School board races have become a hotbed of political division. Boise is no different

As we can see from the disastrous results of the Nampa school board election, voting for board members is important, and the results can have serious side effects that can last for years.

That’s why the Idaho Statesman editorial board has spent the past few weeks interviewing all of the candidates for the Boise School District Board of Trustees, which has an election on Sept. 6.

It’s an odd date, set by the unique charter that established the Boise district in 1881.

The odd date also means the election tends to fly under the radar, and our hope is that by highlighting these races we increase voter turnout at a time — the Tuesday after Labor Day — that voting is perhaps the last thing on most people’s minds.

The Boise School District is the second-largest in Idaho, with 50 schools and 23,362 students, behind only West Ada, which has 60 schools and 38,000 students.

Boise’s charter sets it apart from other districts, as it gives the board the ability to set its own budget and set its own tax levy rate.

Boise school board members are overseeing a budget of about $390 million, with $147 million coming from local revenue, $161 million from state revenue and $44 million from federal revenue for the upcoming fiscal year. The district employs 1,385 teachers and 4,367 total employees.

This year’s election, in particular, is important, as no fewer than five out of seven seats on the board are up for election.

As we’ve seen, the decisions that school boards make can have far-reaching and negative impacts.

Earlier this year, Nampa board members banned nearly two dozen books from the district’s library shelves, ignoring and cutting off the district’s own process for reviewing challenged books. The banned books included great works of literature, such as “The Bluest Eye,” “The Kite Runner” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

We need board members who fully understand their roles, duties and responsibilities, and appreciate the impact their decisions have on others.

Just a couple of weeks before the school year was to begin, Nampa school board members ignored their administration’s recommendation and eliminated standards-based grading in secondary schools, causing confusion as teachers were preparing for the start of the school year.

This followed the Nampa board’s decision last winter to hire a new board clerk, hiking the position’s pay from $9,000 a year for 10 hours of work per week to $72,000 per year for 30 hours of work per week, according to Idaho Education News.

This summer, West Ada school board members approved a policy telling teachers what they can and cannot display in their classrooms, including a gay pride flag.

The far right has been on a crusade to take over school boards to combat their perceived bogeymen: critical race theory, mask mandates that no longer exist, indoctrination, the alleged “sexualization” of children in school.

It would appear the Boise School District was not immune to these targets. Four members of the same fundamentalist church in Boise had signed up to run but later withdrew.

Still, there are signs that some of the board candidates are running for the wrong reasons.

A number of challengers are endorsed by a group calling itself “Boise School Parents’ Association,” which equates keeping vaccinated and unvaccinated students separate with racial segregation. The association also takes issue with mask mandates, opposes the teachers union and appears to have ties with the Nampa board members who voted to ban books they don’t like.

The Idaho Liberty Dogs, a far-right Facebook group that has sown division in the community, vilified teachers and librarians by calling them groomers, used bullying tactics across the Treasure Valley and recently called for the defunding of the Meridian Library District, also is weighing in on the Boise race, endorsing its slate of candidates.

While the Idaho Statesman typically does not wade into school board races and endorsements, this year is different. We’re offering our readers an honest, fair assessment of the candidates and providing recommendations of candidates deserving of your vote.