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Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Nevada
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| Nevada 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 Nevada are held on the second Tuesday in June every two years in even-numbered years.
School board general elections in Nevada are held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November every two years in even-numbered years.
See law:
Nevada Statutes Sections 293.12755, 386.160, and 386.165 and Nevada Statutes Sections 293.12755, 386.160, and 386.165
There were 18 public school districts in Nevada with a total of 116 school board member seats as of 2022. Those school districts operated a total of 666 schools serving 447,471 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
- how Nevada 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 Nevada are held on the second Tuesday in June every two years in even-numbered years. The nonpartisan primary election is not held if the number of candidates running for office is more than the number of seats up for election but fewer than twice the number of seats. In that scenario, the candidates automatically advance to the general election. If the number of candidates running for office is not more than the seats up for election or is more than twice the number of seats up for election, the candidate names must appear on the primary election ballot.
School board general elections in Nevada are held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November every two years in even-numbered years.
See law:
Nevada Statutes Sections 293.12755, 386.160, and 386.165 and Nevada Statutes Sections 293.12755, 386.160, and 386.165
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: March 13, 2026
- Primary election date: June 9, 2026
- General election date: November 3, 2026
Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates
The deadline for school board candidates to file declarations of candidacy is 5 p.m. on the second Friday after the first Monday in March in even-numbered years.
See law: Nevada Statute Section 293.177
School board candidates cannot file declarations of candidacy until the first Monday in March in even-numbered years.
See law: Nevada Statute Section 293.177
Newly elected school board members officially take office on the first Monday in January following their election.
See law: Nevada Statutes Section 386.300
Election system
Types of elections
School board members in Nevada are elected through a system of a nonpartisan primary election and a nonpartisan general election. The primary election is only held if a large enough number of candidates run for office.
See law: Nevada Statutes Sections 386.250 and 386.260
Party labels on the ballot
School board elections in Nevada are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates. Statute defines nonpartisan offices to include school offices, among other judicial offices, local offices, and the state board of education. Statute states, "No words designating the party affiliation of a candidate for nonpartisan offices may be printed upon the ballot."
See law: Nevada Statute Section 293.195
What it takes to win an election
If the number of candidates running for office is more than the number of seats up for election but fewer than or equal to twice the number of seats, the candidates automatically advance to the general election. If the number of candidates running for office is less than or equal to the number the seats up for election or is more than twice the number of seats up for election, the candidates must appear on the primary election ballot. If the number of candidates running for office is more than twice the number of seats up for election, the candidates that receive the most votes but not a majority of votes in the primary election advance to the general election up to a number of candidates equaling twice the number of seats up for election. If a candidate receives a majority of votes in the primary, that candidate is automatically elected to office and does not appear on the general election ballot. If the number of candidates running for office is less than or equal to the number of seats up for election, any candidate in such an uncontested race that receives at least one vote in the primary is automatically elected to office and does not appear on the general election ballot. Any candidate that receives zero votes must also appear on the general election ballot.
The school board candidates in the general election that receive the most votes are elected to office.
See law: Nevada Statute Section 293.260 and Nevada Statute Sections 293.260 and 293.393
Number, terms, and types of school board seats
Number of board members
School districts in Nevada have either five or seven board members depending on student enrollment.
School districts with student enrollment of 1,500 or more have seven board members.
School districts with student enrollment of less than 1,000 have five board members.
School districts with student enrollment of 1,000 or more but less than 1,500 have seven board members by default but can pass a resolution to keep five board members. The school board must pass the resolution to keep five board members before December 1 of the year before the first election year following the increase of student enrollment above 1,000.
See law: Nevada Statutes Sections 386.120, 386.160, 386.165, 386.180, 386.190, and 386.200 and Nevada Statutes Sections 386.120, 386.190, 386.165, and 386.200 and Nevada Statutes Sections 386.120 and 386.160 and Nevada Statutes Sections 386.120 and 386.190
Board member term lengths
School board members are elected to four-year terms at regular elections.
See law:
Nevada Statutes Sections 293.12755, 386.160, and 386.165
School board member election staggering
As close to half of school board seats as possible are up for regular election every two years to four-year terms.
See law:
Nevada Statutes Sections 293.12755, 386.160, and 386.165
Representation: elections at-large or by sub-districts
School districts with student enrollment of less than 1,000 elect their board members at large but with specific residence restrictions: one member who resides in an unincorporated area of the county, at least one member that does not reside in the county seat, and three members that either must or may reside in the county seat depending on what percentage of the county's population reside in the county seat. As of 2022, there were six county school districts with student enrollment of less than 1,000.
School districts with student enrollment of 1,000 or more but less than 25,000 elect their school board members at-large by default but have the option of electing all of their board members from election districts (sub-districts). They also have the option of establishing sub-districts in which each board member must reside, but have each board member elected at large by all voters in the entire school district. As of 2022, there were nine school districts with student enrollment of between 1,000 and 25,000.
School districts with student enrollment of 25,000 or more elect their school board members by sub-district, with one member elected from each of seven election districts (sub-districts). Members elected to represent a sub-district are elected by voters residing within that sub-district and must reside within that sub-district. As of 2022, there were two school districts in Nevada with student enrollment of 25,000 or more. For school districts with student enrollment of 25,000 or more but less than 75,000 (Washoe County School District as of 2022), there are two sets of overlapping sub-districts: (a) five each with approximately one-fifth of the county's population and (b) two each with approximately one-half of the county's population. For school districts with student enrollment of more than 75,000 (Clark County School District as of 2022), there are seven sub-districts approximately equal in population.
See law: Nevada Statutes Section 386.160 and Nevada Statutes Sections 386.200 and 386.205 and Nevada Statutes Section 386.165
How does Nevada 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
