A bill that would allow school board races to be partisan is headed to the governor. It comes after pushback from both Democrats and Republicans who think partisanship would put politics into schools.
If Gov. Bill Lee signs the legislation, school board members who currently run without disclosing their party information may have to next election.
The original iteration of the bill would’ve made all races partisan. Now, after a change, it’s optional. What would trigger the partisan race is a county’s primary party.
Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, thinks it’ll help some voters.
“When your voters go to the voting booth, when they have a D, an I or an R and they haven’t had the opportunity to meet that person running for the school board, it would give them some kind of comfort to understand what values those candidates may possibly represent in votes on the school board,” Cepicky said.
If the bill becomes law, a county party, like Davidson County Democratic Party, could notify the county election commission that they’d like to hold a primary election.
Though the bill passed, it wasn’t with full support from the Republican Party — with some members sharing their disapproval of making school board races partisan.
Other bills passed by the General Assembly would reduce the length an executive order from the governor can be in place from 60 to 45 days. Another would allow district attorneys to be removed from office if they refuse to prosecute specific criminal offenses. This would allow a DA who chooses not to prosecute simple possession of marijuana cases, like Nashville’s Glenn Funk, to be terminated.
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