How adding political parties to elementary schools could affect Florida’s LGBTQ+ students

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This story is published in partnership with the Queer News Network, a collaboration of 11 LGBTQ+ newsrooms to cover down-ballot elections in 10 states. Read more about us here.

This story was originally published in OUTSFL.

In 1998, Florida voted to enact nonpartisan elections for school boards so that candidates would not be required to disclose party registration or political affiliation. That could change, though, if Partisan School Board Elections Amendment gets the majority vote.

Ballot amendment – what is it one in six being voted on by Florida residents — would require school board candidates to register their political affiliation before the election. And LGBTQ+ advocates say it’s a direct attack on LGBTQ+ students and queer-affirming policies in schools.

Only four states in the country have partisan elections for school boards – Louisiana, Alabama, Connecticut and, with some exceptions, Pennsylvania. Most states require nonpartisan elections for school boards by law.

The proposal is led by state Rep. Spencer Roach, who will not seek re-election this year. Vanessa Oliver, a conservative who is a local businesswoman, and Democrat Jim Blueare are vying for his seat. The legislation is also sponsored by Trump-backed state Sen. Joe Grutgers (R-Sarasota) and state Rep. Tyler Sirois (R-Brevard County). All three sponsors voted in favor of the Safety in Private Spaces Act and a Don’t say gay Bill.

Supporters say it would provide better transparency for school board elections and allow voters to vet candidates more thoroughly based on their political affiliation.

“If voters want to vote for someone who is truly apolitical, then they should be able to see that the candidate is registered as an NPA (not politically affiliated) and is not hiding their true partisan leanings,” Oliver said. “I think most people running for school board are running because they are interested in improving our school systems and helping our students achieve the best possible results. They just don’t agree on the best way to achieve those goals, and political affiliation is often part of that calculus.”

Florida — historically a swing state — has voted Republican in the last two presidential elections. The state has been at the center of controversy and arguments surrounding LGBTQ+ language in schools, book bansrestrictions on the use of pronouns and debates over critical race theory, a college-level subject not taught in public high schools.

Some queer nonprofits in Florida fear that if the amendment passes, it will not only further politicize school boards, but also diminish the stability of public education and impact students.

“On a macro scale, this is an intent to erode public trust in institutions in general, but in public education in particular,” says Maxx Fenning, founder of PRISM, a nonprofit that advocates for LGBTQ rights in Florida schools and communities. “The influence of party politics can be detrimental to good policy that supports our children.”

Florida has closed primaries that take place in August. Unless changed by the registration deadline, only voters who are registered with a political party can vote for candidates.

School board elections also open in August. But because they are currently non-partisan, all voters, regardless of political affiliation, can vote for a candidate. Amendment 1 would push school board elections into a closed primary.

“Beyond the 1st Amendment, we’ve seen so many restrictions of LGBTQ rights on our students,” Fenning said.

One example he gives is a Florida Department of Education rule passed last year that requires parental authorization forms for extracurricular activities: “This was specifically meant to affect GSAs (Gay-Straight Alliances or Gender and Sexuality Alliances),” Fenning said. “They’re not allowed to say it, but they included verbatim language from the anti-drag bill in the permits.”

A year after DeSantis took over, Florida’s new college is throwing out hundreds of LGBTQ\+ books

While maintaining the school library, New College also disposed of hundreds of books from the Gender and Diversity Centre.

That rule affects all clubs, but Fenning argued it disproportionately impacts LGBTQ+ students because those clubs provide a space for students who don’t have supportive families or parents.

“The kids who need this support the most are the ones who won’t be able to access it anymore, it’s cruel,” says Fenning, who himself founded PRISM as a high school club and works closely with GSA through his organization. . “At the end of the day, we should keep politics out of the classroom and out of our schools, and that’s why this ballot measure is so harmful.”

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