State law mandating school board elections in 2022 could affect 143 districts

A classroom is shown in this 2015 file photo.
A classroom is shown in this 2015 file photo.

More than 140 school districts stand to see changes on their school boards in the near future because of a state law that will require all board positions to be up for election in 2022 in districts that have at least a 10% minority population.

Lucas Harder, policy services director for the Arkansas School Boards Association, sent a memo recently to zoned school districts explaining requirements that must be met to comply with state and federal law when implementing school board election zones or redrawn school district zones to reflect the results of the 2020 U.S. Census.

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The two-page memo states that after the redrawing of school district zones, all school board positions -- including at-large positions -- must be up for election in the regular 2022 school election.

Harder said in an interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that this won't apply to all of Arkansas' 238 school districts.

"The Arkansas statute that requires zoning and redistricting only applies to school districts that have at least a 10% minority population within the general population of the district's boundaries," Harder said in an email.

The state defines a minority as anyone who is Black, Hispanic American, American Indian, Native American, Asian or Pacific Islander.

The minority population percentage is calculated by dividing the total number of members of minority groups living within a district's boundaries by the total overall population within the district.

The process has been a state requirement since 1993 and is mandated after each decennial census, Harder said, and is done in compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Research by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette shows that 143 school districts could be affected by the law.

Harder said not all districts above the 10% minority threshold will have to hold school board elections for all positions because of statutory exemptions, such as being under desegregation orders.

School board members selected in 2021 will have to run again in 2022 if their school districts are above the 10% minority threshold.

"It is indeed possible that a candidate elected this year would have to run again next year," Harder said. "Moreover, as the newly elected board is required to draw lots after the election to stagger terms, it is possible that the board member could draw a one-year term and have to run again in 2023 for the third time in a row."

Unless a school district is exempt, newly elected boards are required to draw lots to stagger terms so that no more than two board members are elected in any given year and at least one person is elected each year.

Harder said that means many more school board seats than normal will be up for election, which will lead to additional costs.

"[The law] places a restriction that no more than two board positions are up at any one year due to the term expiring so that unless the board had a position being filled due to a vacancy, the most you would have up for election on a board was two," he said. "As part of redistricting, all positions on the board are up for election, which will increase the number of positions open for election by an additional three to five positions depending on the overall size of the board."

Shelby Johnson, state geographic information officer for the Arkansas Geographic Information Systems office, said the redistricting process will involve getting fresh 2020 census data at the block level, adjusting those blocks, and then looking at existing school board zones to see if the zones have roughly the same populations.

"If it's roughly equal, then the school board might remain with the same zones, but if the zones that are currently drawn up have had population decline or growth to where it's too high or too low, then it would trigger the need to draw up new zones with equal population," Johnson said. "Redistricting for school board zones is the same as redistricting for Congress."

The Geographic Information Systems office has compiled a forecast of school districts that are expected to have eclipsed the 10% minority mark since 2010.

Data shows that districts projected to move into the group above the 10% threshold include Pea Ridge, Lead Hill, Valley View, Lamar, Cedarville, Alma, County Line, Paris, Pottsville, Wonderview, Mansfield, Dierks, Spring Hill, Bismarck, Harmony Grove, Bauxite, Cabot, Rose Bud and White County Central. That is in addition to more than 110 school districts already above the threshold.

The expected changes have led to confusion for some districts.

"It's unfortunate timing," Jay Bequette, chief legal counsel for the North Little Rock School District, told School Board members during a recent meeting. "I have had a lot of superintendents across the state ask me questions about this."

Johnson said school districts face this situation because redistricting data is coming in late.

"Normally we would receive the redistricting data in February," Johnson said, noting that the covid-19 pandemic played a part in the delay. "The crunch is because the Census data was so behind schedule."

"We have tried to give as many resources as we can to school districts and help them in any way possible," he added.

Census data is expected to be available for districts sometime in early fall, which could make it more difficult for school districts to prepare for elections.

"It certainly has the potential to make for a tight schedule," Harder said. "As a result, we are certainly recommending that districts use available 2019 data to start the process to hopefully reduce the timeline after the data comes in."

Census officials indicated earlier that the data wouldn't be delivered to all states until Sept. 30. However, Johnson said, Ohio filed a lawsuit requesting earlier delivery of the information, and as part of a settlement Census officials agreed to make the data available using an older format to expedite the process.

States should have the data by the end of August, but Johnson said because of an expected processing bottleneck related to using the older format, Arkansas officials anticipate it will take until mid-September to get the information.

Harder said the Arkansas School Board Association's role will be to advise members on the plain language of the law as well as direct them to where additional guidance and information can be found.

"Each district will need to discuss with their local counsel as to how they plan to handle the statutory requirements," he said.

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