize that their decisions will have significant and long-term impacts on students, families and communities and therefore will strive to: 

• Create transparent, inviting and accessible processes that encourage robust participation by parents, students, teachers, school employees and other stakeholders.
• Promote public understanding of the impact of Commission’s decisions and the data and tools that will inform these decisions.
• Create a process that centers students, families, and communities and that takes extra care to uplift the voices and concerns of those that are historically underserved and underrepresented.
• Maintain communities of interest as much as possible while also ensuring fair and balanced representation of LAUSD’s diverse communities and their interests.
• Make decisions that are data-driven, promote equity, and embrace the District’s rich diversity.

 

VALUES 

The following values guide our conduct and make our actions worthy of the public’s trust: 

Invest in Transparency

We operate in ways that are open, accessible, understood and welcomes public engagement.  We are transparent when:

• The public understands the scope of the Commission’s work, the limitations of its reach, and the impact that boundaries can have on the quality of a student’s educational experience.
• Commission’s procedures and systems are easily available for review and comment.
• Information and data that inform decisions are available to the public in accessible, understandable formats that allow for public comment.

Listen and Learn  

We approach our work as a shared learning opportunity, recognizing that personal knowledge is limited, and the strongest decisions are made when we listen to and learn from one another and the public. We listen and learn when we:

• Embrace and acknowledge the unique experiences, knowledge and perspectives of community members and Commissioners.
  
• Seek to make whole-system recommendations by understanding the strengths, challenges and needs of communities outside of our own experiences.
  
• Promote public engagement with an understanding that diverse communities may prefer to receive information differently.
  
• Serve in approachable and accessible ways that allow for a wide range of community input and opinions.
  
• Promote civic engagement in the educational system long after District boundaries are approved. 

Intentionality and Integrity

We serve in open and honest ways and are fully present for and prepared to conduct the work we are charged to complete. 

We act with intentionality and integrity when:

• Decisions are data-driven and informed by community knowledge.
• We maintain an impartial, unbiased approach to our work.
• Actions engender mutual respect and reciprocity.
• We are being of service to students, families and communities that will be impacted by our decisions.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – LAUSD is one of the largest, complex and diverse school districts in the nation. As such, we seek to make boundary decisions that embrace this diversity and promote educational equity for all students. We promote diversity, equity and inclusion when we:

• Encourage robust, respectful debate, recognizing that healthy conversations can lead to thoughtful and inclusive conclusions.
• Recognize that we must equally represent students, families and communities whose voices are present in our process and those who may not participate in this process.
• Invest the time and resources to make decisions that are informed by the needs of students, parents and communities who may not currently be served well by the system.
• Recognize and compensate where possible for the pandemic-related restrictions that require online Commission gatherings that may limit participation and restrict traditional engagement.