Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Arizona
|
| Arizona overview: • Election dates: On cycle |
| Key policies: • Election dates and timing • Party labels on the ballot |
| Key terms • On-cycle elections • Off-cycle elections • Off-year elections • Off-date elections • Party labels • Partisan elections • Nonpartisan elections |
School board general elections in Arizona are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November every two years in even-numbered years.
See law: Arizona Statute Section 15-424 & 16-211
There were 214 public school districts in Arizona with a total of 984 school board member seats as of 2022. Those school districts operated a total of 1,509 schools serving 935,289 students.
You will find the following information on this page:
- the timing and frequency of school board elections
- candidate filing deadlines
- the number of school board members
- the length of school board terms
- the way in which elections for different board seats are staggered
- recent changes to laws governing school board election timing
- how Arizona compares to other states
- when new board members officially take office.
Across the country, there are 13,024 public school districts governed by a total of about 82,600 board members. Most school board members are elected directly by voters, while a small number of districts have appointed school board members or a combination of appointed and elected school board members.
The timing of elections for school board members varies widely across states and even across districts in the same state in some cases. In 14 states, most school board elections are held on-cycle with federal elections in November of even-numbered years. Most school board elections in the other states are held off-cycle. This includes off-date elections—for example, elections held in the spring or summer—and off-year elections held in odd-numbered years.
On-cycle local elections have higher voter turnout than off-cycle local elections.
The information in this page was last updated in 2022. Please email editor@ballotpedia.org with any updates, corrections, exceptions, or improvements.
Election dates and frequency
School board general elections in Arizona are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November every two years in even-numbered years.
See law: Arizona Statute Section 15-424 & 16-211
Recent or upcoming election dates for all public school districts in the state
Below are the recent/upcoming dates for all public school districts in the state. There may be exceptions to these dates for specific districts because of local charters and district-specific exceptions and carve-outs.
- Filing deadline date: July 6, 2026
- General election date: November 3, 2026
Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates
The school board candidate filing deadline in Arizona is 120 days before the election date.
See law: Arizona Statue Section 16-311
School board candidates can circulate their nomination petitions starting when the filling window opens 150 days before the election, which is 30 days before the filing deadline.
See law: Arizona Statue Section 16-311
Newly elected school board members officially take office at the first organizational meeting of the school board, which must be held between the first and 15th day of January following the general election.
See law: Arizona Statute Section 15-321
Election system
Types of elections
School board members in Arizona are elected through nonpartisan general elections without primaries.
See law: Arizona Statute Section 16-211
Party labels on the ballot
School board elections in Arizona are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates.
See law:
Arizona Statutes Section 15-422 and Section 16-502
What it takes to win an election
School board candidates that receive the largest number of votes in the general election are elected to office.
See law: Arizona Statute Section 15-424
Number, terms, and types of school board seats
Number of board members
Arizona state law provides for school boards with three or five board members. As of 2022, 32 districts (15%) had school boards with three members, 175 districts (82%) had school boards with five members, and one district had seven school board members. There are also six county accommodation or regional services school districts.
See law: Arizona Statute Section 15-421
Board member term lengths
School board members in Arizona have four-year terms. Certain school board members have initial two-year terms when a new district is formed or when a district is changing the number of board members in order to establish a staggered election schedule.
See law: Arizona Statute Section 15-424
School board member election staggering
As close to half of school board members as possible are elected every two years. Upon the formation of a new district, all board members are elected at one election and the initial terms of the two winning candidates receiving lower numbers of votes are shortened to two years to achieve staggering.
See law: Arizona Statue Section 15-424
Representation: elections at-large or by sub-districts
School board members are elected at large.
See law: Arizona Statute Section 15-427 & 15-429
How does Arizona compare to other states?
Across the country, there are 13,187 public school districts governed by a total of 83,183 school board members. They are elected directly by voters except for a small handful of exceptions who are appointed.
The analysis below is based on state laws governing school board elections and some researched common practices. In some states, the state law mandates a specific date. In others, the laws allow districts to choose their own election date from a range or a list of allowed dates or through charter provisions.
- 25 states have school board elections that are mostly held off cycle from federal elections. This includes both off-year and off-date elections.
- 10 of those states have school board elections that are mostly or at least commonly held on election dates in November of odd-numbered years.
- 16 of those states have school board elections mostly or at least commonly held on election dates that are not in November.
- 14 states have school board elections that are mostly held on cycle with federal elections in November of even-numbered years.
- 9 states either do not have state laws or overwhelmingly common practices that determine a specific school board election date or have varying school board election dates.
- Hawaii has a single, appointed school board.
See also
|
School board election rules: |
School board election coverage: |
Terms and context: |
| |||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Footnotes
