RIPON – The last of the three public input sessions regarding the Ripon Unified trustee area redistricting plans is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 3, in the Ripon High library.

Thus far, three proposals are in place, mapping out the five areas of representation for elected officials.

“We made sure when the lines were drawn that no two trustees were in the same area,” said board Vice President Kit Oase at the recent RUSD session.

During that time, he and his colleague, Ernie Tyhurst, provided a report of the previous two meetings. They were part of the board-appointed committee responsible for gathering input from voters on the reapportionment process.

The redistricting plan is based on “the one person, one vote principle,” said Oase.

As a result of the 2010 census, the district considered looking into reapportionment based on the city’s growth of over 4,000 residents in the past 10 years, with the population going from 13,183 to 17,361.

The hope would be for each of the five RUSD trustee areas to include at least one school site and equally divided based on population. Each board member, in turn, would represent about 3,472 people.

On trustee area, for example, had 1,676 residents based on the 2010 numbers while another was at 4,566.

“These areas are not balanced on size but rather on population,” Tyhurst said. “With the growth potential 10 years from now we can always modify.”

The board opted to take on the task of reapportionment since this area was familiar grounds for Oase and Tyhurst.

The proposed costs for developing these plans, as suggested by private contractors, ranged from $5,000 to $30,000. That was more than the board wished to expend given the difficult financial times.

Trustees, pending approval at their Jan. 9 RUSD meeting, could submit the proposed plan or plans to the San Joaquin County Office of Education’s committee on school district organization as an information item at the Jan. 18 meeting.

Final approval from SJCOE could come as early as the February meeting and be forwarded to Austin Erdman of the SJC Registrar of Voters office by the March 1, 2012 deadline.

More information can be obtained by calling RUSD at 209-599-2131 or logging on to www.riponusd.net.