Souza still pushing school election bill
COEUR d’ALENE — Increasing participation in local elections may seem like an insurmountable challenge.
But one state senator is continuing her attempts to raise voter turnout in what she sees as one of the most important, yet underrepresented, aspects of local governing — school district boards.
On Monday, Sen. Mary Souza, R-Coeur d’Alene, pitched to the Senate Education Committee a bill she is sponsoring to alter the way school district trustees are elected throughout the state. Souza told members of the committee she did a random review of 2015 trustee elections in 22 school districts, half of which had less than 12 percent voter turnout.
“We need to increase the very, very low turnout in school board elections,” Souza said. “They are a critical part of the educational system.”
If passed, the bill would implement three changes to how school district trustees are voted into office:
1. Changes the date of school board elections from May in odd-numbered years to the date of the general election in November, which takes place in even-numbered years.
2. Aligns trustee districts with county voting precincts as much as possible to, according to Souza, streamline ballot creation and reduce polling-place errors.
3. Gives local school boards the option to retain voting by zones, where residents only vote in the trustee race that falls within their voting zone, or district-wide voting, where residents within the school district vote in every trustee race.
Souza read excerpts of letters of support to the nine-member committee, from multiple North Idaho residents and elected officials, during the hearing. Coeur d’Alene City Councilman Dan Gookin wrote he believes Souza’s bill will increase voter turnout, while adding the turnout in elections for Coeur d’Alene’s trustees was so low in a recent election a trustee won with just over 200 votes.
“It was very frustrating to see a ridiculously low turnout at our school board elections in May,” added a letter by Jim Hightower, former Coeur d’Alene School District trustee. “School boards are vitally important to the whole election process.”
The committee also heard testimony from multiple groups expressing their opposition to the bill, including the Idaho School Board Association and the Idaho Association of Counties. Karen Echeverria, executive director of the school board association, said the organization was opposed to moving nonpartisan school board elections to a November general election ballot that is partisan.
Echeverria also discussed the logistical issues that could be created with new board members beginning their terms in January, the middle of the school year.
Souza responded to the concerns raised in testimony by stating she would be willing to amend the bill to address some of the logistical issues. She also encouraged the committee to think about stakeholder groups and what Souza sees as a desire among legislators not to upset those groups.
“But people in these groups work for our ultimate bosses — the citizens,” Souza said. “The benefit to the voters is tremendous. Better access to the school board elections will help more community members of all political flavors engage in the process and be more interested and invested in our schools and students.”
On a 6-3 vote, the committee ruled to send the bill for potential amendments. Once that process is completed, the bill will continue to make its way through the legislative process and will need support from the committee to reach the floor of the Senate for a vote.