Redistricting: where we are early september edition and tips on testimony

The superintendent just presented his redistricting plan to the BOE (Don't worry about hundreds of pages, most of that is online survey free responses included at the end). 
The next step in the process is public hearings.  This will be closely followed by public work sessions of the board.  There will only be additional public hearings if any additional polygons are added to the plan, to give those areas newly impacted an opportunity to participate in a public hearing.  Changes can, and likely will be made to what the superintendent has proposed, but that would be the decision of the board.   Public input via mail, email, or an online form they have provided (or this version partially in Spanish) throughout the remainder of the decision process, which will conclude in November.  

Here are some tips to keep in mind to help you more effectively advocate.

*Keep your cool.  
It may feel good to vent, but you want to persuade board members who are also human beings to consider your concerns.  Whether you speak in a meeting, send in a letter or email, or fill out the online form, your testimony will be part of the public record available for anyone to see.

*Don't disparage any school or community
Someone else attends that school or lives in that community and loves it.  It just makes you sound like a jerk.

*Don't bring up your property values.
This is not the concern of the BOE.  It also makes you sound like a jerk.

*Know what you're talking about
Don't say things in your testimony that are just flat out wrong.  Don't waste your time detailing at length the unfairness of moving someone their senior year.  By policy, rising seniors are exempt.  Juniors may be exempt, but the board has to vote to do so.  This board has expressed that that is their intent.  Of course it's not set until it's set, so you can probably leave it at one sentence- that it's important that they exempt them.  They know the reasons why. 
Learn what polygon you are in and how you are affected in the plans.  These interactive maps are much more detailed and you can select different levels and zoom in to see smaller streets and polygon information. 
Take a look at policy 6010, the school system policy that governs redistricting so you can speak to how a plan adheres or doesn't to policy.  It was just updated, so make sure you're aware of the changes.
Also, know who does what.  The board didn't create the four scenarios or the superintendent's proposal.  The office of school planning, along with hired consultants created the plans and the superintendent chose one of the four with a minor adjustment as his proposal. The board ultimately makes the decision on what moves will be made.  The county executive, county council, or state delegation are not decision makers in this process.  

*Find reasons beyond 'I want' or 'I don't want' or 'it's always been'
A new school is being opened.  Someone's children will be assigned to attend there.  If your arguments are solely, I don't want my kid to be there, that's not persuasive.  

*Don't just rehash what the board already knows
Reading verbatim from the feasibility report or policy 6010 will just burn up a lot of your time.  Feel free to highlight something as important to you or to point out if you think that some of the stats or metrics may be off or misleading.  If 30 people have just gone before you detailing why some aspect is bad, you can add that you agree with them, or add something to the point, like how it personally impacts your family or student, but probably saying the exact same words for the 31st time isn't going to be impactful.  

*Don't feel like you need to solve redistricting
If you only have input about your community and how it's affected, that's okay.  That's valuable information to add to their deliberations.  Do remember that they will have to balance the needs of all communities, so there will have to be compromises to not create new problems.

*Don't think that you can't do this or leave it up to others
Anyone can write a letter or even testify before the board.  The group of people who do it often is somewhat small and recognizable to the board.  Seeing new faces and especially many new faces can be impactful.  Any students who come to testify are allowed to go first so they don't have to wait through the entire meeting.  You don't have to write a thesis or even use the entire 3 minutes.

*Three minutes is about one page typed
If you are speaking, you are asked to submit the testimony electronically as well and if you're not able to finish it within the three minutes, they can read what was sent in.  You can finish your sentence when time is up but not your paragraph.  

Did I miss something?  Think I got something wrong?  Let me know what you think in the comments.