How to Run for Your City School Board

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1Becoming a Candidate

2Organizing Your Campaign

3Campaigning for Election

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If you care about the education of the children and teenagers in your area, one way to have a positive impact on the school system is to run for your city (or county) school board. As a school board member, you'll enact educational policies, help adopt the school budget, and make other decisions that can have a profound effect on the future of your area. If you want to run for a school board seat, you must first register as a candidate, then organize your campaign and set out on the trail to persuade voters to support you.

Steps

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Becoming a Candidate

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   Confirm you meet the eligibility requirements. Each state has specific requirements you must meet to be eligible to run as a candidate for a seat on your city school board. In addition to basic age and residency requirements, you must verify that there is an available seat up for grabs in the next election.

   • In most states, you must be at least 18 or 21 years of age and a U.S. citizen. You also must have been a legal resident who is registered to vote in the city in which you want to run for school board.
   • The length of time for the legal residency requirement varies among states, but generally is between 30 days to a year, typically measured backward from the date of election.
   • Many states also have laws prohibiting members of the school board from having conflicts of interest that would jeopardize the school district's reputation.
   • For example, if one of the duties of the school board is to choose textbooks each year, you wouldn't want a school board member who owned and operated a textbook publishing company. If the school board assigned textbooks published by that company, there would be a conflict of interest because the school board member would be seen to profit from their position on the board.
   • Most state school systems also will not allow you to run for a seat on the school board if you have been convicted of a felony or certain other crimes, such as violent crimes or those involving the abuse or neglect of children.
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   Conduct background research. In addition to the legal eligibility requirements, a seat on the school board may traditionally have additional unwritten requirements in your city with which you should be familiar. The job also carries certain responsibilities and time commitments.

   • Look into the education and experience of current school board members to get an idea of what types of career qualifications are considered essential for school board members.
   • Typically, people on the school board are educational professionals who have worked in the local school system for a number of years.
   • Depending on the size of your local school system, a seat on the school board may be a full- or part-time job. Before you launch your campaign, get an understanding of the responsibilities and time commitments to see if the role would fit into your schedule.
   • Sit down with your family and talk to them about the possibility of you being on the city school board. Explain to them the time and effort the campaign would involve, and what being on the school board would mean for you and for them if you were elected.
   • You may want to talk to current or former school board members to get their take on what it's like and what the job entails so you can make a more informed decision.
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   Hold an exploratory committee meeting. Get together with a few people who are close and trusted friends and colleagues to discuss the possibility of launching a campaign for your city school board so you can gauge support for the decision and evaluate your strengths and weaknesses as a candidate.

   • The people in your exploratory committee may not necessarily have substantial roles in your campaign, but they will be involved to the extent that they play a significant role in your life.
   • For example, if you are married, your spouse should be involved in this meeting. That doesn't mean they'll hold a position on your campaign staff, but they obviously will be a part of the campaign process.
   • Invite people who you respect and can trust to give you an informed, unbiased opinion about the possibility of running for your city school board as well as your chances of winning.
   • You also may want to include anyone you know who is currently, or was previously, a member of the school board. Their thoughts on how well you would fit the position will be invaluable.
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   Collect the required signatures. States typically require you to submit a petition with a specific number of signatures from registered voters whose primary place of residence is in the same district as the school board on which you want to serve.

   • The number of required signatures varies among states, and even within states depending on the size of the school district. You may need as few as 10 signatures or you may need 100 or more.
   • Typically your local elections office or your county clerk will have a form that you can use for the petition. You also may be able to use your own, but check to make sure you're fulfilling all requirements if you decide to create your own petition.
   • Begin with close friends and family members who live in the district, as they will be most likely to sign your petition and won't require any information about you or your campaign since they already know you.
   • Another good way to get signatures is to canvass the neighborhood where you live. Go door to door asking residents if they are registered to vote. If they are, explain that you are a neighbor and want to get on the ballot for a school board seat in the next election.
   • Keep in mind that some states require school board candidates to be members of political parties and run in primaries before the general election. If this is the rule in your state, there may be an additional requirement that all the signatures on your petition must be individuals registered as members of your political party.
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   Complete your registration forms. Check with your local elections office to find out what registration forms you must complete and submit with your petition if you want to run for your city school board.

   • The school board typically has a form that requires identifying information about yourself such as your name, date of birth, and home address.
   • You also may be required to submit a government-issued identification card as part of the process.
   • Most states also require an initial financial disclosure form, as well as a separate disclosure form related to any potential conflicts of interest.
   • You may want to consult an attorney if you have any questions about particular financial details or activities that you're not sure to constitute a conflict of interest.
   • Some states require school board candidates to be a member of a particular political party and run in a primary. If this is the case in your district, you typically must designate your party affiliation on your registration form and be registered to vote with that party.
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   File your petition and forms. To register as a candidate for a seat on your city school board, you must file all required documents – typically with your local election commission – by your state's deadline.

   • Check with your county clerk or local elections office to find out what the deadlines are to register your candidacy.
   • Some cities also may require you to pay a small fee to register your candidacy for the school board.
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Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Organizing Your Campaign

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   Compile statistical information. To design a campaign plan, you need to know exactly how many registered voters potentially could vote in the city school board, as well as basic demographic data about those voters and the types of issues that potentially motivate them.

   • You typically can get this information at your local elections office or from your party's office. Statistical data regarding registered voters is routinely made available to all candidates.
   • You may want to purchase a large local map – or download a digital file and get a large copy printed up. The large map will enable you to make notes and plan your campaign strategy more effectively.
   • Create spreadsheets that categorize registered voters by location and across other demographic data to which you have access. The spreadsheet will enable you to easily find and target voters that meet specific criteria, so you can more effectively communicate your message.
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   Build your platform. Your platform is your personal stance on various issues that are important in the community, as well as other proposals you'd like to see enacted or changes you'd like to make in the school administration and operations.

   • Look at past campaigns to see which issues were important then, and review school board records to determine what happened in those areas after the election.
   • You also want to review local news media to find out what particular issues are capturing the attention of people in your area.
   • Review the basic job description and responsibilities of a school board member so you know how much power you will have on the school board, and use those responsibilities to tailor your platform.
   • You may want to consider creating a campaign website and social media accounts so you can discuss your platform in real time and engage voters directly.
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   Devise a written campaign plan. The campaign plan analyzes the data you've gathered about the number of voters and calculates the percentage of votes you need to win based on the size of the candidate field, and where those votes will most likely come from.

   • Look at the number of registered voters in your district, then look at past elections to estimate what the average voter turnout will be.
   • Keep in mind that you can't expect all – or even most – registered voters to show up on election day, and even those who do may not bother to vote for local elections.
   • Evaluate the other candidates in the race to determine a rough estimate of the raw number and percentage of votes you'll need to win, then add a cushion to the top of it to be safe. This will be the number of votes you'll shoot for in your campaign.
   • The number of other candidates in the race is sometimes less important than who those candidates are. You and others who you've recruited to work on your campaign will need to do research on the other candidates to identify their strengths and weaknesses so you can set yourself apart from them.
   • The amount and type of research you do on other candidates – also known as "opposition research" or "oppo" – typically won't be as detailed or extensive for a school board race as it would be for a senate or presidential race. However, local elections can get pretty heated depending on the personalities involved, so you need to be prepared.
   • Look for candidates in the past whose strengths were similar to yours, and study their campaigns closely so you can emulate their strategies.
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   Choose people to manage and coordinate your campaign. At a minimum, you must have a campaign manager to manage other staffers and volunteers, and a treasurer to handle the campaign finances and file required reports.

   • Your campaign manager will be in charge of recruiting staffers and volunteers as needed, as well as giving people assignments and evaluating their performance.
   • Your campaign manager also may make appointments for meetings, public speeches, or media appearances – or you may want to have someone working as a scheduler who does nothing but control and manage your calendar.
   • The treasurer is legally responsible for maintaining campaign funds and issuing reports to the state or local elections commission, so this is another important staff position that must be filled, even for a small school board campaign.
   • Depending on the size of your campaign, you may have other staff members you want to bring on board. For a school board race, you typically won't have the need for a dedicated pollster or data analyst, for example, but you may want to have someone in charge of volunteers or someone specifically in charge of fundraising.
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Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Campaigning for Election

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   Raise money. Even if you're just running for the city school board, an election campaign requires significant capital. You have to be able to travel to different areas, hold events, and create signs, mailers, and commercials.

   • If you've got someone on staff specifically charged with managing the fundraising effort, it will be their job to set goals and figure out what needs to be done to meet those goals.
   • Without a fundraising coordinator, you're on your own to figure out ways to raise money for your campaign. If you have a website, you can easily put a donate button there, but don't count on a trickle of passive donations to cover your campaign expenses.
   • If you have personal funds you can donate to your campaign, that's great – but it's not advisable to fund your campaign expenses with credit cards or take out a second mortgage on your house just to run for your city school board.
   • Fundraising events can be a good way to get donations as well as solidify your base of support. For example, a relatively simple dinner at $25 or $50 a plate, followed by a speech from you and a little entertainment, can help you raise several thousand dollars.
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   Recruit volunteers. Especially for a local election, volunteers will be the heart and soul of your campaign. You need people to call and visit voters, hand out signs and pamphlets, and help communicate your message.

   • Since you're running for the school board, consider recruiting high school and college students. Particularly if you have a college or university in your district, talk to a political science professor and see if they're willing to give extra credit to students who work on your campaign.
   • Retirees also make excellent volunteers. Often they've lived in the district for a number of years, and may even have had children go through the schools. They're connected to people in the community and can help spread the word about your campaign.
   • Use volunteers to run your phone banks, canvass neighborhoods, and hand out signs and fliers at events.
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   Get your message out. Your main job as a candidate is to let the voters know what you plan to do once elected, and why the people in your community should vote for you. Public speeches, debates, and campaign events help educate voters about your position on the issues.

   • Check with the city or county clerk to find out what permits are necessary to hold a rally in a park or other public space.
   • Have your campaign manager call the local newspaper or local television news affiliate and schedule an interview with you.
   • If issues of interest or urgency to your campaign show up in local news, call and offer to comment or write a letter to the editor of the paper explaining your position on that issue and the reasons you're running for city school board.
   • Social media may be your greatest tool in getting your message out. Social media accounts are free and enable you to connect directly with voters.
   • Reach out to your volunteers and campaign staff members and encourage them to follow the campaign's social media accounts and share posts on their personal accounts.
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   Pay attention to voter response. While you may not have the funds to conduct your own polls, review media coverage after public events to figure out how your message is playing with the public and adjust your focus and tone where necessary.

   • This doesn't mean that you're changing your position to follow the whims of the electorate. Rather, understanding how people are reacting to your statements can help you finesse your message so it resonates with voters.
   • If you want people to vote for you, it's important to find a way to appeal to them and convince them that you are the right person for the job. This may mean leaning on your credentials or experience, or it may mean invoking the passion that you feel for education.
   • While you want to be able to adapt to voter reactions and responses to some of your statements, do your best to stay on message. You want your message to be consistent throughout the campaign – otherwise, you'll look like a flip-flopper – but you also want to show that you're responsive to the voters and don't ignore their concerns.
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