As we enter an election year, MASB’s Get On Board campaign is launching to recruit civic-minded individuals who are passionate about enhancing education for every student. The campaign aims to encourage those interested in school board service to begin taking the necessary steps to get on their local ballot.

Current board members who are up for reelection should take steps now. It's advantageous for you to inform your fellow board members and superintendent about whether you plan to run for office again. If you do not plan to run, you and your governance team can utilize this time to actively recruit candidates within your community before the filing deadline of July 23, 2024. Together, we can work toward building a brighter future for our schools.

To aid your recruitment efforts, we have a guide covering best practices and a flyer containing essential information for candidates available on our website. 

“ While MASB doesn’t think a board should pursue a specific person to fill open seats, we do believe boards should let their communities know there is going to be a vacancy and what skills, knowledge and experience the best-fit candidate would bring to service,” says MASB Executive Director Don P. Wotruba, CAE. “ Think about it like filling a job vacancy. Develop a job description for the best candidate to strengthen your board. Share that description with local community service organizations.”

MASB commissioned a poll in 2021 through EPIC-MRA to ask general election voters in Michigan for their thoughts on running for a school board seat, including “Which of the following best describes the main reason why you believe school boards are having an increasingly difficult time attracting qualified candidates to run for school board positions?” The leading response, with 36% was the fact that boards have become too political; 17% were apathetic; 17% are unaware of openings on school boards; and 11% said it’s too much of a time commitment or don’t have the time.

In addition, we asked, “Which one of the following reasons would most likely motivate you to run for your local board of education?” By far, the leading response, with 42%, was “Ensuring all kids have a quality education,” followed by “Giving back to your community,” at 16% and 15% because they have a child, grandchild or other relative in the school system.

MASB aims to change the tide of these answers and further reduce the number of unfilled seats through an awareness campaign, including virtual town halls, social media outreach, providing members with recruitment tools, materials for potential candidates and more.

“We all know someone who possesses the necessary traits to be an effective board member and we need your help to get them on board,” encouraged Wotruba. “We need civic-minded, student-focused individuals like you to serve on school boards. This work is too important to have seats go unfilled.”