House Bill 117 to change when school board elections are held has gained momentum with a 23-17 vote in favor of it in the state House of Representatives.
The bill would reschedule school board elections from their current timeslot in mid May to the General Election in November to save money and increase voter turnout.
The legislation would also reduce the five-year terms of school board members to four years.
The bill is now in the hands of the Senate. The Delaware General Assembly’s legislative term ends June 30.
The fiscal problems of the state’s two largest school districts – Christina and Red Clay – because of poor fiscal oversight a few years back help start a dialogue among legislators and constituents to make school board members more responsive to the community, said State Rep. Nick Manolakos (R-Limestone Hills. Namely, the feeling is that five-year terms are too much.
Lawmakers also believe the bill provides a remedy for historically low voter turnouts year in and year out for school board elections.
“Essentially, 2 percent of the people are electing those who control one-third of tax dollars,” said Manolakos, a co-sponsor. “Over a billion dollars go to education.
“On the other hand, I’ve had people tell me they’d rather have 2 percent who know what’s going rather than 80 percent who don’t [voting],” he said. “I don’t like that. This is a democracy.”
State Rep. Greg Lavelle (R-Sharpley) said he voted against the bill because it will politicize school board elections and the estimated $120,000 to $130,000 is not worth the tradeoff for one of the hallmarks of democracy - namely to hold elections.
“This bill will not put more resources in the classroom," he said.
Voters polled by the Community News during the May 12 school board election expressed support for the bill, seeing it as a common sense measure.
“It’ll save taxpayers money in the long run,” said Brandywine High School English teacher Roger Lessey. “I work in the schools, but you pay your district taxes and your federal and state taxes. Anything they can do to cut costs is beneficial for everyone.”
Lessey also likes the term limits since some school board members “sit there for years,” he said.
William and Beverly Bizjak, of Centerville Road, were voter Nos. 101 and 102 at Alexis I. duPont High School a quarter past 6 p.m. Polls opened at 10 a.m. and closed at 8 p.m.
“That’s a terrible turnout,” William Bizjak said. “We both think [the bill] would enhance voter turnout because a lot of people vote in the General Election. While they’re here, they’ll vote for school board elections.”
Some critics, such as current board members and educators, have said moving school board elections to November will politicize them.
When she was in the midst of her successful run for reelection, Brandywine Board of Education member Cheryl Siskin said she likes the fact that no one knows whether “a D or an R” goes after her name.
But the school board elections are already politicized, William Bizjak said. Never before had he received “so many glossy advertisements in the mail” and telephone calls for two of the Red Clay board candidates that he didn’t vote for anyway.
Maria Taylor, of Greenville, said school board elections are very labor intensive for a small group of people who vote.
“It’s silly not to save that kind of money if we can,” Taylor said.
