Welcome to Hall Pass, a newsletter written to keep you plugged into the conversations driving  school board governance, the politics surrounding it, and education policy. 

In today’s edition, you’ll find:

• On the issues: The debate over Louisiana’s academic improvement  
• School board filing deadlines, election results, and recall certifications
• A look at the Wrightstown Community School District April 1 general election
• Extracurricular: education news and numbers from around the web
• Candidate Connection survey

Reply to this email to share reactions or story ideas!

On the issues: The debate over Louisiana’s academic improvement

In this section, we curate reporting, analysis, and commentary on the issues school board members deliberate when they set out to offer the best education possible in their district. Missed an issue? Click here to see the previous education debates we’ve covered.

What’s the background?

Louisiana’s reading scores are improving. Policymakers wonder if it’s sustainable.

The National Center for Education Statistics, part of the U.S. Department of Education, released the latest results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) on Jan. 29. The test, commonly referred to as the nation’s report card, is administered to fourth- and eighth-grade students in all 50 states every two years on math and reading. The test was administered in 2024.

The results showed students in almost all states performing worse in both subjects compared to students in 2019, before the pandemic. Louisiana was an outlier in reading, however, with its fourth-grade students being the only cohort in the country to exceed pre-pandemic scores. Since 2019, Louisiana has gone from 50th to 16th in fourth-grade reading and from 45th to 29th in eighth-grade reading.

Louisiana Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley called the results “historic progress,” attributing the gains to policy changes that included a teacher training requirement in the science of reading (see our four-part exploration of the debate around the science of reading here, here, here, and here).

What are the arguments?

Jim Anderson writes that the state’s plans to update the content standards will not make a lasting difference in students’ success. Anderson says legislation boosting public school funding, K-3 tutoring programs, and pre-K support are necessary for long-term improvements. 

Phillip Rozeman writes that Louisiana has invested heavily into early childhood education but that money alone isn’t the reason for the state’s success. Rozeman attributes NAEP gains to high standards and strong leadership, and writes that performance improvements can last with continued dedication from the state, school boards, and educators.

Read on

Academic excellence not a priority in Louisiana | Jim Anderson, The Daily Star

“The present governor’s education agenda, just passed in the most recent legislative session and which he routinely touted as his ‘Dream Package of Educational Reform,’ basically consisted of allowing school boards to hire chaplains, requiring public schools to post a copy of the Ten Commandments in each classroom, clarifying how parents can avoid getting their children vaccinated for school, establishing Educational Savings Accounts to financially bail out private schools with tax payers’ money, allowing home schooled children to participate in public schools’ extracurricular activities and specifying the pronoun a child can be referred to in school. And let’s not forget specifying which bathroom a child can use and the elimination of some requirements to become a teacher.”

Louisiana’s education improvements are a bright spot | Phillip Rozeman, The Advocate

“Louisiana has invested in improving access in early childhood education for our youngest citizens. Having more children ready to succeed in reading in pre-K is a reason for improvement and will require continued investment. Louisiana has a new accountability system that rewards both school performance and school growth and will redefine the importance of career education. Louisiana has spent time, talent and treasure in school districts and statewide on individualized academic attention through tutoring and developing individual plans for students. Teachers talk about the use of testing data to make a plan that meets the need of each student. … One of the main reasons we are making progress in education in Louisiana is that we have leadership that has established priorities, set goals and worked diligently to achieve those goals. With that approach, we achieve successes in other areas as well.”

School board update: filing deadlines, election results, and recall certifications

In 2025, Ballotpedia will cover elections for more than 30,000 school board seats. We’re expanding our coverage each year with our eye on covering the country’s more than 80,000 school board seats.    

Upcoming school board elections

The map below shows the states where Ballotpedia will be covering school board elections:

Click here for more information on upcoming elections in your state.

April 1 general elections in Oklahoma and Wisconsin

Oklahoma and Wisconsin held school board primaries on Feb. 11 and Feb. 18, respectively.

Oklahoma

On April 1, Ballotpedia will cover 230 candidates running in 114 races. In the Feb. 11 primaries, 88 candidates ran in 42 elections. 

Most school board elections in Oklahoma are uncontested, meaning they are ultimately canceled. In a 2023 analysis, Ballotpedia found that elections for 79% of all school board seats that year were canceled due to a lack of competition.

Here is how Oklahoma’s election rules work:

• In races where only one candidate filed, both the primaries and general elections are canceled. For example, this year, Pablo Aguirre was the only candidate to run for a seat on the Bixby Public Schools school board. Because Aguirre was the only candidate to file, he won without appearing on the primary or general election ballot. 
• Primaries with only two candidates are also canceled, with the candidates advancing to the general election. For example, Banner Public Schools school board incumbent Colin Autin and Christopher Ott were the only candidates running on Feb. 11. The primary was canceled, and both candidates will appear on the April 1 ballot. 
• In races with three or more candidates, one can win outright with 50% of the vote. A situation like this occurred in the Broken Arrow Public Schools school board election on Feb. 11. Kate Williams defeated incumbent Jerry Denton and Bruce Lamont with 50.4% of the vote. If Williams had not won a majority, the top two vote-getters would have advanced to a general election.

Wisconsin

Ballotpedia will cover 1,231 candidates running in 547 races on April 1. In the Feb. 18 primaries, 151 candidates ran in 39 races.

Wisconsin’s school board election rules are somewhat similar to Oklahoma’s. Districts cancel primaries with one or two candidates and hold them for single-seat races with more than two candidates or multi-seat races where the number of candidates is more than twice the number of seats up for election.

School board recall update 

In early January, we ran a story on the 40 recall efforts against 82 school board officials that Ballotpedia covered in 2024. You can read more about last year’s school board recall efforts, and recall efforts against other state and local officials, in our annual report. 

Ballotpedia publishes two recall reports each year—one in June and one in December.  

While our mid-year report is still several months away, let’s catch up on school board recall efforts in the first three months of 2025. 

So far, we’ve covered 10 school board recall efforts against 17 board members, including four that began in 2024. Two, in California and Michigan, failed after election officials rejected signatures for different reasons.

Elections to recall Liliana Arroyo and Luis Marquez, members of the Gadsden Elementary School District school board in Arizona, are scheduled for May 20. 

Here’s an update on two ongoing efforts in Arizona and Idaho. Election officials said campaigns behind both efforts could begin collecting signatures in early February. Arizona and Idaho are two of 23 states that allow for the recall of school board members (39 states allow for the recall of officials at some level of government). 

Arizona

Recall supporters named Kristopher Kenyon and Bryan Parks, members of the Liberty Elementary School District Governing Board, in petitions, saying more than a dozen teachers had resigned since the 2024-2025 school year began. Supporters cited mismanagement, overcrowded classrooms, and intimidation from the administration as reasons teachers were leaving. More than 1,600 students, about 38% of the student population, stayed home from school on Feb. 3, 2025, to protest district leadership.

• At the time the recall effort started, Parks was president of the five-member board, and Kenyon was vice president. During a board meeting on Feb. 3, Parks said, “Can we please stop the false narrative that this board does not support or listen to teachers? This board’s actions speak directly to our dedication to the support and success of our teachers. We’ve addressed every major concern brought to this board by our educators.”
• To put the recalls on the ballot, supporters must submit signatures by June 3. Organizers must collect 2,950 signatures for the recall against Kenyon and 2,126 signatures for the recall against Parks. Members of the Liberty Elementary School District Governing Board were also included in recall efforts in 2021 and 2023, though neither went to a vote. 

Idaho

Recall supporters targeted Raymond Knoff, a member of the Pocatello-Chubbuck School District No. 25 board of trustees, after he voted to close Washington Elementary School. The school is located in Knoff’s district. The board voted 3-2 in favor of closure. The district’s declining enrollment has contributed to a decrease in state funding over the years. 

• Recall supporters said they were concerned with the decision to close the school. They said Knoff refused to consider other options before voting. Knoff said, “None of us wants to close a school, but we have got to maintain fiscal responsibility.”
• To get the recall against Knoff on the ballot, recall supporters must collect 853 signatures by April 21. 
• Members of the Pocatello-Chubbuck School District No. 25 were included in recall efforts in 2018 and 2020. The 2018 effort was suspended before the petition submission deadline, but the 2020 effort went to the ballot. All three members included in that effort kept their seats.

Learn more about school board recalls here.

A look at the Wrightstown Community School District general election

Let’s zoom in and look at one of the many Wisconsin school board elections Ballotpedia is covering on April 1. 

The Wrightstown Community School District, located south of Green Bay, had roughly 1,302 students in the 2022-23 school year. The board has seven members. Two seats are up for election on April 1, and four candidates are on the ballot.

Why it matters: The school board race is taking place against the backdrop of a recall effort against school board president Angela Hansen-Winker. School board member Rayn Warner spearheaded the effort, alleging Hansen-Winker misused the board’s legal counsel and investigated former superintendent Andy Space without the full board’s knowledge or approval. 

• Space was hired in 2023 but resigned in December 2024 after the board voted to review the results of the investigation. 
• Hansen-Winker said the investigation related to “superintendent contractual matters, school purchases, open meetings law issues, legal counsel issues, board/staff relations, and insubordination,” including allegations that Space disparaged the board. 

Meet the candidates: Incumbents Melinda Lemke and Jeff Nelson are running, as well as challengers Amber Cox and Jonathan Curtis. Lemke and Curtis are running a joint campaign for the two seats up for election, with the slogan “TLC for WCSD”—meaning “Together for strong schools Lemke Curtis.”

• Lemke has worked in education for 25 years. She said, “The top two issues that need to be addressed in the district are maintaining a focus on continuous improvement and finding ways to serve all students in order for them to reach their greatest potential.” 
• Nelson was a business owner before joining the board. Nelson said, “I will strive to restore trust between parents and the school board by working to build a positive and open communication channel between the community and the school board. I will propose online access to curriculum, classroom assignments and resources, annual budgets, and a full accounting of policy decisions.”
• Cox works as a director of employment staffing. Cox said, “We’ve got a great foundation to build on. My first priority is simple: Listen to the community, restore trust, replicate what has gone well and focus on enhancements that optimize student success.”
• Curtis works as a strategic planning manager at the software company Aspen Tech. Curtis said, “The biggest issue facing the district will be handling the aftermath of recent events surrounding both the retirement of our superintendent and the recall effort for the school board president. The board needs a calm, steady voice to bridge viewpoints within the board while keeping what’s best for kids top of mind.”

Go deeper: Candidates have taken contrasting stances on the recall effort. 

• Lemke and Curtis have echoed recall supporters’ allegations against Hansen-Winker, with Lemke saying the board president did not seek fellow members’ approval before using the district’s attorney. Curtis said the investigation into Space was poorly handled.  
• Nelson has defended Hansen-Winker’s use of the attorney, saying, “When issues arise, the board is obligated to consult with attorneys, and we should listen to their guidance. I believe the board acted appropriately and effectively to get ahead of the issue.” Likewise, Cox said “Based on the current facts available, the board is taking all the correct steps to mitigate risk to the district.” 

Extracurricular: education news from around the web

This section contains links to recent education-related articles from around the internet. If you know of a story we should be reading, reply to this email to share it with us! 

• The Justice, the Professor and the Friendship That Could Rattle a Pivotal Religious Charter School Case | The 74
• How Trump is disrupting efforts by schools and colleges to combat climate change | The Hechinger Report
• Hastings school board weighs ending district equity and diversity policy | The Minnesota Star Tribune 
• Gov. JB Pritzker wants phones out of the classroom. Not everyone agrees. | Chicago Tribune
• CT schools have fewer teachers and more administrators than 13 years ago, new report shows | the Register Citizen

Take our Candidate Connection survey to reach voters in your district

Today, we’re looking at surveys from two candidates running in April 1 school board elections in Wisconsin. 

Melissa Grayson and Isaac Sung are two of six candidates running for four at-large seats on the Sun Prairie Area School District Board of Education. Incumbents Diana McFarland, Steve Schroeder, and Colleen Uhlenkamp are among those running. As of this writing, Grayson and Sung are the only candidates who’ve completed the survey. 

Sun Prairie is the 12th-largest district in Wisconsin, with roughly 8,300 students. It is located northeast of Madison. 

Here’s how Grayson answered the question, “What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?”

“I am passionate about ensuring we are using the boards’ coherent governance model effectively. It is a very effective model when accountability measures are implemented. It is the board’s responsibility to make sure the superintendent is meeting clearly defined parameters for success and failure, and outlining measurable consequences and decisive action for when expectations are not met. Our district must embrace change and own our issues, that’s the only way for true growth to happen. Currently the board takes reports from administration at face value. They need to ask hard questions or get input from teachers which allows them to trust but verify.”

Click here to read the rest of Grayson’s responses. 

Here’s how Sung answered the question, “What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?”

“I am passionate about public education funding because investing in our children is the best way to improve our country’s future. Wisconsin lags behind many other states in providing fair, equitable funding for school districts. Despite having a budget surplus, the state government has failed to provide the resources necessary to keep our public education system strong.”

Click here to read the rest of Sung’s responses. 

If you’re a school board candidate or incumbent, click here to take the survey.