Over the last few years, school board meetings have become a hotbed for political and cultural debates.
The primary role of local school boards is to include the community in public education decisions. While they mostly handle administrative tasks — such as approving teaching licenses and certificates, hiring and firing employees, and making budgetary and purchasing decisions — discussions are becoming more and more contested.
Several factors may be contributing to the increased politicization and polarization of school boards:
Despite the increased public engagement around cultural issues in schools, the top 10 policy topics being discussed in school boards across the country focus on the more mundane aspects of running a school district:
Based on the number of verified topics found in meeting minutes and agenda documents in the Curate database, these are the hottest topics discussed in school boards across the United States in the last six months.
Topic |
Number of Documents |
% of Total |
Request for Proposals (refers to elements of municipal bidding process — bid openings/announcements, deadlines, submission requirements) |
14,282 |
16.85% |
Superintendent Turnover (discussions/hiring/resignations, etc. related to School District Superintendents) |
4,357 |
5.14% |
Community Engagement (creation or amendment of citizen participation plans. Discussion of upcoming or recently completed surveys) |
3,871 |
4.57% |
Fair Treatment (refers to policies/programs, etc. surrounding the legal concept "that no group of people should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, governmental, and commercial operations or policies") |
3,508 |
4.14% |
Facility Projects (decisions about repairs, expansions, and other capital improvements to school-owned facilities) |
3,165 |
3.73% |
Strategic Plans (refers to a document written to communicate organizational goals) |
3,016 |
3.56% |
COVID-19 (refers to policies, plans, programs, and funding changes related to the Coronavirus disease/pandemic) |
2,538 |
2.99% |
State Legislation (refers to bills being considered in the state legislature that will enforce changes on how school boards are allowed to operate) |
2,417 |
2.85% |
Public Contracts (discussions surrounding procurement of goods and services) |
2,265 |
2.67% |
Food Services Industry (policies, broad issues, grants, etc. related to the food industry. Includes outdoor dining, food safety, food waste, and food inspections) |
2,189 |
2.58% |
Although fights over things like library book bans, trans students’ access to bathrooms, critical race theory, and policing and public safety in schools have been in the national spotlight, the routine issues like curriculum decisions, staffing issues, and purchasing decisions can also be controversial and impactful. Here are five reasons why your organization should pay attention to school board discussions.
K-12 students represent the future workforce. Many of the routine decisions school boards make about curricula, school day or school year length, and experiential learning opportunities can impact workforce issues.
If your organization relies on students to fill low-skilled jobs, or is already facing labor shortages because current graduates lack interest or appropriate skills, engaging with school boards could be an important way to proactively address or mitigate those issues.
Most school districts have procurement budgets in the millions, or even billions, depending on the population size of the community they represent. And the items they purchase range from basic facilities supplies and food preparation and food service items to specialized sports, music, and lab equipment.
Monitoring school board discussions can give suppliers advance warning of potential shifts in procurement strategies or policies that could represent a threat or an opportunity, like shifting from single-use plastic serving utensils to compostable items.
Anyone who sells education-related products (software, hardware, tutoring, test-prep, etc.) should be monitoring school board discussions, especially since many school districts are looking for better solutions for virtual instruction and reevaluating their approach to standardized testing. Many of the discussions currently happening around K-12 could be disruptive for education-related companies, as well as universities, colleges, and career training programs.
Amid a national crisis, many schools are looking for ways to rapidly certify new teachers or provide additional skills to their existing staff.
In recent years, schools in several states have invested in training such as anti-bias programs to address diversity, equity, and inclusion issues. However, with recent backlash against social justice issues, the climate is becoming less favorable to providers of those types of training.
School board debates often represent a microcosm of many of the larger national debates around controversial cultural issues. But because of the smaller size and faster decision cycle in school boards, those debates can turn into actual policies much faster at the school district level than at the state or even city level.
Monitoring cultural debates in school boards can give you an early indication of what kind of policies could get enacted at higher levels of government. Cultural issues being debated in school boards include
While political and cultural debates are happening in school boards with greater frequency, the day-to-day decisions made in them also have a sweeping impact. Increasingly, discussions in school boards affect a wider range of organizations that would benefit from proactively monitoring them. Are you prepared?