Indiana House OKs partisan school board elections

Yahoo

02-04-2025

A bill that paves the way for partisan school board elections in Indiana has passed out of the House and is a step closer to becoming law.
On Monday, the House passed Senate Bill 287 by a vote of 54 to 40. The House's amended bill now goes back to the Senate.
According to Chalkbeat Indiana, which covers education issues, the bill passed by the House gives school board candidates the option to state a party affiliation (Republican or Democrat), identify as an independent or remain nonpartisan in general elections.
It creates mechanisms for county parties to challenge an affiliation, and provides that a straight ticket vote does not apply to school board offices. It also provides for optional raises for school board members.
The bill passed by the House doesn't require a primary election for school board candidates. However, in the version passed by the Senate, the bill would have required school board candidates to go through the same primary process as other political candidates, Chalkbeat reported.
The Senate can accept the House amendments, ask for a conference committee to iron out differences, or it could let the bill die.
State Rep. Bruce Borders, R-Jasonville, voted in favor. He said he originally opposed the legislation but changed his mind after further study.
'I think voters will be glad for this change,' he said. He believes it will prompt more people to run for school board and to vote in school board elections.
He also believes it will generate more interest in school board meetings.
Borders also believes that school board races already tend to be somewhat political, when considering campaign contributions.
'The more I got to looking at the money that was poured into a lot of school board races by the [Indiana State Teachers Association] … I thought, you know this is already in a sense a political race,' Borders said.
Rep. Tonya Pfaff, D-Terre Haute, voted against the bill.
In a statement, Pfaff said the bill makes Indiana's school board elections partisan, requiring candidates to run as Democrat, Republican, Independent or with a blank space next to their name.
Under the federal Hatch Act, employees of the U.S. government or organizations that receive federal funding are prohibited from engaging in partisan political activity, she said.
Turning school board races into partisan elections would effectively bar thousands of qualified, community-minded Hoosiers from serving in these vital roles.
'During a recent visit to Crane Naval Base — one of Indiana's largest high-tech employers — I was reminded just how many Hoosiers would be impacted by this change,' Pfaff stated.
'With over 3,800 employees, many of whom are deeply invested in their local schools, this bill would strip away their ability to serve on school boards simply because of where they work.'
Terry Spradlin, executive director of the Indiana School Boards Association, said that federal employees could still run, but if opposed by another candidate who declares party affiliation, then the race becomes partisan.
The federal employee would then have to make a choice to withdraw from the race. If the federal employee is uncontested, they can still serve, Spradlin said.
Pfaff said school boards should be focused on student success, not party politics.
'Injecting partisanship into these races opens the door to national political agendas creeping into our classrooms,' Pfaff said. 'Instead of picking political fights, let's tackle the real challenges: improving literacy, strengthening math skills, addressing the teacher shortage, and getting more students into college or prepared for the workforce. These aren't partisan goals — they're Hoosier priorities.'
Spradlin, in a statement, said ISBA has fought against the move to partisan school board elections for multiple legislative sessions dating back to 2022.
'ISBA's longstanding position has been to keep school board elections in our state as nonpartisan, like in 41 other states in the U.S.,' he said.
While the Indiana General Assembly has now voted to make school board elections partisan once new board members are elected, 'ISBA will encourage school board members to leave politics at the board room door by working collaboratively to focus on what is best for our 1 million public school students,' Spradlin stated.
While the bill is not yet law, 'It's pretty close to becoming a formality at this juncture,' he said. 'We've been told they [Senate] will concur with the changes.'
If the bill becomes law, it would take effect this July; however, there are no school board elections in Indiana in 2025.