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Rules governing school board election dates and timing
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.
On this page you will find:
- navigation to articles about state rules governing school board election dates and timing in each state
- an overview of state laws governing school board election dates and timing across the U.S.
Laws governing school board election dates and timing in each state
Click your state on the map or in the list of links below to navigate to an article about school board election dates and timing in that state.
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Alabama
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Alaska
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Arizona
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Arkansas
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in California
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Colorado
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Connecticut
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Delaware
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Florida
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Georgia
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Hawaii
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Idaho
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Illinois
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Indiana
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Iowa
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Kansas
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Kentucky
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Louisiana
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Maine
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Maryland
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Massachusetts
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Michigan
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Minnesota
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Missouri
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Montana
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Nebraska
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Nevada
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in New Hampshire
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in New Jersey
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in New Mexico
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in North Carolina
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in North Dakota
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Ohio
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Oklahoma
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Oregon
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Pennsylvania
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Rhode Island
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in South Carolina
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in South Dakota
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Tennessee
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Texas
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Utah
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Vermont
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Virginia
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Washington
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in West Virginia
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Wisconsin
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing in Wyoming
Overview of state laws governing school board election dates and timing
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: |
Footnotes
