The Utah House and Senate are tangled over a new method to select state school board members.
The Senate has approved bills for a partisan state school board election and the House approved legislation for non-partisan elections for the same board.
The House rejected the Senate’s partisan election proposal in a vote on the House floor on Wednesday.
The vote in the House on the Senate’s partisan proposal, called Senate Bill 104, split House Republicans evenly 31 to 31. All 12 House Democrats voted against the bill making the final tally 31 to 43.
At the same time the House defeated SB 104, the Senate passed Senate Bill 195 that would create partisan state school board elections. The Senate paired the new election bill with Senate Joint Resolution 5, which would give voters the opportunity to approve a constitutional amendment to replace the elected state school board with one appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate.
The House already turned down their own proposal for appointed state school boards with House Joint Resolution 16 on Tuesday. The vote was 27 to 47.
The state needs a new way to select state school board members because U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups ruled in 2014 that the current method of selecting state school board members is unconstitutional.
Currently a 12-member committee, appointed by the governor, whittles the list of people running for state school board down to three for each open seat. The governor then selects two candidates for each open seat from the three names that were approved by the committee to run in a nonpartisan election.
Ed Dalton, former state school board member from Tooele County, opposes partisan state school board elections.
“Partisan politics don’t belong in education and they should not influence the election of the state school board,” he said.
An appointed state school board appeals to Chris Sloan, former chairman of the Tooele County Republican Party. He has served twice on the governor-appointed committee that screens candidates for the state school board.
“I prefer an appointed state school board,” said Sloan. “If not appointed then my preference would be a partisan election for state school board.”
Partisan elections would allow parties to vet candidates for the state school board, especially when it comes to fiscal principles, according to Sloan.
Local school board elections should stay nonpartisan, he said.
Reps. Merrill Nelson, R-Grantsville, and Doug Sagers, R-Tooele, both voted against SB104, the Senate’s partisan state school board election proposal. Sens. Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley City, and Peter Knudson, R-Brigham City, who represent Tooele County, voted for SB 104.
Sagers and Nelson both voted for HB 186, the House bill that would eliminate the screening committee and create a direct non-partisan state school board election.
Nelson, however, is intrigued by the idea of an appointed state school board.
“The governor appointing with the Senate confirming works in higher education with the Board of Regents,” Nelson said. “Maybe it could work for public education.”
There are still two different options for selecting the state school board alive in the Legislature.
The Senate’s second attempt at a partisan election bill, coupled with a resolution to allow voters to replace the elected board with an appointed board, is waiting for consideration in the House.
Meanwhile, the House’s nonpartisan state school board bill has been sent to the Senate.