Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey.

Ohio school board elections, 2025

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Ballotpedia Election Coverage Badge-smaller use.png

State ballot measures • Local ballot measures • School boards • Municipal • Recalls • All local elections by county • How to run for office
Flag of Ohio.png


Elections

The table below contains links to all school board elections covered by Ballotpedia in 2025 in this state. This list may not include all school districts with elections in 2025. Ballotpedia's coverage includes all school districts in the 100 largest cities by population and the 200 largest school districts by student enrollment.

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.

2025 Ohio School Board Elections
District Primary General Election General Runoff Election Regular term length Seats up for election Total board seats 2022-2023 enrollment
Berea City School District N/A 11/4/2025 N/A 4 3 5 5,551
Canal Winchester Local School District N/A 11/4/2025 N/A 4 3 5 3,801
Cincinnati Public Schools N/A 11/4/2025 N/A 4 4 7 35,585
Columbus City Schools 5/6/2025 11/4/2025 N/A 4 3 7 45,338
Dublin City Schools N/A 11/4/2025 N/A 4 3 5 16,525
Euclid City School District N/A 11/4/2025 N/A 4 3 5 4,748
Gahanna-Jefferson City School District N/A 11/4/2025 N/A 4 4 5 7,961
Groveport-Madison Local School District N/A 11/4/2025 N/A 4 3 5 6,242
Hamilton Local School District N/A 11/4/2025 N/A 4 3 5 3,082
Hilliard City Schools N/A 11/4/2025 N/A 4 3 5 16,082
Maumee City School District N/A 11/4/2025 N/A 4 3 5 2,160
New Albany-Plain Local School District N/A 11/4/2025 N/A 4 3 5 5,101
Olentangy Local School District N/A 11/4/2025 N/A 4 2 5 23,281
Pickerington Local School District N/A 11/4/2025 N/A 4 3 5 11,370
South-Western City Schools N/A 11/4/2025 N/A 4 3 5 21,766
Sylvania City School District N/A 11/4/2025 N/A 4 3 5 7,662
Toledo Public Schools N/A 11/4/2025 N/A 4 3 5 21,814
Washington Local School District N/A 11/4/2025 N/A 4 3 5 6,877
Westerville City School District N/A 11/4/2025 N/A 4 3 5 14,571
Worthington Schools N/A 11/4/2025 N/A 4 3 5 10,810


Recalls

See also: Recall campaigns in Ohio and School board recalls

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


Academic performance

See also: Public education in Ohio

BP-Initials-UPDATED.png The sections below do not contain the most recently published data on this subject. If you would like to help our coverage grow, consider donating to Ballotpedia.


Education terms
Education Policy Logo on Ballotpedia.png

For more information on education policy terms, see this article.

Public Policy Logo-one line.png

NAEP scores

See also: NAEP scores by state

The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The table below presents the percentage of fourth and eighth grade students that scored at or above proficient in reading and math during school year 2012-2013. Compared to three neighboring states (Indiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania), Ohio had the second highest share of eighth graders who scored at or above proficient in reading.[1]

Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013
Math - Grade 4 Math - Grade 8 Reading - Grade 4 Reading - Grade 8
Ohio 48% 40% 37% 39%
Indiana 52% 38% 38% 35%
Michigan 37% 30% 31% 33%
Pennsylvania 44% 42% 40% 42%
United States 41% 34% 34% 34%
Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables"

Graduation, ACT and SAT scores

See also: Graduation rates by groups in state and ACT and SAT scores in the United States

The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for Ohio and surrounding states during the 2012-2013 school year. All statements made in this section refer to that school year.[1][2][3]

In the United States, public schools reported graduation rates that averaged to about 81.4 percent. About 54 percent of all students in the country took the ACT, while 50 percent reported taking the SAT. The average national composite scores for those tests were 20.9 out of a possible 36 for the ACT, and 1498 out of a possible 2400 for the SAT.[4]

Ohio schools reported a graduation rate of 82.2 percent, second lowest among its neighboring states.

In Ohio, more students took the ACT than the SAT, earning an average ACT score of 21.8.

Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores, 2012-2013
State Graduation rate, 2013 Average ACT composite, 2013 Average SAT composite, 2013
Percent Quintile ranking** Score Participation rate Score Participation rate
Ohio 82.2% Third 21.8 72% 1,635 17%
Indiana 87% First 21.7 38% 1,470 70%
Michigan 77% Fourth 19.9 100% 1,782 4%
Pennsylvania 85.5% Second 22.7 18% 1,480 71%
United States 81.4% 20.9 54% 1498 50%
**Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally.
Sources: United States Department of Education, "ED Data Express
ACT.org, "2013 ACT National and State Scores
The Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT scores by state, 2013

Dropout rate

See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states

The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades nine through 12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for Ohio was higher than the national average at 4.4 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 4.6 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.[5]

State profile

State profile

Demographic data for Ohio
 OhioU.S.
Total population:11,605,090316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):40,8613,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:82.4%73.6%
Black/African American:12.2%12.6%
Asian:1.9%5.1%
Native American:0.2%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0%0.2%
Two or more:2.5%3%
Hispanic/Latino:3.4%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:89.1%86.7%
College graduation rate:26.1%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$49,429$53,889
Persons below poverty level:19.6%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 Ohio.
**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 Ohio

Ohio voted Republican in five 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, nine are located in Ohio, accounting for 4.37 percent of the total pivot counties.[6]

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. Ohio had eight Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 4.42 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More Ohio coverage on Ballotpedia

Pivot Counties

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Nine of 88 Ohio counties—10.2 percent—are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County Trump margin of victory in 2016 Obama margin of victory in 2012 Obama margin of victory in 2008
Ashtabula County, Ohio 18.80% 12.78% 13.54%
Erie County, Ohio 9.48% 12.29% 13.86%
Montgomery County, Ohio 0.73% 4.62% 6.22%
Ottawa County, Ohio 19.51% 4.30% 6.24%
Portage County, Ohio 9.87% 5.52% 8.99%
Sandusky County, Ohio 22.58% 2.71% 4.64%
Stark County, Ohio 17.17% 0.47% 5.46%
Trumbull County, Ohio 6.22% 23.00% 22.43%
Wood County, Ohio 7.99% 4.84% 7.13%

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won Ohio with 51.7 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 43.6 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Ohio cast votes for the winning presidential candidate 93.3 percent of the time (28 out of 30 elections), more than any other state in the country. In that same time frame, Ohio supported Republican candidates for president more often than Democratic candidates, 60 to 40 percent. Between 2000 and 2016, Ohio voted for the winning presidential candidate in every election.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Ohio. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[7][8]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 39 out of 99 state House districts in Ohio with an average margin of victory of 35.7 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 33 out of 99 state House districts in Ohio with an average margin of victory of 34 points. Clinton won seven districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.
In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 60 out of 99 state House districts in Ohio with an average margin of victory of 17.4 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 66 out of 99 state House districts in Ohio with an average margin of victory of 28.3 points. Trump won seven districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.

Additional elections

See also: Ohio elections, 2025

What's on your ballot?
Click here to find out!

Historical analysis

See also: School board election data analysis, 2024

Ballotpedia did not cover school board elections in school districts in Ohio in 2024. Click here to read the full report on school board election analysis across the country in 2024.

See also

Ohio School Boards News and Analysis
Seal of Ohio.png
School Board badge.png
Ballotpedia RSS.jpg

Footnotes