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Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Florida
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| Florida 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 nonpartisan primary elections in Florida are held on the Tuesday 11 weeks before the general election every two years in even-numbered years. A primary election for school board elections is held if two or more candidates file to run for a school board seat, which means a primary election is held for all contested school board races.
School board general elections in Florida are held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November every two years in even-numbered years.
See law: Florida Statute Section 100.031
and Florida Statute Section 100.031
There were 67 public school districts in Florida with a total of 358 school board member seats as of 2022. Those school districts operated a total of 4,200 schools serving 2,838,569 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 Florida 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 nonpartisan primary elections in Florida are held on the Tuesday 11 weeks before the general election every two years in even-numbered years. A primary election for school board elections is held if two or more candidates file to run for a school board seat, which means a primary election is held for all contested school board races. The primary election date is generally the third or fourth Tuesday in August before the November general election.
School board general elections in Florida are held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November every two years in even-numbered years.
See law: Florida Statute Section 100.031
and Florida Statute Section 100.031
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: June 12, 2026
- Primary election date: August 18, 2026
- General election date: November 3, 2026
Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates
School board candidates in Florida qualifying by fee payment must file for candidacy no later than 67 days before the primary election. Candidates qualifying by signature petition must submit their petitions no later than 28 days before the beginning of the qualifying period (71 days before the primary), which means they must submit signature petitions no later than 99 days before the primary election.
See law: Florida Statute Section 105.031
The four-day qualifying period for school board candidates in Florida starts 71 days before the primary election
See law: Florida Statute Section 105.031
Newly elected school board members officially take office on the second Tuesday following the general election.
See law: Florida Statute Section 100.041
Election system
Types of elections
School board members in Florida are elected through a system of a nonpartisan primary election and a nonpartisan general election.
See law: Florida Statute Section 100.031
Party labels on the ballot
School board elections in Florida are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates.
See law: Article IX, Section 4, of the Florida Constitution
The Florida State Legislature referred a constitutional amendment to the November 2024 ballot that was designed to change school board elections from nonpartisan to partisan. The amendment was defeated.
What it takes to win an election
If two or more candidates run for a school board seat, a nonpartisan primary election is held. If a candidate gets a simple majority of votes (50% + 1 vote) in the primary election, they are elected to office outright, provided no write-in candidate qualifies for the general election. If no candidate gets a majority, the two candidates with the most votes advance to the general election.
In the school board nonpartisan general election, the candidate with the most votes is elected to office.
See law: Florida Statute Section 105.051
and Florida Statute Section 105.051
Number, terms, and types of school board seats
Number of board members
Florida statute states that school boards must have at least five board member seats and does not establish an upper limit on the number of board seats. School boards can change the number of board members through a resolution. Statute describes governance structures for school boards with five and seven members. As of 2022, 58 school districts in Florida (87%) had five board members. Six school districts (9%) had seven board members. Two school districts had nine board members. One school district had eight board members.
See law: Florida Statute Section 100.041
Board member term lengths
School board members in Florida have four-year terms. School board members are limited to two consecutive four-year terms.
See law: Florida Statute Section 100.041
School board member election staggering
As close to half of school board members as possible are elected every two years. For five-member boards, three members are elected at one general election and two members are elected at the next general election.
See law: Florida Statute Section 100.041
Representation: elections at-large or by sub-districts
School board members in Florida are elected at large by all voters in the district. School districts must be divided into five or more residence areas. School boards can enact by resolution the number of board members that must reside in specific residence areas and the number that are elected without residence areas and can reside anywhere in the district. As of 2022, 58 (87%) school districts in Florida had five board members each elected from a different residence area. Six districts (9%) had seven board members. State law gives two default options for seven-member boards: (a) five residence areas with one member elected from each and two members elected without residence area restriction and (b) seven residence areas. School boards, however, can enact other plans by resolution as long as there are at least five residence areas and all voters in the district can vote on all board members.
See law: Florida Statute Section 1001.36
Recent and proposed changes to laws governing school board election dates and timing in Florida
Term limits
In 2023, the legislature approved and Gov. DeSantis (R) signed a bill to enact term limits limiting school board members to eight consecutive years in office counting only terms starting after the November 2022 election.[1]
Party labels
The Florida State Legislature referred a constitutional amendment to the November 2024 ballot that was designed to change school board elections from nonpartisan to partisan.
How does Florida 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
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School board election rules: |
School board election coverage: |
Terms and context: |
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Footnotes
