How to Run for School Board in Minnesota

To run for school board in Minnesota, you file an affidavit of candidacy with the school district clerk during the district's two-week filing window and pay a $2 filing fee, or present a petition in place of the fee. You must be an eligible voter, at least 21 when you take office, and a resident of the district for 30 days before the general election. Board members serve four-year terms, and candidates appear on the ballot without a party label. State law does not allow nominating petitions for school board, so a petition can replace only the fee.

Whether your district votes in 2027 depends on a choice its school board has made. State law lets each district hold its general election in November of either the odd-numbered or the even-numbered year. If your district votes in odd years, its election is on Tuesday, November 2, 2027, and candidates file from Tuesday, May 18 to Tuesday, June 1, 2027 where the board adopted an August 10 primary, or from Tuesday, July 13 to Tuesday, July 27, 2027 where it did not. If your district votes in even years, its next regular election is Tuesday, November 7, 2028. The 2027 dates are based on state law, so confirm them with your school district clerk.

For town and city races, see our guide to running for local office in Minnesota.

Step 1: Find out when your district votes

Odd or even year. The school district general election is held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November "of either the odd-numbered or the even-numbered year" (Minn. Stat. 205A.04). A school board may change the year by a resolution approved at least four weeks before the first day to file. Ask the district office which year your district uses.

Primary or no primary. A district holds an August primary only if its board adopted a resolution for one by April 15 of an election year (Minn. Stat. 205A.03). Even then, the district holds a primary only if more than two candidates file for a specific board position, or more than twice as many candidates as there are at-large seats. The top two for each position, or twice as many as the at-large seats, go on to November.

The filing window. Where the board adopted a primary, candidates file no earlier than the 84th day and no later than the 70th day before the second Tuesday in August. Everywhere else, they file from the 112th day to the 98th day before the November election (Minn. Stat. 205A.06, subd. 1a). For 2027, those windows are Tuesday, May 18 to Tuesday, June 1 and Tuesday, July 13 to Tuesday, July 27, based on state law.

The notice. At least two weeks before filing opens, the school district clerk must publish the filing dates and closing time in the district's official newspaper, and post them in the district offices at least ten days before (Minn. Stat. 205A.06, subd. 2). For 2027, the published notice is due by Tuesday, May 4 (primary track) or Tuesday, June 29 (no primary), based on state law.

Step 2: Learn about the board you would join

These rules apply to independent school districts under Minn. Stat. 123B.09. If you are not sure what kind of district yours is, ask the district office.

• Size. The board has six elected members, or seven if the district's voters approved a seven-member board.
• Terms. Each member serves four years, starting on the first Monday in January after the election.
• Duties. The board superintends and manages the district's schools, adopts rules for their organization and instruction, keeps registers, and prescribes textbooks and courses of study.
• Training. New board members receive training in school finance and management, which the Minnesota School Boards Association must make available within 180 days of a member taking office.
• Positions. State law's ballot rules refer both to specific board positions and to at-large seats, so ask the clerk how your district's seats are set up and how many are open.

Before you file, attend a few board meetings and read recent agendas and minutes, so you understand the decisions the board is facing.

Step 3: Check that you qualify

Your affidavit of candidacy is a sworn statement that you meet these requirements (Minn. Stat. 204B.06):

• You are an eligible voter. You are at least 18, a United States citizen and a Minnesota resident for 20 days before the election, and not barred from voting by incarceration for a felony, a guardianship order or a court finding of legal incompetence (Minn. Stat. 201.014).
• You are, or will be on taking office, at least 21 years old.
• You will have lived in the school district for 30 days before the general election.
• You are not barred by the sex offender rule. A person convicted of an offense that requires registration under section 243.166 may not be a candidate for school board or file an affidavit for it. The registration rules in effect when the person files are the ones that count (Minn. Stat. 205A.06, subd. 1b, and 123B.09, subd. 1a).
• You have no other affidavit on file for the same election, with one exception. A school board candidate may also file for town supervisor, unless that town board exercises the powers of a statutory city (Minn. Stat. 204B.06, subd. 9).

Proof of address. When you file, show the clerk a valid driver's license or state ID card with your current address, or another document accepted as proof of residence for election day registration. If the address on your affidavit does not match the document, the clerk must not accept the affidavit (Minn. Stat. 204B.06, subd. 1b).

Step 4: File your affidavit of candidacy

1. Get the form from the school district clerk. It asks for the office and position, your ballot name and how to pronounce it, a telephone number, a non-government email address (or a statement that you have none) and your home address, which you may ask to keep private on a separate form.
2. File with the school district clerk during your window. Ask the clerk's office for its hours on the last day, and file earlier if you can, so there is time to fix a problem with your address documents.
3. Pay the $2 fee or present a petition (Minn. Stat. 205A.06, subd. 3 and 4). The fee is not refunded once you have filed.
4. Know the withdrawal deadline. An affidavit of withdrawal is due to the clerk by 5 p.m. two days after the window closes, which is Thursday, June 3 or Thursday, July 29, 2027, based on state law. After that, no candidate may withdraw (Minn. Stat. 205A.06, subd. 5).

The petition in place of the fee

Instead of paying the $2 fee, you may present a petition when you file (Minn. Stat. 204B.11, subd. 2). It needs the lesser of 500 signatures or 5 percent of the votes cast in the district at the last general election at which the office was on the ballot. As an example only, if 2,000 votes were cast, 5 percent is 100 signatures. Any person eligible to vote for you may sign, and the clerk must provide a sample form on request. The petition replaces only the fee. You still file the affidavit, and the petition does not nominate you. With a $2 fee, paying is usually the simpler choice.

Step 5: Plan the campaign

For a November 2, 2027 election, these voter dates shape the fall, all based on state law:

• Friday, September 17, 2027: in-person absentee voting begins, 46 days before the election (Minn. Stat. 203B.081).
• Tuesday, October 12, 2027: the last day to register before election day, by 5 p.m. in person or by mail or 11:59 p.m. online. Eligible voters may also register at the polls on election day with proof of residence (Minn. Stat. 201.061).
• Tuesday, November 2, 2027: the school district election. Ask the district or your county auditor for polling places and hours.

In a district with a primary, absentee voting opens Friday, June 25, registration closes Tuesday, July 20, and the primary is on Tuesday, August 10, 2027.

A school district's boundaries may not match city or town lines, so ask the district for a map and plan your areas early. Meet parents, grandparents, teachers and neighbors at community events, candidate forums and their doors. Keep your campaign separate from school business: never use school directories, class lists or district email lists to reach people. Our post on texting parents in a school board race explains why those lists are off limits and how to build your own sign-up list instead.

Step 6: Keep supporters informed by text

Set up texting in CampaignCNX+ before your filing window, so your reminders are ready for the fall.

1. Settle your committee first. Campaign Verify, a check that confirms to the carriers (the mobile phone companies) that you are a real campaign, needs a 527 committee (the federal tax status of a political committee) with an EIN (the committee's federal tax ID number) and a filing with an election authority that is published online. Ask your school district clerk or county auditor whether your committee's filing is posted online, and contact Campaign Verify Support before you pay if it is not. A $95 request made on or after Sunday, November 15, 2026 lasts until January 31, 2029. Campaign Verify decides eligibility.
2. Open your account. CampaignCNX+ files your carrier registration for you, as 10DLC (the registration for texting from a standard local-style number) or as toll-free, and files your Campaign Verify token with it. For a toll-free number, the carrier review usually takes about three business days.
3. Add only supporters who agreed in writing. Use a sign-up sheet at forums and doors that plainly says the person agrees to receive campaign texts, with the date. Put these supporters in a group and record the consent date and source in a custom field.
4. Schedule your reminders. End each person's first message with the opt-out line:

Hi [First name], this is [Name], running for [District] School Board. Absentee voting in person starts Fri, Sep 17. Reply STOP to opt out.

Texts send only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, and STOP replies are handled automatically. 100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month. The Minnesota 2027 local election calendar lists every date to plan around, and our page on campaign texting in the Midwest covers texting across the region.

Start with the district office

Ask whether your district votes in 2027, whether it holds a primary, how many seats are open and how the positions are set up. Then check your address documents and attend a board meeting. When you are ready to keep supporters informed by text, start a CampaignCNX+ trial.