No change for Newton-Conover City Schools' voting districts

By: Sarah Newell williamson | Hickory Daily Record
Published: July 27, 2011

NEWTON --

After examining data from the 2010 Census, Newton-Conover City Schools will not change its voting districts.

Newton-Conover City Schools is divided into two districts: Newton and Conover. After each Census, the school district much examine the data and determine if the voting lines must be redrawn, based on the population.

There are 18,000 voting people in the Newton-Conover district, said Scott Loudermelt, chairman of the Newton-Conover City Schools’ board of education. If there is a shift in population greater than 5 percent, then the districts must change to balance them.

The 2010 Census showed there are 9,233 people in Conover and 9,017 in Newton.

Loudermelt said the difference between the two is about 2 percent.

“We could have moved some families, but we chose not to do that this close to the elections,” he said.

Filing for election for Newton-Conover City Schools begins Aug. 19.

The move would have affected 112 residents, said Taylor Dellinger, data analyst with the Western Piedmont Council of Governments.

“Conover would have lost 112 residents and Newton would have gained 112,” he said.

Western Piedmont Council of Governments is the agency that reviewed the Census data for Newton-Conover City Schools.

“Statistically, it didn’t make sense to move people around,” Loudermelt said.

The districts the system has now will remain the same until the 2020 Census, when the data is reviewed again.