Everything you need to know about ranked-choice voting in one spot. Click to learn more!

Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Michigan

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
SchoolBoardsPortalMastheadImage.png
Chalkboard SBE.jpg
Rules governing school board elections

Michigan overview:

Election dates: On cycle
• Party labels: No; Nonpartisan
• System: General only


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 Michigan are held on the first Tuesday after the First Monday in November every two years in even-numbered years.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Michigan Statute Section 380.384

There were 535 public school districts in Michigan with a total of 3,679 school board member seats as of 2022. Those school districts operated a total of 2,955 schools serving 1,299,574 students.

You will find the following information on this page:

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

See also: Rules governing school board election dates and timing

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

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Michigan Statute Section 380.384

Recent or upcoming election dates for all local school districts in the state

Below are the recent/upcoming dates for all local 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 21, 2026
  • General election date: November 3, 2026

Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates

School board candidates must file affidavits and nomination petitions or candidate filing fees by 4 p.m. on the 15th Tuesday before the November election. This means that the school board candidate filing deadline is in late July every even-numbered year.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Michigan Statute Section 168.303


Newly elected school board members in Michigan officially take office on January 1 of the year following the election.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Michigan Statute Section 380.384 and Section 168.302

Election system

Types of elections

School board members in Michigan are elected through nonpartisan general elections without primaries.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Michigan Statute Section 380.384

Party labels on the ballot

See also: Party labels in Michigan school board elections

School board elections in Michigan are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates. Michigan Election Law on school board candidate nominating petitions states, "(2)The nominating petition must be substantially in the form prescribed in section 544c, except that the petition must be nonpartisan." It also states, "At any regular election, the names of the several nonpartisan offices to be voted for shall be placed on a separate portion of the ballot containing no party designation in the following order: [...], and in a year in which an election for the office is held, local school district board member, metropolitan district officer, and district library board member."

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Michigan Statute Section 168.303 and Section 168.699

What it takes to win an election

The candidate or candidates that receive the most votes in the nonpartisan general election are elected to office.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Michigan Statute Section 168.307

Number, terms, and types of school board seats

Number of board members

All school districts other community school districts in Michigan have by default the number of board members the districts had prior to 1996. District voters can approve a change to the number of board members through a ballot measure put on the ballot by the school board or through a signature petition. As of 2022, all but 28 school districts (5%) in the state had seven board members.

Community school districts in Michigan have seven board members.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Michigan Statute Section 380.11a and Michigan Statute Section 380.384

Board member term lengths

All school districts other community school districts in Michigan have board member terms of either four or six years depending on the board by-laws. As of 2022, 60% of school districts in Michigan had six-year board member terms, and 40% -- including community school districts -- had four-year board member terms.

Community school districts in Michigan have four-year board member terms. Initial terms for the first board members of newly organized community school districts are two, four, or six years to stagger elections.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Michigan Statute Section 380.11a and Michigan Statute Section 380.384

School board member election staggering

For community school districts in Michigan, as close to half of school board members as possible for each district are elected every two years, which means either three or four seats are up for election at each even-year election. At the first board member election after community school districts are first organized, all seven board member seats are elected. Two members are elected to two-year terms, three members are elected to four-year terms, and two members are elected to six-year terms, with higher vote totals dictating longer initial terms. After initial terms, all board members have four-year terms, which results in staggered elections: four seats up in one election and three seats up in the next election.

Michigan statute requires that at least one board member must be elected every two years at each regular even-year election. Specific seat staggering details for school districts other than community school districts are determined at the local level by the district board's bylaws. Most districts with four-year board member terms elect as close to half of board members as possible every two years. Most districts with six-year board member terms elect as close to one-third of board members as possible every two years.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Michigan Statute Section 380.384 and Michigan Statute Section 168.301

Representation: elections at-large or by sub-districts

School board members in Michigan are elected at large by all voters in the district.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Michigan Statute Section 168.303, Section 168.307, and Section 380.384 (3)

How does Michigan 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