Pennsylvania school board elections, 2026

Pennsylvania 2026 elections

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Elections

State profile

Additional elections

Statistics

No Pennsylvania school 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 are holding school board elections in 2026.

Election rules

View election rules

Election dates and frequency

School board primary elections in Pennsylvania are held on the third Tuesday of May every two years in odd-numbered years.

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

See law: State Statute 1937 Act 320

Recent or upcoming election dates for all public school districts in the state except the Philadelphia School District

Below are the recent/upcoming dates for all public school districts in the state except the Philadelphia School District. There may be exceptions to these dates for specific districts because of local charters and district-specific exceptions and carve-outs.

Filing deadline date: March 10, 2027
Primary election date: May 18, 2027
General election date: November 8, 2027

Election system

Elected school board members in Pennsylvania are elected through a system of a partisan primary election and a partisan general election. As of 2022, all school boards except the board of the Philadelphia School District had elected school board members. The nine members of the Philadelphia School District Board of Education are appointed by the Philadelphia Mayor and confirmed by the city council.

See law: State Statute 1937 Act 320

Party labels on the ballot

School board elections in Pennsylvania are partisan, which means political party labels do appear on the ballot for school board candidates. School board candidates are nominated in closed partisan primary elections to appear on the general election ballot. Pennsylvania has closed primaries, which means that voters have to be affiliated with a political party in order to participate in primary elections. State statute allows school board candidates, among candidates for other offices, to file for nomination by multiple political parties. This practice, which is known as cross-filing, allows candidates to appear on both the Democratic primary election ballot and the Republican primary election ballot.

See law: State Statute 1937 Act 320

Winning an election

The school board candidate that receives the largest number of votes in the general election is elected to office.

The school board candidate that receives the largest number of votes in a closed party primary is the nominee for that party and advances to the general election ballot.

See law: Pennsylvania Statute 1937 Act 320 and Pennsylvania Statute 1937 Act 320

Term length and staggering

Elected school board members in Pennsylvania have four-year terms. State law provides for six-year terms for the members of a reorganized First Class A district containing former districts of lower classes. As of 2022, all school districts in the state had board members with four-year terms.

See law: Pennsylvania Public School Code of 1949, Article III

As close to half of school board members as possible are elected every two years.

See law: Pennsylvania Public School Code of 1949, Article III

Representation: at large vs. by sub-district

School board members are elected at large, by sub-district, or through a combination of the two, depending on the class of the district and whether or not a district has established a plan to elect board members from regions (sub-districts).

School districts classified as school districts of the second, third, or fourth classes can elect their school board members at large, by sub-district, or a combination of both.

Schools districts classified as First Class and First Class A School Districts must elect their school board members by sub-district.

See law: Pennsylvania Public School Code of 1949, Article III, Section 303
and Pennsylvania Public School Code of 1949, Article III, Section 303(b)
and Pennsylvania Public School Code of 1949, Article III, Section 303(a)

Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates

The deadline for independent and minor party candidates to file nomination papers to qualify for the general election ballot is August 1. Although Pennsylvania Statute states that independent and minor party candidates must file nomination papers on or before the second Friday after the primary election, the state moved the filing deadline to August 1 each year following two consent decrees in Hall v. Davis and Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania v. Davis.

Candidates running in the primary must file nomination petitions by the tenth Tuesday before the primary election held on the third Tuesday in May in odd-numbered years. This filing deadline is in early March.

See law: Pennsylvania Bureau of Elections Calendar; Nomination Paper Instruction Sheet; Hall v. Davis, 84-cv-1057 (E.D. Pa.); and Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania v. Davis, 84-cv-0262 (M.D. Pa.) and Pennsylvania Election Code, Act No. 320 of 1937, Article IX

Newly elected school board members officially take office on the first Monday in December according to state law.

See law: Pennsylvania Election Code, Act No. 320 of 1937, Article IX

Recalls

See also: Recall campaigns in Pennsylvania and School board recalls

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

State profile

Demographic data for Pennsylvania
	Pennsylvania	U.S.
Total population:	12,791,904	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	44,743	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	81.6%	73.6%
Black/African American:	11%	12.6%
Asian:	3.1%	5.1%
Native American:	0.2%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.1%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	6.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	89.2%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	28.6%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$53,599	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	15.9%	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 Pennsylvania. **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 Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania voted for the Democratic candidate 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, three are located in Pennsylvania, accounting for 1.46 percent of the total pivot counties.^[1]

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. Pennsylvania had one Retained Pivot County and two Boomerang Pivot Counties, accounting for 0.55 and 8.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More Pennsylvania coverage on Ballotpedia

The following charts show the total number of school board races and candidates covered by Ballotpedia each year since 2023.

Election data analysis

School board election data analysis, 2025

The following analysis includes school 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.

Ballotpedia covered school board elections for five seats in one school district in Pennsylvania in 2025. Below are some statistics about what happened in those elections. To read the full report on school board election analysis across the country in 2025, click here.

9 candidates ran for election, an average of 1.8 candidates per seat.
40% of school board incumbents ran for re-election, leaving 60% of the seats open for newcomers.
100% of incumbents were elected to new seats, winning 40% of the seats up for election.
Non-incumbent candidates won 3 of the seats.
20% of seats up for election were unopposed.

Footnotes

↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.

[1] The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.

[1]

Pennsylvania	School Boards	News and Analysis

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Pennsylvania school board elections, 2026

Contents

Election rules

Election dates and frequency

Election system

Party labels on the ballot

Winning an election

Term length and staggering

Representation: at large vs. by sub-district

Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates

Recalls

State profile

Presidential voting pattern

Pivot Counties (2016)

Pivot Counties (2020)

Election data analysis

See also

Footnotes

Information about voting

2026 Elections

2025 Elections

Election analysis

Trending

Public Policy

Information for candidates

Get Engaged

Services

Additional analysis

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