School District 49 Finalizes Updated Director District Boundaries Ahead of Statutory Deadline

In a proactive effort to ensure continued equitable representation, the School District 49 Board of Education finalized its updated director district boundaries, completing the process months ahead of the state-mandated deadline.

D49 initiated the update following the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder’s Office’s regular redrawing of precincts in August 2025. Because these precinct updates shifted the overall number and configuration of precincts within the district, the district immediately responded with a corresponding refresh of its director districts to ensure alignment with Colorado statutes. 

The BOE considered several possible configurations and unanimously agreed on the proposal that best meets state law, which requires that director districts be:

• Equivalent in population, or comparable in terms of population size 
• Congruent, or, fit next to each other on the map in an understandable and consistent way
• Compact, which enables representatives to serve their constituents more effectively, clarifies district lines for the public, and promotes a transparent, equitable mapping process. Compact structured director districts keep neighborhoods and communities together whenever possible.

The previous cycle of revisions, which took place in 2023, produced a board-approved director-district configuration with a deviation of 5.07%. Out of seven refreshed reapportion plans calculated by D49’s Community and Facility Planning Manager, the BOE voiced a clear preference for the recommendation that produced a deviation of 1.93%, which represents the most equal configuration as possible. 

By completing this work in June 2026, well before the December 31, 2026, statutory deadline, the district ensures that voting precincts are balanced and geographically consistent well in advance of the next scheduled Board of Education elections in the fall of 2027.

“Planning ahead helps us spot any population imbalances early, well before the election deadlines,” said Evelyn Galane Phillips, D49 Community & Facility Planning Manager. “This gives the board enough time to review their options, listen to the community, and make informed decisions. It’s all about ensuring everyone is represented fairly while keeping us on track with our legal requirements.”

View the June 11, 2026 presentation and discussion to the BOE

The BoE formalized the process during its regular session August 13, unanimously adopting a resolution to execute the realignment with the standard deviation of 1.93%. 

“I am grateful for the work done by our staff to present us with a map that is both compliant with statute and respects our voters’ preference to have a voice on the BOE through the director district model,” said Marie La Vere-Wright, Board President. “Selecting the proposal that has the tightest compliance percentage-wise for deviance and population seems to be the one that would make the longer-term strategy smarter because it may give us one that we can keep for a few cycles, or won’t have to be adjusted very much in the near future.” 
  
The district’s proactive approach offers several key benefits to the community:

• Equitable Representation: Updating boundaries ensures that each Board of Education director represents a population that is as equal in size as possible, preventing imbalances created by regional growth.
• Clarity for Voters: Maintaining compact and congruent districts helps keep neighborhoods and communities of interest together, making district lines easier for voters to understand.
• Transparency: Finalizing the map now provides potential candidates and community members ample time to prepare and engage with the electoral process ahead of the 2027 election cycle. 

The process relied on meticulous tracking of neighborhood growth data by the district’s internal operations team, utilizing existing resources to achieve compliance without the need for external consultants.

For more information on the updated director districts and the Board of Education’s governance process, please visit D49.org/transparency.