Bill to force school board elections to November ballots once again introduced in Oklahoma legislature

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — An Oklahoma lawmaker has again filed a bill that would require school board elections to be held on the same day as presidential or gubernatorial elections, which he says would help voter turnout and save school districts money.

Opponents say it would politicize what are supposed to be nonpartisan school board races.

This week, State Rep. Chris Banning (R-Bixby) filed House Bill 1151, which would require public school districts in Oklahoma to hold their school board elections at the same time as November general elections, every other year.

Banning filed HB1151 this year after he ran a similar bill last year, which did not pass.

“I love public schools with all my heart,” Banning told News 4.

But Banning says, in recent years, he’s felt like some members of his local school board haven’t been listening to him.

“I saw some of the school board votes that were really getting out of the way of community standards,” Banning said.

By “community standards,” Banning says he means things he feels a community wouldn’t want in their schools.

“There are some books that some parents thought were inappropriate,” Banning said. “A few school board members decided that they were going to vote to keep those books in.”

That, he says, spurred him to start doing some research and decided that the current way Oklahomans choose their school boards doesn’t lend itself well to getting people who fit his “community standards” elected.

The way things work now, school districts hold school board elections once a year, in February or April, depending on the year.

Depending on the district, board members serve either a three or five-year term.

School districts have to cover the cost of holding those elections.

Voter turnout is usually fairly low, typically only bringing out people who are highly motivated to vote.

Banning thinks that has led to candidates who don’t fit his idea of “community standards,” getting elected.

“We don’t need a school board member with a doctorate in education,” Banning said.
“That’s not what we’re looking for.”

He says that’s why he’s running HB 1151.

Under HB 1151, school board elections would only be held every other year—on the same day as general elections in November, when people vote for things like governor or president.

He says more people tend to turn out for those elections, so it would help more voters have a say in school board races.

Board members would move to four-year terms.

Since school board elections would fall on the same day as a general election, school districts wouldn’t have to pay costs to run the election.

In addition to Banning’s House bill, State Senator Ally Seifried (R-Claremore) introduced a similar bill in the Senate.

While not identical to Banning’s, Seifried’s bill also proposes moving school board elections to November.

In a statement, she told News 4, in part:

“School boards are a critical part of shaping education policy and reform, yet Oklahoma consistently sees single-digit voter turnout in these elections. Moving school board elections to the general election ballot would significantly increase both voter participation and engagement.”

But the idea to force school board elections onto general election ballots faces a lot of opposition.

“School board elections are nonpartisan elections,” said State Senator Mark Mann (D-Oklahoma City), who used to be an Oklahoma City school board member.

Mann argues there’s a good reason school board elections are held apart from the general election, and moving them to November would defeat that purpose.

“It’s going to turn the races into a partisan race,” Mann said. “If you have someone running for school board in an area that’s heavily Democrat, they’re going to cater to the Democrats and they’re going to say, ‘I’m a Democrat and I’m going to go take care of our kids and I’m going to do this, this, and this.’ And likewise, if they’re in a Republican area, they’re going to do that. Whereas right now, that doesn’t happen.”

State Rep. Jacob Rosecrants (D-Norman) argues that if school board elections got lumped in with national and state elections, voters who turn out may not prioritize and research school board races as much as those who turn out for school board elections currently, when they’re all that is on the ballot.

“When you put it on another election where there’s so many other big races, rather, it could be state or federal elections, then I think that people start thinking less about, ‘okay, this is for school board’ and more about, ‘okay, this is who I’m going to vote for, for president or governor,’ and then just kind of vote that way down ballot,” Rosecrants said.

As for Banning, he says his main motivator for the bill is the cost savings for school districts, who’d no longer have to pay to run school board elections.

“And that’s what this bill does,” Banning said. “It actually repurposes millions of dollars back in the school system while increasing voter turnout,” Banning said.