School Boards

As the group has amassed widespread conservative support and donor funding, its focus on education ensures that school board elections will remain some of the most contentious political fights next year.

DeSantis also signed a bill that places an eight-year term limits for school board members.

Twenty-six people applied to be the next superintendent of Broward County Public Schools, but the district's search consultant says he's only really confident in two. Florida politics are partially to blame, he says.

Said Senate President Kathleen Passidomo: “After all, the Legislature is term-limited out at eight years, and what’s good for us is good for pretty much anybody else.”

Opponents say the state shouldn’t politicize school board elections.

Historically, school-board candidates ran with partisan labels, but voters in 1998 passed a constitutional amendment to shift to non-partisan races.

If the proposal is ultimately approved by the Legislature and by voters, board candidates could run with party affiliations starting in 2026.

Florida Republicans have been trying for years to make local school board races partisan, but it may finally happen this time, if Florida voters agree.

A Florida House subcommittee voted in support of putting a proposed constitutional amendment on the 2024 ballot.

The board and Superintendent Vickie Cartwright agreed to a mutual separation agreement, suggested by board member Debbi Hixon, on Tuesday. But a vote is still pending.

More school board candidates are seeking office for political reasons than in decades past, and voters need to be savvy at the polls, says Florida Atlantic University associate professor Meredith Mountford.

An appeals panel upheld a district judge’s denial of a preliminary injunction against the policy, which Moms for Liberty members contend violates First Amendment rights.