New bill could change school boards election dates & could add millions to OK schools
TULSA, OKLA (KTUL) — A push to align school board elections with on-cycle elections.
That would mean all school board elections, except for bond elections, will be held in election years.
This is not the first time a bill like this has been brought up for legislation.
According to Oklahoma representative Chris Banning, this bill has been up for legislation since 2018.
But now banning wants to push it through and give back millions of dollars to schools.
“If this passes, it’s going to save no less than 29 million dollars every two years for our amazing teachers,” said District 24 Oklahoma State representative, Chris Banning.
According to data from the Oklahoma cost accounting system, the Oklahoma deputy director calculated that $16.8 million was spent in 2023 on elections.
“This would move school board elections to the general cycles. For far too long, we have allowed school board elections to be dominated by the teacher’s union and radical left-wing education groups that have pushed against reform. Pushed back against parents' rights. It is time to move these elections to the general election to get more people involved,” said State Superintendent, Ryan Walters.
If this bill passes in February, it could repurpose about 17 million dollars for Oklahoma school needs.
And Banning says he wants to keep every red cent in the school system something that has never been proposed in previous bills.
“There was no scenario where moving the elections to a primary or general that it decreased the vote. It always increased the vote, said banning. And if we do that while repurposing $29 million for a school. Why wouldn’t we?”
Right now Oklahoma is only one of 12 states that mandate to hold off-cycle rotations.
This bill in totality will change the dates of school board elections, except for bond elections.
It will add more money to schools and possibly lead to more voter turnout for school elections.
But everybody is not on board with this bill that has been talked about for years now.
John Croisant, the Tulsa Public Schools Vice President board member, says it’s going to cost more money out of the district's pockets when running for future elections.
“My personal viewpoint, having run for school board now twice in 2020 and in 2024 is that we should keep elections for school board races where they are. In separate elections and there are a few reasons for that. Number one is cost. We don’t pay our school board members. The most they can make by state law is $100 a month. My election in 2024 cost $40,000 plus,” said Tulsa Public Schools Vice President board member, John Croisant.
Banning told me that school board members don’t have to spend any money on campaign materials if they would go knock on someone’s door and ask for their vote.