ACLU Delaware has a voter guide for the state’s upcoming school board elections.
School Board elections are on May 9 and the voter guide includes which school districts are holding elections, where to vote, eligibility, and accessibility.
ACLU Delaware Campaign Manager Helen Salita says voter turnout is typically very low – 12 districts had at least one contested race in 2022, but none managed to top 8% turnout and most were below 4%.
“This makes school boards elections really vulnerable to candidates, as we’ve seen all across the country, up and down in Delaware, who are kind of pushing policies that would really harm students, that seems to have a little bit more of a political agenda at play as opposed to really looking out for the needs of students and communities,” Salita says.
Salita says ACLU Delaware is focused on policies that protect LGBTQ+ students and wants to protect libraries from book banning that’s happening elsewhere across the country.
“Students have a right to learn about history from all different kinds of perspectives and see themselves reflected back," she says.
Salita says policing in schools is among the issues they are focused on, noting school boards have the power to emphasize on restorative discipline practices and improve mental health resources.
“School boards help create district policy and programs, they manage the budget, allocate resources, hold the superintendent accountable, develop curriculum and respond to the community, so they touch every aspect of public education, and we the public get a chance to voice our opinion on who makes those calls.”
The voter guide is available in English and Spanish at aclu-de.org, and all school board candidate profiles can be foundhere.
