Merrill Community Schools, Michigan, elections

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Merrill Community Schools
District details
School board members: 7
Students: 522 (2022-2023)
Schools: 3 (2022-2023)
Website: Link

Merrill Community Schools is a school district in Michigan (Gratiot, Saginaw, and Midland counties). During the 2023 school year, 522 students attended one of the district's three schools.

This page provides information regarding school board members, election rules, finances, academics, policies, and more details about the district.

Jump to a section:

Elections School board Location Budget Academic performance Students Staff Schools

Elections

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• 2024

Per our coverage scope, Ballotpedia does not provide election results for this particular race. Check your city or county government's election website for vote totals.

Merrill Community Schools, At-large

General election

Special general election for Merrill Community Schools, At-large (3 seats)

Caitlyn Frost and Peter Theisen ran in the special general election for Merrill Community Schools, At-large on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Caitlyn Frost (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Peter Theisen (Nonpartisan)

---

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Per our coverage scope, Ballotpedia does not provide election results for this particular race. Check your city or county government's election website for vote totals.

Merrill Community Schools, At-large

General election

General election for Merrill Community Schools, At-large (3 seats)

Debbie Evans, Mark Gath, and Maryann Smith ran in the general election for Merrill Community Schools, At-large on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Debbie Evans (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Mark Gath (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Maryann Smith (Nonpartisan)

---

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Election rules

View election rules

 

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.

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

Election system

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

See law: Michigan Statute Section 380.384

Party labels on the ballot

See also: Rules governing party labels in 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."

See law: Michigan Statute Section 168.303 and Section 168.699

Winning an election

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

See law: Michigan Statute Section 168.307

Term length and staggering

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.

See law: Michigan Statute Section 380.11a and Michigan Statute Section 380.384

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.

See law: Michigan Statute Section 380.384 and Michigan Statute Section 168.301

Representation: at large vs. by sub-district

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

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

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.

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.

See law: Michigan Statute Section 380.384 and Section 168.302

 

About the district

School board

Merrill Community Schools consists of seven members serving six-year terms. To find information about school board meetings, click here.

List of school board members

Name	Year assumed office	Year term ends
Caitlyn Frost
Crystal Jordan
Maryann Smith
Mark Gath		2030
Debra Evans		2026
Beth Ann Miller		2026
Peter Theisen		2026

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District map

School district map

Overlapping state house districts

Merrill Community Schools

Office Name	Current Officeholder	Party	% School District Covered	% Other District Covered
Michigan House of Representatives District 93	Tim Kelly	Republican Party	82%	7%
Michigan House of Representatives District 95	Bill G. Schuette	Republican Party	18%	3%

The table was limited to the lower chamber because it provides the most granularity. State house districts tend to be more numerous and therefore smaller than state senate or U.S. House districts. This provides an impression of the partisan affiliations in the area.

Budget

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.

• Revenue
• Expenditures

Revenue, 2020-2021

SOURCE	AMOUNT	AMOUNT PER STUDENT	PERCENT
Federal:	$1,073,000	$1,972	13%
Local:	$2,483,000	$4,564	29%
State:	$4,984,000	$9,162	58%
Total:	$8,540,000	$15,699

Expenditures, 2020-2021

TYPE	AMOUNT	AMOUNT PER STUDENT	PERCENT
Total Expenditures:	$6,914,000	$12,709
Total Current Expenditures:	$5,947,000	$10,931
Instructional Expenditures:	$3,546,000	$6,518	51%
Student and Staff Support:	$298,000	$547	4%
Administration:	$817,000	$1,501	12%
Operations, Food Service, Other:	$1,286,000	$2,363	19%
Total Capital Outlay:	$76,000	$139
Construction:	$0	$0
Total Non El-Sec Education & Other:	$25,000	$45
Interest on Debt:	$415,000	$762

Academic performance

Each year, state and local education agencies use tests and other standards to assess student proficiency. Although the data below was published by the U.S. Department of Education, proficiency measurements are established by the states. As a result, proficiency levels are not comparable between different states and year-over-year proficiency levels within a district may not be comparable because states may change their proficiency measurements. To protect student privacy, percentages are reported as ranges for groups of 300 students or fewer. If five or fewer students were included in a data set, the data will display as "PS."

• Mathematics
• Reading/language arts
• Graduation rates

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year	All (%)	Asian/Pacific Islander (%)	Black (%)	Hispanic (%)	Native American (%)	Two or More Races (%)	White (%)
2020-2021	19			<50		PS	20-24
2018-2019	29			<=20	PS	PS	30-34
2017-2018	27			21-39	PS	<50	25-29
2016-2017	35	PS		<=20	PS	PS	35-39
2015-2016	40			21-39	PS	<50	42
2014-2015	35			<=20	PS	<50	36
2013-2014	41		PS	<=20	PS	PS	43
2012-2013	39		PS	21-39	PS	<50	40
2011-2012	33	PS	PS	<=20	PS	PS	35
2010-2011	82	PS		40-59	PS	PS	83

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year	All (%)	Asian/Pacific Islander (%)	Black (%)	Hispanic (%)	Native American (%)	Two or More Races (%)	White (%)
2020-2021	32			<50		PS	30-34
2018-2019	37			<=20	PS	PS	35-39
2017-2018	26			<=20	PS	<50	25-29
2016-2017	43	PS		21-39	PS	PS	40-44
2015-2016	48			21-39	PS	<50	49
2014-2015	47			21-39	PS	<50	47
2013-2014	74		PS	40-59	PS	PS	75
2012-2013	65		PS	60-79	PS	>=50	65
2011-2012	63	PS	PS	60-79	PS	PS	63
2010-2011	80	PS		60-79	PS	PS	81

The following table shows the graduation rate of district students each school year:

School year	All (%)	Asian/Pacific Islander (%)	Black (%)	Hispanic (%)	Native American (%)	Two or More Races (%)	White (%)
2019-2020	80-89			PS	PS		80-89
2018-2019	>=90		PS	PS	PS	PS	>=90
2017-2018	50-59			PS			50-59
2016-2017	50-59			PS		PS	50-59
2015-2016	80-89			PS			80-89
2014-2015	90-94			PS			>=90
2013-2014	80-89		PS	PS			80-89
2012-2013	90-94			PS			90-94
2011-2012	>=90			PS			>=90
2010-2011	>=95		PS	PS		PS	>=95

Students

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.

• Enrollment
• Demographics

Year	Enrollment	Year-to-year change (%)
2022-2023	522	1.0
2021-2022	517	-5.2
2020-2021	544	-1.7
2019-2020	553	-4.5
2018-2019	578	-5.4
2017-2018	609	-2.8
2016-2017	626	-1.1
2015-2016	633	-6.6
2014-2015	675	-2.5
2013-2014	692	-6.1
2012-2013	734	2.2
2011-2012	718	-7.2
2010-2011	770	-2.1
2009-2010	786	-2.8
2008-2009	808	-5.1
2007-2008	849	0.8
2006-2007	842	0.7
2005-2006	836	-3.6
2004-2005	866	-3.5
2003-2004	896	0.0
2002-2003	896	-2.5
2001-2002	918	-2.7
2000-2001	943	0.2
1999-2000	941	0.0

Racial Demographics, 2022-2023

RACE	Merrill Community Schools (%)	Michigan K-12 STUDENTS (%)
American Indian/Alaska Native	0.4	0.6
Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander	0.2	3.6
Black	1.2	18.1
Hispanic	4.8	8.9
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	0.0	0.1
Two or More Races	1.5	5.1
White	92.0	63.6

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Staff

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.

• Teachers
• Administrators
• Other staff

As of the 2022-2023 school year, Merrill Community Schools had 35.10 full-time classroom teachers. The student-teacher ratio was 14.87.

Teachers, 2022-2023 school year

TYPE	NUMBER OF TEACHERS
Prekindergarten:	0.00
Kindergarten:	4.00
Elementary:	13.00
Secondary:	17.10
Total:	35.10

Merrill Community Schools employed 8.22 district administrators and 0.50 school administrators as of the 2022-2023 school year.

Administrators, 2022-2023 school year

TYPE	NUMBER OF ADMINISTRATORS
District Administrators:	8.22
District Administrative Support:	1.00
School Administrators:	0.50
School Administrative Support:	5.75

Other staff, 2022-2023 school year

TYPE	NUMBER OF OTHER STAFF
Instructional Aides:	4.93
Instruc. Coordinators & Supervisors:	0.00
Total Guidance Counselors:	1.00
Elementary Guidance Counselors:	1.00
Secondary Guidance Counselors:	0.00
Librarians/Media Specialists:	0.00
Library/Media Support:	0.00
Student Support Services:	1.11
Other Support Services:	32.65

Schools

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.

Merrill Community Schools operates three schools. They are listed below in alphabetical order.

List of schools

SCHOOL NAME	NUMBER OF STUDENTS	GRADES
Merrill Elementary School	210	PK-5
Merrill High School	185	9-12
Merrill Middle School	127	6-8

About school boards

Education legislation in Michigan

Bills are monitored by BillTrack50 and sorted by action history.

See also

School Boards	Education Policy	Local Politics	Michigan
List of school districts in Michigan Michigan school board elections, 2025 School board elections, 2025 School board recalls School board authority in Michigan	Michigan Department of Education Public education in Michigan	Municipal government Local courts Local ballot measures Recalls	Michigan Michigan elections, 2025 Michigan State Legislature Michigan state executive offices

External links

Office website

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