School Boards Matter
2026 School Board Election - Seats Up For Election
CLICK HERE to complete a short form to initiate a discussion with us. To find out if you reside in an area where a seat will be contested, see link at bottom of page.
All 34 seats currently up for election in 2026 are listed below. Check here to see who has filed to run.
Four Priorities for School Boards
- Improve student academic achievement. This is the main purpose of education. The equity gap between high and low performers can be narrowed with the proper policies. Every school board meeting in every district should include an agenda item that gets behind the numbers, especially math and reading skills.
- Create safe, positive learning environments for students and teachers. Common-sense approaches are required to teach disrespectful, disruptive students the proper behavior, but this is also a parent problem. Students can’t learn because teachers can’t teach in a chaotic classroom.
- Stronger engagement, involvement, and transparency with parents is vital to academic success. One effective way to do this is a policy to require parents to opt in of every survey and health services provided.
- Complete fiscal transparency and re-allocation of funds from bureaucracy to student-focused outcomes. The way school budgets are tracked need drastic reform so the community understands it better.
Visit the C4DS You Tube channel to learn more about these issues
Get ready to run for a 2026 school board seat
The more time you give yourself before you have to file to run, the more you can set yourself for success – and we can guide you along the way.
First, you have to determine if you reside in the area where the nominating district seat is located.
There are two types of seats:
At Large seats: Anyone residing in the school district can run.
Nominating District seats: You must reside within the borders of a defined geographic area.
DON’T KNOW WHICH DISTRICT YOU RESIDE IN?
It’s easy. This link will take you to a page where you can enter your address and scroll down to see the name of your school district, nominating district and the name of the current incumbent.
Complete a short form to chat with us about how you can make a difference.
Candidate survey questions
Why are you running for school board, and what qualifications do you bring to the role?
What changes would you want to bring to how the school board currently operates?
How do you plan to work with the superintendent to address student achievement gaps?
What changes do you support to make the classroom a safer and more effective environment for maximizing learning and instruction?
School districts oversee multi-million dollar budgets, supported by taxpayers. What steps will you propose to ensure that the money is being spent wisely and efficiently?
Let us know if you have a question you think all candidates should answer about how they will govern.
Seven Delaware school districts have approved increases in school taxes, primarily due to financial challenges and property reassessment uncertainty.
It’s important to note that a law passed in 2023 gave school districts the authority to take this 10% increase option after every reassessment, meaning school boards could raise rates without voter approval again in the early 2030s.
- Appoquinimink School District: 10% increase to cover costs resulting from accounting errors by its former finance director, which left the district short by over $1 million.
- Brandywine School District: 7% increase to replace withheld federal funds that ultimately were released to Delaware.
- Christina School District: opted for a 10% increase to address financial needs, cancelling a planned March 2026 referendum.
- Colonial School District: 7% increase, citing the federal government’s withholding of funds. Read their message
- Red Clay School District: 1% despite being in the 2nd of 3 years of increases from the referendum previously approved by voters
- Capital School District: 10% increase approved in September 2024.
- Indian River School District: Approved a 10% tax rate increase following the failure of two referendums and property reassessment uncertainty to help meet payroll and other financial obligations.
Your New 2025 School Board Members
REMINDER:
C4DS does not endorse or oppose any candidate running for school board. We simply provide their views in their own words from various sources to make it easier for you to make an informed vote.
New Castle County
APPOQUINIMINK
At-Large – Tim Higgins
CHRISTINA
District A – Shannon Troncoso (subsequently resigned)
**Shannon Troncoso participated in a FSE forum. Watch here.
COLONIAL (NO ELECTIONS)
District B – Christine L. Smith (ACLU)*
District C (2-year term) – Phils M. Breeding (ACLU)*
District D – Christopher Piecuch Sr.
SMYRNA
At-Large – Aaron Weisenberger
Kent County
CAPITAL
At-Large ( 3-yr term) – Vickie Pendleton (ACLU)*
At-Large (4-year term) – Donna Johnson Geist
MILFORD
At-Large – Yanelle Powell (NO ELECTION)
Sussex County
CAPE HENLOPEN
District B – Jason Bradley
District C – Patty Maull
At-Large – William (Bill) Collick (ACLU)*
DELMAR
At-Large – Raymond Vincent
INDIAN RIVER
District 1
Lisa Hudson Briggs, Kelly Kline
District 4 – Michelle Parsons
LAUREL
At-Large – Raymond Vincent
At-Large – Jeffrey Benson Jr.
WOODBRIDGE
At-Large – Timothy Banks (ACLU)*
2026 Hot Issues to Watch
Significant state and local tax funding efforts
The recent property school tax reassessment and seven school districts taking an additional increase, Delaware’s government is not done yet. Voters need to stay on top of developments of two initiatives driving toward a dramatic increase in education funding for low-income, special education (students with disabilities), and English and Second Language students. The latter two groups are growing fast as a percentage of the student population.
Keep an eye on the Redding Consortium district consolidation in New Castle County and the state-wide funding reform proposal fromThe Public Education Funding Commission (PEFC). Both these groups will be driving toward legislation to be enacted in June 2026. This will make it more essential to elect school board members who are good stewards of taxpayer dollars.
The composition of school boards in your community
Changes to drive academic improvement won’t happen without Board leadership. School boards are typically dominated by other educators and teacher union representatives, who generally don’t have experience in running accountable, results-oriented organizations like those in business. The question is how to get more balance from diverse backgrounds that is required for an independent citizens oversight board that represents the values of the broader community. When few only 5-10% of Delaware voters turn out, the established interests will always win.