How The Beacon helped bring attention to Wichita USD 259’s school district voting process

Beacon reporter Trace Salzbrenner published a series of articles in the summer and fall of 2022 that explored how Wichita elected school board members — and the ways that tended to stifle the votes of minority neighborhoods.

His reporting showed that a citywide voting system essentially diminished the political influence of Wichita’s Black residents. .

“I just kept digging into the history of why it was the way it was in Wichita,” Salzenbrenner said. “I started to ask, ‘Is this even legal?’ … This is disenfranchising voters.’”

Salzbrenner’s stories were quoted in school board meetings and used by parents and taxpayers pushing to make elections more representative.

Ongoing coverage of Black activists and community members advocating for more proportional voting with city representatives eventually led to change within Wichita USD 259’s school district voting process.

After a ballot initiative in November 2022, Wichitans voted 2-1 in favor of revamping the system so that residents only voted on the district representatives in their areas..

“As a journalist, you’re a part of the community you’re reporting on and we have to keep moving forward,” Salzbrenner said. “You want to make people feel more connected to their democracy.”

Check out Salzbrenner’s chronological reporting here:

1. Latest school board redistricting would split historically Black neighborhoods in Wichita
2. Wichita Black community presses school board member to back change in how members are elected
3. Wichita school board elections might violate Voting Rights Act, federal ruling in Georgia suggests
4. What you need to know about the school board ballot measure on the November ballot
5. Wichita NAACP, teachers union and other leaders team up to support ballot initiative
6. How did we get here? School board ballot initiative has roots in century-old fight
7. Historic change comes to Wichita school board representation, and more may be coming still
8. Wichita’s first school board election under new system draws more voters

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