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Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Oklahoma
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| Oklahoma overview: • Election dates: Off 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 Oklahoma are held on the second Tuesday in February every year.
School board general elections in Oklahoma are held on the first Tuesday in April every year.
See law: Oklahoma Statute §70-5-107A. Boards of education of school districts - Membership - Election procedure
There were 509 public school districts in Oklahoma with a total of 2,366 school board member seats as of 2022. Those school districts operated a total of 1,717 schools serving 657,388 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 Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma are held on the second Tuesday in February every year. School board primary elections are only held if more than two candidates run for a school board member seat. If two candidates run, the primary is canceled and both candidates advance to the general election.
School board general elections in Oklahoma are held on the first Tuesday in April every year.
See law: Oklahoma Statute §70-5-107A. Boards of education of school districts - Membership - Election procedure
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: December 3, 2025
- Primary election date: February 10, 2026
- General election date: April 7, 2026
Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates
The deadline for candidates to file for regular school board elections is the Wednesday following the first Monday in December in the year before the February primary election. Candidates must submit their filing by 5:00 pm on the day of the filing deadline.
See law: Oklahoma Statute §26-13A-110
The beginning of the three-day window for candidates to file for regular school board elections is the first Monday in December in the year before the February primary election. The filing period opens at 8:00 am on the first day of the filing period.
See law: Oklahoma Statute §26-13A-110
Newly elected school board members officially take office at the first school board meeting taking place after the results of the election have been certified.
See law: Oklahoma Statute §70-5-107A. Boards of education of school districts - Membership - Election procedure
Election system
Types of elections
School board members in Oklahoma 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: Oklahoma Statute §70-5-107A. Boards of education of school districts - Membership - Election procedure
Party labels on the ballot
School board elections in Oklahoma are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates.
See law: Oklahoma Statute §70-5-107A. Boards of education of school districts - Membership - Election procedure
What it takes to win an election
The top two school board candidates with the most votes in the nonpartisan primary advance to the general election as long as none of them receives more than 50% of the vote. If only two candidates file for the primary election, they automatically advance to the general election. If there are three or more candidates on the ballot for the primary election and one receives more than 50% of the vote, that candidate wins the election outright and is elected to office, and the general election is canceled.
The school board candidate with the most votes in the general election is elected to office. In Oklahoma, school board candidates can be elected outright in the nonpartisan primary election.
See law: Oklahoma Statute §70-5-107A. Boards of education of school districts - Membership - Election procedure
Number, terms, and types of school board seats
Number of board members
Districts with average student attendance of more than 30,000 can opt to elect a chair of the board in addition to other school board members. Of the 509 total school districts in Oklahoma, 407 (80%) had five-member boards, 96 (19%) had three-member boards, and five (1%) had seven-member boards. Oklahoma City Schools was the only district that had opted to have an additional elected chair of the school board, increasing its number of board members from seven to eight.
Elementary school districts have three-member boards with three-year terms. Districts with average student attendance of more than 30,000 can opt to elect a chair of the board in addition to other school board members. As of 2022, Oklahoma City Schools — an independent school district not an elementary school district — was the only district that had opted to have an additional elected chair of the school board.
Independent school districts (any district with K-12 grades) can have either five-member boards with five-year terms or seven-member boards with four-year terms. Districts with average student attendance of more than 30,000 can opt to elect a chair of the board in addition to other school board members. Districts with average student attendance of more than 30,000 can opt to elect a chair of the board in addition to other school board members, which would increase the total number of board members to either six or eight. As of 2022, Oklahoma City Schools was the only district that had opted to have an additional elected chair of the school board, increasing its number of board members from seven to eight.
See law: Oklahoma Statute §70-5-107A. Boards of education of school districts - Membership - Election procedure
Board member term lengths
School districts with three board members have three-year board member terms. School districts with five members have five-year board member terms. School districts with seven members have four-year board member terms. Elementary school district board members have three-year terms. Independent school districts (which serve grades K-12) have school boards with five-year terms or four-year terms, depending on how many school board members they have. Districts with average student attendance of more than 30,000 can opt to elect a chair of the board in addition to other school board members. The chair must be elected at large to four-year terms. As of 2022, Oklahoma City Schools was the only district that had opted to have an additional elected chair of the school board.
Elementary school districts have three-member boards with three-year terms. Districts with average student attendance of more than 30,000 can opt to elect a chair of the board in addition to other school board members. The chair must be elected at large to four-year terms. As of 2022, Oklahoma City Schools — an independent school district not an elementary school district — was the only district that had opted to have an additional elected chair of the school board.
Independent school districts (any district with K-12 grades) can have either five-member boards with five-year terms or seven-member boards with four-year terms. Independent school districts (which serve grades K-12) have school boards with five-year terms or four-year terms, depending on how many school board members they have. Districts with average student attendance of more than 30,000 can opt to elect a chair of the board in addition to other school board members. The chair must be elected at large to four-year terms. As of 2022, Oklahoma City Schools was the only district that had opted to have an additional elected chair of the school board.
See law: Oklahoma Statute §70-5-107A. Boards of education of school districts - Membership - Election procedure
School board member election staggering
Elementary school districts must stagger school board elections so that one of three board seats is up for regular election every year for a three-year term. School districts with average student attendance of more than 30,000 can opt to add an elected chair of the board in addition to their other board members. This chair of the board must be elected at large to four-year terms. As of 2022, Oklahoma City Schools was the only district that had opted to have an additional elected chair of the school board.
School boards with five members must stagger elections so that one board seat is up for regular election every year for five-year terms. School boards with seven members must stagger elections so that either one or two board seats are up for regular election every year for four-year terms, with one seat up in one year and two seats up in three years for every four-year period. School districts with average student attendance of more than 30,000 can opt to add an elected chair of the board in addition to their other board members. This chair of the board must be elected at large to four-year terms. As of 2022, Oklahoma City Schools was the only district that had opted to have an additional elected chair of the school board.
See law: Oklahoma Statute §70-5-107A. Boards of education of school districts - Membership - Election procedure and Oklahoma Statute §26-13A-110
Representation: elections at-large or by sub-districts
School districts either elect all regular school board members at large, or they elect all regular school board members from residence areas (sub-districts) with one board member elected by the voters of each sub-district. Elementary school districts must elect school board members at large. Any school district with an average daily student attendance of fewer than 1,800 students may choose to elect school board members at large instead of from sub-districts. Other school districts must elect school board members by sub-districts. Independent school districts that contain a city and for which less than 20% of the population of the school district resides outside of the city's limits may use the city's ward boundaries instead of drawing its own sub-district boundaries. Board members elected from sub-districts must reside within that sub-district when elected and for the duration of their terms. School districts with average student attendance of more than 30,000 can opt to elect a chair of the school board at large, which means that if other board members are elected by sub-district, that district would use a combination of elections at large and elections by sub-district elections. Of the 509 public school districts in Oklahoma, 406 (80%) elected all of their school board members at large as of 2022, while 102 (20%) elected all of their school boards from sub-districts. One district, the Oklahoma City Public Schools District, had opted to elect a school board chair — a position elected at large — while the remaining members were elected from sub-districts.
Elementary school districts must elect all three of their school board members at large from the whole district. School districts with average daily attendance of more than 30,000 can add an elected chair to the board, who must be elected at-large to four-year terms. Out of the total 509 public school districts in Oklahoma, 94 school districts had 3-member school boards as of 2022. No district with three regular board members had added an elected chair.
Independent school districts (any district with K-12 grades) with average student attendance of more than 1,800 must elect all of their regular board members by sub-district. Districts with average student attendance of more than 30,000 can, in addition, elect a chair of the board. The chair must be elected at large to four-year terms. Out of the 509 total public school districts in Oklahoma, Oklahoma Public Schools — which elects its regular board members by sub-district — was the only district as of 2022 that had opted to elect a chair of the board and, therefore, was the only district with a combination of board members elected by sub-district and at-large.
Independent school districts (any district with K-12 grades) with average student attendance of fewer than 1,800 can opt to elect all of their board members at large. By default, independent school districts elect all of their board members by sub-district.
Independent school districts (any district with K-12 grades) with average student attendance of more than 1,800 must elect all of their regular board members by sub-district.
See law: Oklahoma Statute §70-5-107A. Boards of education of school districts - Membership - Election procedure
How does Oklahoma 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: |
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Footnotes
