Indiana school board elections, 2026

Elections

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Statistics

School board elections in the largest cities and school districts

Ballotpedia covers tens of thousands of school board elections across the United States each year. This page contains links to this state's school districts where Ballotpedia is covering elections in 2026. The following table lists districts that overlap with the nation's 100 largest cities or that are among the nation's 200 largest school districts and for which Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage.

Editor's note: Some school districts choose to cancel the primary election, or both the primary and general election, if the number of candidates who filed does not meet a certain threshold. The table below does not reflect which primary or general elections were canceled. Please click through to each school district's page for more information.

2026 Indiana School Board Elections

District	Primary	Primary Runoff	General Election	General Runoff Election	Seats up for election	Total board seats	2023-2024 enrollment
Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	6,655
East Allen County Schools	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	7	10,007
Fort Wayne Community Schools	-	-	11/3/2026	-	4	7	28,506
Franklin Township Community School Corporation	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	11,240
Indianapolis Public Schools	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	7	21,863
Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township	-	-	11/3/2026	-	2	5	16,502
Metropolitan School District of Perry Township	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	7	16,044
Metropolitan School District of Pike Township	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	7	10,617
Metropolitan School District of Warren Township	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	7	11,440
Metropolitan School District of Washington Township	-	-	11/3/2026	-	2	5	10,735
Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township	-	-	11/3/2026	-	4	7	15,799
Northwest Allen County Schools	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	8,383
Southwest Allen County Schools	-	-	11/3/2026	-	2	5	7,555

Election rules

View election rules

Election dates and frequency

See also: Rules governing school board election dates and timing

School board general elections in Indiana are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November every two years in even-numbered years.

See law: Indiana Code Sections 20-23-4-29.1, 20-23-7-8.1, and 20-23-13-2.1

Recent or upcoming election dates for school districts with elected board members

Below are the recent/upcoming dates for school districts with elected board members. There may be exceptions to these dates for specific districts because of local charters and district-specific exceptions and carve-outs.

• Filing deadline date: June 15, 2026
• General election date: November 3, 2026

Election system

Elected school board members in Indiana are elected through nonpartisan general elections without primaries. As of 2022, 10 districts had appointed board members and six districts had school boards with some elected members and some appointed members. The other districts had boards with elected members.

See law: Indiana Code Sections 20-23-4-29.1, 20-23-7-8.1, and 20-23-13-2.1

Party labels on the ballot

See also: Rules governing party labels in school board elections

A school board candidate nomination petition must contain one of the following: (a) the candidate's political party affiliation, (b) identification as an independent candidate, (c) a statement that the candidate elects not to disclose party affiliation, (d) or that the candidate is not affiliated with a part and doesn't want to be identified as independent. This statement regarding party affiliation must be included on the ballot along with the candidate's name. To validly claim affiliation with a major political party, a candidate must either (a) have voted in the two most recent party primaries for the identified political party or (b) have the affiliation certified by the party's county chairman. Senate Bill 287 enacted in 2025 changed Indiana school board elections from nonpartisan without party labels to partisan with party labels. SB 287 allows challenges to a candidate's claimed party affiliation.

See law: Senate Bill 275 (2025)

Winning an election

The school board candidates that receive the largest number of votes in the nonpartisan general election are elected to office.

See law: Indiana Code Sections 20-23-4-29.1, 20-23-7-8.1, and 20-23-13-2.1

Term length and staggering

School board members are elected to four-year terms at regular elections.

See law: Indiana Code Section 20-23-4-30

As close to half of a district's school board members as possible are elected every two years. Since school boards in Indiana have 3, 5, 7, or 9 members, this means that in one cycle a simple majority of seats are up for election, while in the following cycle one less than a simple majority of seats are up for election. At a district's first school board election, the simple majority of elected board members that receive the most votes are elected to four-year terms, while the remaining elected board members are elected to two-year terms. Thereafter, all school board members are elected to four-year terms.

See law: Indiana Code Section 20-23-4-30 

Representation: at large vs. by sub-district

In Indiana, school board members are elected at large, by sub-district, or through a combination of the two. Districts can also elect certain member positions at large but from certain sub-districts, meaning the candidates must be residents of a particular area. State law provides six different options for school board election plans to school districts formed after March 12, 1965. Districts formed before that date operate under the plan with which they were established. The six options provided for in statute provide varying levels of flexibility for a district's specific plan. They are as follows. (1) At-large voting without residence restriction; under this option, all members are elected at large by all voters and can reside anywhere in the district. (2) At-large voting with residence restriction for at least some members; under this option, the district must have two or more residence areas (sub-districts) with some combination of one or more board members residing in each district and the option of an at large member without residence restriction. All registered voters still vote for all members whether or not they need to reside within a specific sub-district. (3) At-large voting with residence restriction for three members; under this option, a district's plan must have three residence areas (sub-districts) roughly equal in population. If the board has three members, one must reside in each sub-district. If the board has five members, two members may not reside in any one sub-district. If the board has seven members, at least two members must reside in each sub-district. All registered voters still vote for all members. (4) Combination of at-large and from sub-district with less than a majority at-large; under this option, a district's plan can divide the district into at least two electoral sub-districts and determine how many members are elected only by the voters within those subdistricts provided each sub-district has an equal number of members. This option requires that "not less than one less than a majority" of members are elected at large (i.e., for a three-member board, at least one must be at large; for a five-member board, at least two must be at large; and for a seven-member board, at least three must be at large.) (5) Combination of at-large and from sub-district with a majority of members at-large; this option is similar to option four but a majority of members must be elected at large and sub-districts do not have to have equal numbers of members. (6) Election entirely by sub-district; under this option, a district plan must establish sub-districts from which all board members are elected. There are no at-large members. It allows for unequal numbers of members from the districts.

See law: Indiana Code Section 20-23-4-27

Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates

The deadline for school board candidates to file petitions of nomination and registration is 30 days after the first day to register to vote following the May primary election, which means the filing deadline is 44 days after the primary election. This means the school board candidate filing deadline is in mid-June of even-numbered years.

See law: Indiana Code Section 3-8-2.5-4

School board candidates in Indiana cannot file petitions of nomination for the November general election until the first day one can register to vote following the May primary election. This date is 14 days after the primary election. This means the 30-day filing window for school board candidates opens in mid-May of even-numbered years.

See law: Indiana Code Section 3-8-2.5-4

The terms of school board members officially begin on the date set in the school districts organization plan. State law prohibits a school district organization plan from setting a term start date more than fourteen months after the election. However, if a different date is not provided in the plan, then the default start date of the terms of newly elected board members is January 1 following their election.

See law: Indiana Code Section 20-23-4-30

Recalls

See also: Recall campaigns in Indiana and School board recalls

Indiana does not allow for the recall of school board members. Click here for a list of states that do.

State profile

Demographic data for Indiana
	Indiana	U.S.
Total population:	6,612,768	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	35,826	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	84.2%	73.6%
Black/African American:	9.2%	12.6%
Asian:	1.9%	5.1%
Native American:	0.2%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.2%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	6.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	87.8%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	24.1%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$49,255	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	18.4%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Indiana. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Indiana

Indiana voted Republican in six out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, five are located in Indiana, accounting for 2.43 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Indiana had five Retained Pivot Counties, 2.76 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.

More Indiana coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Indiana
• United States congressional delegations from Indiana
• Public policy in Indiana
• Endorsers in Indiana
• Indiana fact checks
• More...

See also: Indiana elections, 2026

What's on your ballot?

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Candidates

The following charts show the total number of school board races and candidates covered by Ballotpedia each year since 2024. The figures in this section include all school board elections covered by Ballotpedia, including both core local coverage of the largest school districts as well as any expanded coverage of smaller districts. Click here to learn more about Ballotpedia's election coverage scope.

Analysis

See also: School board election data analysis, 2025

Ballotpedia did not cover school board elections in school districts in the 100 largest cities or 200 largest school districts in Indiana in 2025. Click here to read the full report on school board election analysis across the country in 2025.

See also

Indiana	School Boards	News and Analysis
Public education in Indiana List of school districts in Indiana School board elections in Indiana School board authority in Indiana	School board elections, 2026 School board elections, 2025 Indiana school board elections, 2025	Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey School board election data analysis, 2025

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