2023 School Board Candidate Forums
First State Educate (FSE), along with other educational advocacy groups, is planning school board forums for specific districts statewide. These forums will be streamed online in late April and early May. Planned FSE forums include the following:
- Christina school district: Tues 4/25, 6 to 7:30 pm. Register here for 4/25 Christina
- Red Clay school district: Thurs 4/27, 6 to 7:30 pm. Register here for 4/27 RedClay
- Milford school district: Weds 5/3, 6 to 6:45 pm. Register here for 5/3 Milford
- Appoquinimink school district: Weds 5/3, 7 to 8 pm. Register here for 5/3 Appo
- Caesar Rodney school district: Thurs 5/4, 6 to 7pm. Register here for 5/4 CR
- Seaford school district: Thurs 5/4, 7:15 to 8 pm. Register here for 5/4 Seaford
In addition, a video recording of the March 23, 2023 Friends of Christina School District forum is available online: FOCSD March 2023 Forum Recording.
May 9, 2023 School Board Elections
Eleven school districts in Delaware have contested seats open in 2023 and will hold elections on May 9, 2023. Filed candidates, absentee ballot information and more are listed on the school board section of the Delaware Department of Elections website.
New Castle County: elections will be held in Appoquinimink, Christina, and Red Clay districts (and Smyrna district, which straddles the NCC/Kent county line). Brandywine and Colonial districts do not have contested seats.
Kent County, DE: elections will be held in Caesar Rodney, Milford, and Smyrna districts. Capital and Lake Forest districts do not have contested seats.
Sussex County, DE: elections will be held in Cape Henlopen, Delmar, Indian River, Laurel, and Seaford districts (and Milford district, which straddles the Kent/Sussex county line). Woodbridge district does not have a contested seat. In the case of Indian River, only the residents of nominating district #2 (see this map) will vote.
Who can vote?
In Delaware, any resident in the school district who is a U.S. citizen 18 years of age or older can vote in school board elections. You do not have to be a registered voter to vote for school board. Polling places for school board elections differ from those for general elections, and residents can vote at any open polling place within the school district. For more information, including school board polling place locations, refer to the Delaware Department of Elections website: elections.delaware.gov
VOTE411 Candidate Guide
The League of Women Voters of Delaware provides candidate profiles for Delaware school board elections on their online voter guide website, VOTE411.org. On VOTE411, candidates provide responses to policy questions which are then published in full, verbatim, so that voters can compare candidates' viewpoints side-by-side.
The 2023 school board candidate profiles are expected to be published on VOTE411 on or around April 10, 2023 (about a month before the election).
Upcoming Kent County Referenda
In addition to the May 9 school board elections, the Caesar Rodney school district in Kent County has a referendum vote coming up on April 22, 2023, and Lake Forest school district in southwest Kent County has one on May 6, 2023. More information is available here: https://elections.delaware.gov/information/elections/referendum.shtml
