School Board Elections Before, During, and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Media reports suggest that parent frustration with COVID school policies and the growing politicization of education have increased community engagement with local public schools. However, there is no evidence to date on whether these factors have translated into greater engagement at the ballot box. This paper uses a novel data set to explore how school board elections changed following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. I find that school board elections following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic were more likely to be contested and that voter turnout in contested elections increased. These changes were large in magnitude and varied with several district characteristics.