04/10/17  New Law Allows School Boards To Change When Elections Are Held

 

Annual school board election dates in Arkansas school districts will change, beginning in 2018 as the result of Act 910 signed this past week by Governor Hutchinson.

The annual school board elections have been held for many years on the 3rd Tuesday of September with the exception of a couple of districts that held elections for the first time last November.

With the new law, school boards can choose to hold elections when a preferential primary is held or would be held in the early part of the calendar year, or in November when a general election is held or would be held.

According to the Arkansas Democrat/Gazette, proponents of the act have said that holding school elections at the time of primaries or general elections will increase voter participation in the school board elections. House Bill 1621 to change the annual school board election date was opposed by  the Arkansas School Boards Association.