Exception Request to Adams County Preliminary Map
As a school board member and parent of the Conewago Valley School District, I have serious concerns with the PA House Preliminary Map that was released on December 16, 2021, by the Commission. Specifically, the map fails to consider many communities of interest within Adams County as it relates to school districts. Under the Preliminary Plan, nearly every school district is split in the two legislative district in Adams County. Previously, only Conewago Valley School District was split between legislative districts. Now, Gettysburg, Fairfield, and Conewago Valley School District’s are split. While I recognize that splits amongst school districts are not preventable, they should be minimized as much as possible. When talking about communities of interest, school districts are the most common entity that depicts such a community. Many families’ lives center around the school district so maintaining continuity in these should be an important consideration for the Commission. The Commission can easily limit the number of splits amongst school districts by returning municipalities to the 91st and 193rd districts in the current map. Specifically, the 91st District would retain Straban Township and Franklin Township (making Gettysburg School District in one legislative district) and Hamiltonban Township and Fairfield Borough (making Fairfield School District in one legislative district). In turn, the 193rd would retain New Oxford Borough, Berwick Township, Oxford Township and Abbottstown Borough that would more closely align the Conewago Valley School District with its historical split. The historical split within the Conewago Valley School District maintains a long-standing understanding that the municipalities are split by elementary school within the school district while keeping local business communities together. The new Career and Technical Center at Conewago Valley School District also serves Northern and Eastern Adams County, which also supports the municipality swap outlined above. Most importantly, the proposed swap in these municipalities would not greatly impact the population deviation in the 91st and 193rd districts and maintains continuity for the educational communities of interest in Adams County.