Hall Pass: Your Ticket to Understanding School Board Politics, Edition #159

By

Ballotpedia staff

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 cellphones in schools  
  • School board filing deadlines, election results, and recall certifications
  • From the ballot to the blackboard: an update on 2025 and 2026 education-related measures
  • Extracurricular: education news from around the web
  • Candidate Connection survey

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On the issues: The debate over cellphones in schools

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.

As of June, 20 states had enacted laws or policies banning or limiting cellphones in K-12 classrooms. Five established classroom cellphone restrictions or announced plans to do so last month alone. 

In 2023, Florida became the first state to restrict access to cellphones in school. 

Click here to read our May 29 deep dive into school cellphone restrictions in Ballotpedia’s Daily Brew. The Daily Brew is Ballotpedia’s daily politics newsletter. Subscribe here. 

What are the arguments?

Auguste Meyrat writes cellphones should be banned in schools. Meyrat says they are distracting, prevent students from practicing discipline, and hurt mental health. He says phones are still allowed in many schools because decision-makers fear pushback from teachers, parents, and others.

Brandon Cardet-Hernandez writes phones can be a useful learning tool. Cardet-Hernandez says banning phones would take a valuable resource away from underprivileged students. He says schools need to embrace technology, even if it requires careful implementation.

Read on

Overcoming Our Denial About Smartphones’ Effect on Kids | Auguste Meyrat, Newsweek

“The devices are engineered to hijack users’ brains and provide constant stimulation. Not only does smartphone design distract users to an extreme degree, but it incapacitates them from ever developing personal discipline. Expecting a teenager to stay off her phone is like telling a heroin addict or alcoholic to simply stop taking drugs and drinking. They won’t, and they can’t. Serious intervention becomes necessary, and the initial withdrawals are often severe. That’s what really lies at the heart of the general unwillingness to ban phones from the classroom or anywhere else. No one wants to be the bad cop, nor does anyone want his or her home or classroom to feel like a rehab clinic. It’s much easier to excuse the phones and demand that some deus ex machina (maybe artificial intelligence?) comes along to save these kids who are clearly suffering. But that simply won’t happen, and the sooner everyone (not just a few fuddy-duddies in politics and education) acknowledges it, the easier it will be do [sic] the right thing and take the phones away.”

Why School Cellphone Bans Are a Bad Idea | Brandon Cardet-Hernandez, EducationWeek

“The reality of today’s classrooms is that students are accustomed to having their phones around—and they have been conditioned to engage fluently with technology. For many kids, especially in districts that lack resources to provide alternative devices to students, the phone serves as a calculator, translator, mini-computer, and a door to information. Meanwhile, educators have seen an explosion of powerful digital tools for learning, many of which are app-based. These tools allow students to remain engaged for longer periods of time, progress their learning journeys at an individualized pace, and free up valuable teacher time for small-group instruction and social-emotional learning. …In short, we are turning away from technology at the exact moment when we could and should be leaning into it. Yes, it requires research, care, and thoughtful implementation, but doesn’t all good instruction? … To take smartphones away under present conditions is nothing short of a fool’s errand.”

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.

  • June 15—Texas (runoff elections)
  • Aug. 5—Kansas, Washington

Click here to learn more about this year’s school board elections. 

Maine voters to decide recall elections on June 10

On June 10, voters in the Maine School Administrative District 46, in Maine, will decide whether to recall Alisha Ames and Judy Saunders, two of the 13 members of the school board. The district, located northwest of Bangor, serves the towns of Dexter, Exeter, Ripley and Garland. 

The details: “Stop the Power Trip” began the recall effort. The group comprises five members, including former board member Tiffany Grover. Grover lost her re-election bid in 2024. Two other members of the group ran for election to the board in 2024 but lost against Saunders.

  • “Stop the Power Trip” said Ames has a conflict of interest because of the homeschooling co-op she runs: “Alisha Ames has led an attempt to recruit students to her homeschool co-op in a predatory manner on school property, using food and social activities to lure children to disenroll from MSAD #46 schools.” The group also said Ames offered inconsistent reasons for keeping her son unvaccinated, barring him from attending school in the district, and invented a budget discrepancy to “stir up dissension among the community.” 
  • The group said Saunders’ presence on the board violates the school district’s nepotism policy because her daughter works for the district. The nepotism policy states that the school board cannot employ “any person who is a member of the immediate family of a board member or of the Superintendent.”

Ames was elected to the board in November 2023, while Saunders was elected to the board in November 2024.

Responses from Ames and Saunders: 

  • Ames said, “Three people on this committee ran for the school board seats last fall and lost their bids. Now they are attempting to reverse the will of the people. They have with some success attacked my family, my church, my businesses and my husband’s credentials.” With respect to the alleged budget discrepancy, Ames said, “Yes, I do call into question, repeatedly, issues with the budget because I believe there’s some possibility there of error.”
  • Saunders said that when she was elected to the board, her daughter was already working for the district. She said her daughter was protected by a contract. Saunders said she was told in December 2024 that her daughter would be fired if she took her position on the board. “I viewed this as an attempt to coerce me into giving up my civil rights,” Saunders said.

Context: Ballotpedia has identified 14 school board recall efforts against 29 board members in 2025. Voters approved a recall election against one board member on April 22.

  • Between 2009 and 2024, Ballotpedia identified an average of 35 recall efforts against an average of 81 school board members each year.
  • Ballotpedia will release its Mid-Year Recall Report later this summer. Click here to read our 2024 Recall Analysis.

From the ballot to the blackboard: an update on 2025 and 2026 education-related measures

So far this year, campaigns in Colorado have certified two K-12 education-related measures for the ballot in November 2025. Earlier this spring, Nevada became the first state to certify a measure that touches on K-12 education for the ballot in 2026. 

Let’s take a quick look at these upcoming K-12 education-related measures. 

2025

The Colorado Legislature placed both measures to the ballot when it passed House Bill 1274 on May 16. The measures deal with funding for Colorado’s Healthy School Meals for All Program, on Nov. 4. 

What’s the story: Voters will decide the Allow State to Retain Revenue From Proposition FF Measure and the Tax Deductions and Revenue for School Meals Measure. The measures relate to Proposition FF, which voters approved 57-43% in 2022. Proposition FF reduced income tax deduction amounts for those earning $300,000 or more and allocated revenue from the deduction change to the Healthy School Meals for All Program. Among other things, the program provides free meals to students.

  • Allow State to Retain Revenue From Proposition FF Measure, the retention measure, would allow the state to retain and spend $11.3 million in tax revenue collected above the initial estimates for Proposition FF.
  • Tax Deductions and Revenue for School Meals Measure, the expansion measure, would further reduce the allowable state income tax deductions. Proposition FF reduced the deduction limits from $30,000 to $12,000 for single filers and $60,000 to $16,000 for joint filers. The 2025 measure would reduce the deduction limits from $12,000 to $1,000 for single filers and from $16,000 to $2,000 for joint filers. 

Go deeper: If voters reject both measures, the Healthy School Meals for All Program will end after the 2025-26 Fiscal Year and the state would be required to refund $12.4 million to taxpayers (the $11.3 million in additional revenue plus 10% simple interest). If voters approve the retention measure and reject the expansion one, the program continues with some modifications (such as requiring $1 million each year for technical assistance and education grants). If voters approve the expansion measure but not the retention one, the state would refund taxpayers $12.4 million, the deduction limits would decline, and the program would continue. 

Click to learn more about the Allow State to Retain Revenue From Proposition FF Measure and Tax Deductions and Revenue for School Meals Measure.

How the measure got on the ballot: The two measures were placed on the ballot through HB 1274. The Senate passed the bill on May 6 by a vote of 24-11, with all 23 Democrats voting in favor and 11 of 12 Republicans voting against. The House approved the bill on May 7 by a vote of 42-22, with all 42 Democrats voting in favor and all 22 Republicans voting against. One Democratic representative was absent. 

2026

In March, Nevada certified the Exempt School Teachers from Public Employee Strike Ban Initiative. Voters will decide the measure next year, on Nov. 3. 

What’s the story: The initiative would change state law to allow public school teachers and other education personnel to strike. In 1969, Nevada passed legislation making it illegal for state and local government employees, including teachers, to strike.

  • Currently, 37 states and Washington, D.C. prohibit public school teachers from going on strike.
  • Nevada has a divided government. The governor is a Republican, while Democrats control both chambers of the Legislature.

Opponents and proponents:

A Teacher in Every Classroom is leading the campaign in support of the measure. The Clark County Education Association, a teachers union that represents around 18,000 public school educators, helped create the group. 

  • The group submitted 127,812 valid signatures in November 2024 to the secretary of state’s office, exceeding the required 102,362 signatures needed to get on the ballot.
  • Clark County Education Association President Marie Neisess said, “We’re looking for resolutions. This isn’t a quick fix to say oh, we’re immediately going to call for a strike. We don’t want to do that. We want to be able to change this process. Because, clearly, binding arbitration does not work and having our educators as well as our students and community wait months on end for things to be settled is not acceptable.” 

Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) and Clark County School District Superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara have opposed the measure. 

  • Lombardo said, “It’s not a good business model to have firemen and policemen or your first responders, and teachers in my opinion are a necessity, to be able to go on strike for wages and collective bargaining was brought in as part of that solution.”
  • Jara said, “For the sake of the community, CCEA’s time, energy, and member dues can best be deployed on behalf of our educators, who show up daily for students. The law they seek to overturn exists to prevent community chaos and its adverse impacts on our economies and families.”

Click here to learn more about the measure. 

Education-related ballot measure context

Between 2000 and 2024, voters decided roughly nine education-related measures each year. Most of those measures were certified for even-year election cycles. On average, three education-related measures reach the ballot in odd-numbered years. 

  • Last year, voters decided on 13 education-related measures. Read our post-election deep dive into those measures in the Nov. 13 edition of Hall Pass.   

Overall, 26 statewide ballot measures have been certified for the ballot in six states in 2025. For 2026, 44 measures have been certified for the ballot in 26 states.

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! 

Take our Candidate Connection survey to reach voters in your district

Today, we’re looking at survey responses from three of the six candidates running in the Nov. 4 general election for Columbus City Schools school board. Three seats are open after incumbents Michael Cole, Christina Vera, and Ramona Reyes declined to run.

Jermaine Kennedy, Mounir Lynch, and Kimberley Mason completed Ballotpedia’s survey. Patrick Katzenmeyer, Janeece Keyes‐Shanklin, and Antoinette Miranda are also running in the election. The six candidates advanced from the May 6 primary. Ten candidates ran in the primary. 

The Columbus City School District is the largest in Ohio, with roughly 45,181 students. 

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

“✅ Fair school funding that ensures students in all neighborhoods have access to high-quality education and resources.
✅ Career pathways and workforce development, especially for students who have been historically underserved or disconnected.
✅ Mental health and student well-being, because we can’t separate learning from emotional safety and support.
✅ Inclusive education policies, including DEI and protections for LGBTQ+ youth, so every student feels seen, safe, and valued.
✅ Community partnerships, because schools should be the heartbeat of their neighborhoods—not just learning spaces, but places of opportunity, healing, and hope.”

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

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

“Health and safety, Education and Human Rights.”

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

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

“Education justice, public health, reproductive rights, housing, racial justice, sexual and gender equity.”

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

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