OKLAHOMA CITY – After languishing in the Oklahoma House for almost a year, a bill that would move public school elections to November cleared the House Rules Committee last Monday.
Senate Bill 962, authored by Senate Pro Tempore Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City and House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, would move the date of school board elections from April to November, aligning those elections with the general election of U.S. President.
Though the bill passed the Senate on a 38-9 vote in 2021, it had remained stalled in the House. On Monday, state Rep. Kevin West, a Republican from Moore, carried the bill for McCall.
West said the measure was a ‘baby step’ toward moving all state elections to November. “In talking to the election board, moving all elections to November could post a lot of unintended consequences with longer wait times,” he said. “I think this is kind of a baby step word that to see what the ramifications would be.”
House Minority Leader Rep. Emily Virgin, D-Norman, said many school officials were worried that the move to the November election date would make school elections, which are currently non-partisan, more political.
Virgin said she was also concerned that the measure wasn’t vetted by the House committee on elections and that the measure’s ‘two-year buffer date’ was removed.
While some lawmakers said the bill could generate more interest in public school elections, some school officials have express concerns about the proposal.
Last year the Oklahoma State School Boards Association issued a legislative alert about the proposal, saying it would allow party politics” into school board races which, currently, are nonpartisan. The organization said moving the elections would be expensive and would keep quality candidates from running for office.
Senate Bill 962 passed the House Rules Committee on a 5-2 vote. Virgin and Rep. Mauree Turner, D-Oklahoma City voted against the bill. The measure is expected to be heard by the full House of Representatives soon.