Voters might be scratching their heads in November when they see party labels attached to school board candidates.
A state law approved last year, backed by Republicans, made Indiana the 10th state to allow partisan affiliations in school board races. Previously, candidates ran bipartisan races and left their political views at home.
The school board filing period for the Nov. 3 general election opened Tuesday and ends at noon June 18.
In Lake County, the first candidate to file listed her affiliation as Democratic while in Porter County, the first filer listed himself as a Republican.
Statewide, more than 800 seats are in play.
Crown Point math teacher Annie Equihua filed first, according to Michelle Fajman, director of the Lake County election board.
Equihua, who led Crown Point to back-to-back state basketball championships in 1984-85 as Annie Kvachkoff, is a Crown Point lifer.
“I’ve grown up here, gone to school here, played ball here, raised by kids here and taught here. I love my community and thought it would be one last way to fight for the community and make sure things are going the way they should go.”
She’s retiring as a teacher next month.
In Porter County, East Porter School Board incumbent Bob Martin, a long-time farmer, filed first and said no one should be surprised he put an “R” by his name.
He doesn’t expect politics to play a role in the board’s deliberations and he’s served on the school board for 36 years, winning nine elections.
“I’m not ashamed to be a Republican. I’m proud to be one,” said Martin who’s voted for GOP candidates his whole life.
“On our board, political parties never made a difference. We do what’s best for kids,” he said.
Ideologies began playing a role in school board meetings across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic as districts faced criticism for remaining closed, or ordering masks be worn in classrooms as the deadly virus spread.
Other skirmishes erupted over banning books and rights for transgender students.
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Fajman said a county’s voter preference in the most recent Secretary of State election determines the ballot order. In Lake County, Fajman said Democrats earned the top spot.
Equihua said she knew the rules and wanted to be at the top of the ballot.
Throughout most of Indiana, however, Republicans have the advantage.
Based on the 2022 secretary of state election, Republicans gained the top ballot spot in 87 of 92 counties, according to the website Ballotpedia.
Next on the ballot will be candidates representing other political parties in the order their party’s candidate for secretary of state finished in the recent election.
Candidates in parties that did not have a secretary of state candidate, and independent candidates, will be listed next.
Finally, candidates who choose not to disclose a party affiliation will appear on ballots last.
Portage Township School Board member Andy Maletta said Tuesday he knows he’ll be last on the ballot but he’s choosing to run without a label.
His father, the late Sammie Maletta, a Democrat, served two terms as Portage mayor.
“They’re kind of punishing us too, if you are last on the ballot. I believe most incumbent board members will be nonpartisan,” he said.
Maletta doesn’t like the new law.
“I don’t believe party ideology has anything to do with our kids,” he said.
Tony Lux, a retired Merrillville Community School Corp. superintendent, opposed the new law, too. Lux is part of the Indiana Coalition for Public Education.
“I think it’s pretty short-sighted for anybody to go and put themselves out as a Republican or a Democrat because in this political environment, Republicans are going to be stereotyped as being MAGA extremists and Democrats will be characterized as woke. It will color everything they stand for.”
Lux said board members should make decisions based on the best interests of students.
“Kids should be separated from the political environment.”
Many educators, Democratic lawmakers, and some Republicans, opposed the bill. Its main author, Gary Byrne, R-Byrneville, argued school boards handle millions of taxpayer dollars and voters deserve to know their political affiliations.
“School boards are already partisan and it’s more vital than ever that we recognize that,” Byrne said during the vote’s debate last year. “Legislators run with party affiliation. School board members do not. That’s why there’s low voter turnout in those elections.”
The Indiana School Boards Association opposed the party labels on candidates.
“While the Indiana General Assembly has now voted to make school board elections partisan, once elected, ISBA will encourage school board members to leave politics at the boardroom door,” said Terry Spradlin, ISBA’s executive director.
Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, a pastor and Christian nationalist, backed the measure that faced rare bipartisan opposition.
“We’re lying to ourselves if we don’t really come to grips with the politics that are already there,” Beckwith said to a House committee last year.
Locally, only Gary and Valparaiso districts have appointed school boards. In Gary, where charter schools dominate, those schools don’t elect board members either.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.