LANCASTER, Calif.—Tuesday night, the City Council Chamber was filled with an ethnically diverse group of Lancaster residents and an unusual number of Sheriff’s deputies lined the back wall of the room.

City officials proposed Ordinance No. 953 two weeks ago in response to suspected gang-related shootings and supposed intimidation within the community.

In addition to facing budget cuts, four districts in the Antelope Valley are also being impacted by a dilemma that could potentially have even more long-term effects—a decline in student enrollment.