California school board elections, 2026

Elections

State profile

Additional elections

Statistics

Ballotpedia covers tens of thousands of school board elections across the United States each year. This page contains links to this state's school districts where Ballotpedia is covering elections in 2026. The following table lists districts that overlap with the nation's 100 largest cities or that are among the nation's 200 largest school districts and for which Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage.

Editor's note: Some school districts choose to cancel the primary election, or both the primary and general election, if the number of candidates who filed does not meet a certain threshold. The table below does not reflect which primary or general elections were canceled. Please click through to each school district's page for more information.

2026 California School Board Elections

District	Primary	Primary Runoff	General Election	General Runoff Election	Seats up for election	Total board seats	2023-2024 enrollment
Alum Rock Union School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	7,367
Alvord Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	16,663
Anaheim Elementary School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	14,261
Anaheim Union High School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	4	5	27,195
Bakersfield City School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	2	5	28,761
Beardsley School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	1,946
Berryessa Union School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	6,026
Cambrian School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	3,014
Campbell Union High School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	8,613
Campbell Union School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	6,183
Capistrano Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	7	40,836
Central Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	5	7	15,956
Centralia Elementary School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	4,052
Chula Vista Elementary School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	22,285
Clovis Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	7	43,291
Colton Joint Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	4	7	18,912
Compton Unified School District	-	-	6/2/2026	-	4	7	16,738
Corona-Norco Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	2	5	50,256
Coronado Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	2,739
Cupertino Union School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	13,587
Del Mar Union School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	3,662
East Side Union High School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	20,471
Elk Grove Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	7	62,603
Escondido Union High School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	6,544
Evergreen Elementary School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	8,779
Fairfax Elementary School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	2,687
Fontana Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	33,205
Fowler Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	2,523
Franklin-McKinley School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	5,766
Fremont Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	2	5	33,063
Fremont Union High School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	9,646
Fresno Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	4	7	68,568
Fruitvale School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	4	5	3,078
Garden Grove Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	2	5	37,763
General Shafter School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	1	3	184
Grossmont Union High School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	16,566
Irvine Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	2	5	37,731
Kern High School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	43,116
Lamont Elementary School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	2,613
Lincoln Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	8,773
Lodi Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	4	7	27,172
Long Beach Unified School District	6/2/2026	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	63,966
Los Angeles Unified School District	6/2/2026	-	11/3/2026	-	3	7	419,929
Magnolia School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	2	5	4,920
Manteca Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	5	7	25,000
Moreland School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	3,863
Moreno Valley Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	31,344
Morgan Hill Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	4	7	7,963
Mount Pleasant Elementary School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	1,549
National Elementary School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	4,200
Natomas Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	2	5	14,950
Newhall School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	5,928
Newport-Mesa Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	4	7	17,768
Norris School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	3,991
Oak Grove School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	8,714
Oakland Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	7	33,916
Orange Center School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	248
Orange Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	4	7	24,266
Orchard Elementary School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	760
Panama-Buena Vista Union School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	19,369
Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	2	5	22,705
Poway Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	34,935
Redlands Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	2	5	19,673
Rialto Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	2	5	23,461
Rio Bravo-Greeley Union School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	2	5	1,037
Riverside Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	2	5	38,855
Robla Elementary School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	1,919
Rosedale Union Elementary School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	6,213
Sacramento City Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	7	38,268
Saddleback Valley Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	2	5	23,199
San Bernardino City Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	7	44,712
San Diego Unified School District	6/2/2026	-	11/3/2026	-	2	5	95,492
San Dieguito Union High School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	12,364
San Francisco Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	7	48,736
San Jose Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	2	5	25,059
San Juan Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	4	5	38,488
San Pasqual Union School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	527
San Ramon Valley Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	29,235
San Ysidro School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	4,205
Sanger Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	4	7	13,250
Santa Ana Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	2	5	38,031
Santa Clara Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	4	7	14,236
Santee School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	6,159
Saugus Union School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	9,192
Savanna Elementary School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	1,735
Solana Beach School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	4	5	2,730
Standard Elementary School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	3,030
Stockton Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	4	7	34,544
Sulphur Springs Union School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	5,211
Sweetwater Union High School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	35,226
Tracy Joint Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	4	7	13,846
Tustin Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	2	5	21,600
Twin Rivers Unified School District	-	-	6/2/2026	-	3	7	24,386
Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	3,711
Vineland Elementary School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	4	5	657
West Park Elementary School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	469
William S. Hart Union High School District	-	-	11/3/2026	-	3	5	20,685

Recalls

See also: Recall campaigns in California and School board recalls

State	Specific grounds required?	Signature requirement	Petition circulation time	When recalls can start
California	No	10% to 30% of registered voters (depending on population of jurisdiction)	40 to 160 days (depending on population of jurisdiction)	Recalls cannot start until an official has been in office for 90 days, and they cannot start in the last six months of an officer's term

State profile

Demographic data for California
	California	U.S.
Total population:	38,993,940	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	155,779	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	61.8%	73.6%
Black/African American:	5.9%	12.6%
Asian:	13.7%	5.1%
Native American:	0.7%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.4%	0.2%
Two or more:	4.5%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	38.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	81.8%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	31.4%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$61,818	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	18.2%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in California. **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.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in California

California voted for the Democratic candidate in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

More California coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in California
• United States congressional delegations from California
• Public policy in California
• Endorsers in California
• California fact checks
• More...

See also: California elections, 2026

What's on your ballot?

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The following charts show the total number of school board races and candidates covered by Ballotpedia each year since 2023.

Election data analysis

School board election data analysis, 2025

The following analysis includes school districts that overlap with the nation's 100 largest cities or that are among the nation's 200 largest school districts and for which Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage.

Ballotpedia covered school board elections for one seat in one school district in California in 2025. Below are some statistics about what happened in those elections. To read the full report on school board election analysis across the country in 2025, click here.

• 2 candidates ran for election, an average of 2 candidates per seat.
• 0% of school board incumbents ran for re-election, leaving 100% of the seats open for newcomers.
• No incumbents were elected to new seats, winning 0% of the seats up for election.
• Non-incumbent candidates won 1 of the seats.
• 0% of seats up for election were unopposed.

See also

California	School Boards	News and Analysis
Public education in California List of school districts in California School board elections in California School board authority in California	School board elections, 2026 School board elections, 2025 California school board elections, 2025	Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey School board election data analysis, 2025

Footnotes

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