By Sarah Ostergaard
The school board members who govern our LexRich5 schools are elected in nonpartisan elections to make and oversee policy in the best interests of all the stakeholders of the district.
Looking across the state, it is interesting to see the few different ways school board members are selected. According to data readily available on the SC School Board Association (SCSBA) website, 68 of 72 districts in SC hold elections to directly elect school board members. A few counties appoint their school board members. Of the 68 districts with elections, two have partisan school board elections (Horry and Lee). How school board members, and their chairs, are selected is purposefully left to local governance by state law so that each county / school district can determine the most suitable method of selecting those to govern its community’s schools.
What about the rest of the country? According to the website Ballotpedia, South Carolina is one of 5 states remaining that allows the locals (you and me) to determine how our school board members are selected to serve us. The other four states that do this are Georgia, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Tennessee. Elsewhere, each state’s government determines the process for electing school board members. Of those states, four have partisan school board elections.
Last year, there was a bill in the SC Legislature that would have converted just Lexington County’s school board elections from nonpartisan to partisan contests. Notwithstanding the conflict that our school district spans two different counties (and the inherent disenfranchisement of the people who live here, but that is another article for another time), the bill stalled and remained in committee. However, early in this current legislative session is a new bill seeking to effect that change in every SC county from the top down, to “provide that all elected members of the boards of trustees for school districts of this state must be elected in partisan elections” and to “provide that the provisions [herein] control in the event of a conflict with the local law provisions of a school district” (H. 3759).
What is in the best interests of LexRich5 constituents and stakeholders?
Over the past few years and over many topics, this monthly column has championed the idea that ensuring a high-quality education for our future leaders is tremendously important to, and the responsibility of, everyone in our community (see, e.g., August 2021). Introducing party affiliations to our school board elections may lead to decisions driven more by well-funded federal or state party agendas than by local educational efficiency and efficacy. It could weaken the ability of school board members to make decisions tailored to our specific community that serves over 17,000 children from all sorts of backgrounds. Make sure to note: these concerns are not unique to one specific political party but endemic to both sides of the aisle in the big leagues.
While there are additional functions, the school board member’s primary purpose is to work collaboratively with the other members to make and oversee policies for the proper and long-range functioning of our local LexRich5 schools. These policies directly affect our students and their families, and everyone who lives here, and everyone who works here, and everyone who owns a business here; “education weaves through every fabric within our community and we need it to succeed” (November, 2022). The people we elect to represent us in governing our schools are not supposed to “be subject to shifting political winds but provide steadfast guidance for district leadership to run our schools” (September, 2023).
Education is our shared responsibility that strengthens our entire community.
