Your guide to 2024 school board elections in Marion County

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(CHALKBEAT INDIANA) — This election, 40 candidates are on ballots across Marion County for 33 seats on 10 district school boards.

Winning candidates will start four-year terms in January 2025 and serve through 2028. As school board members, they will provide district oversight, create and enforce policies such as the student handbooks, approve the budget, and set goals. One of the biggest jobs of a school board is to hire and oversee a superintendent.

The number of board members — and whether members are at-large or represent a specific district — varies by school district. Board members can receive up to $2,000 annually in addition to meeting stipends. Generally, school board seats are nonpartisan election positions, except in Speedway, where the school board is appointed by the town board.

Overall, roughly half the school board candidates in Marion County are incumbents, and a majority face at least some opposition.

The district with the most candidates overall is also the district with the most candidates — three — for a single seat: Indianapolis Public Schools. That race, one of four in the district, is also the only one where the incumbent is vying for re-election.

And in five districts — Beech Grove City Schools plus the Metropolitan School Districts of Lawrence Township, Pike Township, Warren Township, and Wayne Township — there is one more candidate on the ballot than the number of seats open.

In the other four districts, every candidate on the ballot will join the board: Metropolitan School Districts of Decatur Township, Washington Township, Franklin Township Community Schools, and Perry Township Schools. In Perry, the board has four open seats with only two candidates on the ballot. A third candidate is running as a write-in, meaning she could join the board with one vote, but that still leaves one open seat.