PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — While Amendment 1 failed this election cycle, this likely won’t be the last time Florida residents see a question regarding the makeup of school board elections on their ballot.

Amendment 1 would have made school board elections partisan beginning in 2026 but it failed to cross that 60% threshold.

What You Need To Know

  • Based on Florida's political makeup, political experts say voters will likely see the question of partisan school board races make the ballot again 

  • Amendment 1 failed by roughly 5%

  • School board elections have been nonpartisan for 24 years 

  • MORE: General Election recap 

  • Amendment 1: Partisan School Board Elections Amendment

Anthony Brunello, political science professor at Eckerd College, says Floridians will likely see this question pop up again.

“Whoever is Ron DeSantis’ successor, if it’s from the same party and party perspective, I doubt seriously that they wouldn’t want to give it another try,” he said. “Then maybe give it a different sort of look. Similar with the same consequences, but with a different set of names and numerology about it.”

Brunello says politics has clearly made its way into school districts across the state and that was demonstrated last election cycle when Gov. Ron DeSantis endorsed a number of school board candidates.

“School board elections are political and they’ve been political throughout history,” Brunello remarked. “But trying to keep the politics down to a dull roar is a really good idea.”

Longtime Pinellas County School Board member Carol Cook was pleased to hear school board elections would remain nonpartisan.

“What’s really important as far as education is really doesn’t help people make a decision,” she said. “It’s important that they get to know who the candidates are because you can have two people in the same party who are very, very different candidates. So just having a letter after their name does not tell you who you should vote for.”

School board elections have only been nonpartisan for the last 24 years. Cook says when she was elected to the school board the first time, it was the same year the rules switched. She says when she was first elected, candidates couldn’t publicly state which political party they belong to. But, she says, that has morphed over time.

“We had many many more opportunities to get to know candidates in the beginning, because it was important to people to know,” Cook said.

Now as Cook prepares to retire from the school board next week, she says she hopes the focus can remain on students and their best interests.

“If school board members will just focus on the issues that affect the children and families and staff, then everything will be fine,” she said.