Part of West Augustine Remains in District 2 Thanks to Persistence from Coleman - A Significant Victory for the Community

 

Webster Principal Bethany Groves with SJCSD School Board Member District 2 Anthony Coleman Sr. and Renata Russell Webster's Music Teacher at the recent Celebrating Our Gifts event.

St. Johns County School Board member Anthony Coleman Sr. stood up for West Augustine, and he won a battle many in the community thought had been lost.

On Thursday both the county commissioners and the school board voted unanimously for Plan B-1.

Image Courtesy of the St. Johns School District

Florida's Constitution requires for the districts to be divided into districts with nearly equal populations after each census count. School redistricting does not affect school zones, or where students go to school, but it affects which school board member represents them.

One of the big discussions was whether to move West Augustine to District 3.

Image Courtesy of the St. Johns School District

The popular Plan B would have removed all of West Augustine from District 2 and moved it to district 3, but the plan was sent back to the drawing board in the School Board Workshop on Tuesday, December 7th mainly thanks to persistence from Coleman, who represents District 2.

“Historically, District 2 has produced teachers, farmers, nurses, doctors, dentists, mayors, councilmen, senators, and military vets,” Coleman said according to News4Jax. "The new plan it keeps Flager Estates and West Augustine together, two of the oldest areas [that] helped build St. Johns County."

West Augustine is connected to the western part of District 2 in many ways as many West Augustine families have relatives in or come from areas such as Hastings, but the significance of remaining in District 2 goes far beyond this connection.

It is not a perfect victory, because while Plan B1 includes R.J. Murray Middle School and the Webster School, the plan excludes Osceola Elementary from Distric 2.

"I'm so pleased Mr. Coleman held to his beliefs," says Greg White, Advisory Board Member of the West Augustine CRA, who is known in the community as West Augustine's unofficial mayor. "West Augustine combined with Armstrong, Elkton, Hastings and Flagler Estates gives an African American a chance of winning in District 2. Commissioner Waldron won his first term by 7 votes. Every vote counts. ... Mr Coleman represents our district with integrity and work ethic that's unprecedented." 

According to an article in the St. Augustine Record about the demographics change in St. Johns County since the 2010 census: "The county's population identifying as Black or African American alone increased by 2,679 people but decreased as a percentage of county residents, going from 5.6% to 4.9% of the county's population. The category of Black or African American in combination with another race or races increased by 2,541 people and went from 0.6% to 1.3% of the county's total population."

As the African-American population has decreased percentage wise in St. Johns County, redistricting can easily make it harder for minorities to win public office, and for a community such as West Augustine, an area which has the highest African-American population in the county, representation where county decisions are made is essential for the community to not be overlooked.

You can find all of the St. Johns County School District redistricting plans here.

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