Senate narrowly sends bill creating partisan school boards races to governor’s desk

School board elections will become partisan under legislation sent to the governor by the narrowest of margins Thursday.

Indiana will join less than a dozen states that put school board candidates’ party affiliation on the ballot.

The original bill would’ve forced all school board candidates to choose a party label and required major party candidates to run in primaries.

The final version of SEA 287 allows candidates to choose a label for the general election: Republican, Democrat, independent or nonpartisan.

Sen. Gary Byrne (R-Byrneville), the measure’s author, said it’s about transparency.

“These school boards control millions of dollars in property taxes,” Byrne said. “So, I would say that alone makes them political.”

But Sen. Liz Brown (R-Fort Wayne) said school board candidates’ political beliefs have never been an issue where she lives.

“Those school board members focus on the policy and how to get our K-12 kids to where they need to be to be successful citizens of the world,” Brown said.

Much of the opposition to the bill also came from concerns about a federal law — the Hatch Act — that bans federal employees from running for or serving in political positions.

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Even if a candidate chooses the nonpartisan label, Sen. Eric Bassler (R-Washington) said any other candidate in that race choosing a partisan label would force federal employees off the ballot.

“When you start narrowing that field, you start eliminating good candidates,” Bassler said.

Byrne said the Hatch Act could already be implicated in existing school board races, if one candidate simply declares affiliation with a party. He also said he couldn’t provide any examples of that happening.

The Senate approved the bill 26 to 24.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.