The House Elections and Apportionment committee heard testimony Wednesday from more than 40 people on a Senate bill that would make school board races partisan.

Senate Bill 287, authored by Sen. Gary Byrne, R-Byrneville, Sen. Chris Garten, R-Charlestown, and Sen. Blake Doriot, R-Goshen, would change the school board election process to that of other elections, which would include a primary and general election. The school board candidates would have to declare a party.

The bill would also require school board members to be paid up to 10% of the lowest starting salary of a teacher employed in the district, which would shift the current $2,000 payment.

Byrne testified before the committee Wednesday that he filed the bill because school boards make fiscal decisions for a school district and receive funding for their campaigns.

In his county, Byrne said voters don’t know enough about school board candidates so voter turnout in those elections are low. If a school board candidate had a party affiliation, voters would know the ideologies that follow that candidate, he said.

In North Carolina, Byrne said, school board races can be partisan or nonpartisan. Research has found that the partisan races had a 5% higher voter turnout, he said.

“School boards are already partisan and it’s more vital than ever that we recognize that,” Byrne said. “Legislators run with party affiliation. School board members do not. That’s why there’s low voter turnout in those elections.”

While Senate Bill 287 was heard in the Senate committee, some senators voiced concern about the bill resulting in candidates violating the HATCH Act, which prohibits state and local government employees from running for partisan political office.

State Rep. J.D. Prescott, R-Union City, said he spoke to an official from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel who said if a candidate puts party affiliation on campaign literature it makes the race a partisan race.State Rep. Sue Errington, D-Muncie, said there’s a difference between putting party affiliation on campaign literature and on the ballot.

“It’s best when it’s on the ballot,” Byrne said. “A lot of people don’t do the research.”

Errington asked Byrne what a partisan school board race would add to a school district. Byrne said it would inform voters what ideologies a candidate has.

“This would give people less motivation to look into candidates,” Errington said. “In a school board, people really need to know what people will do for children in the communities.”

State Rep. Cherrish Pryor, D-Indianapolis, said she was concerned that the term ideology was used when discussing the bill because it points to a “divisive” bill.

“It troubles me to hear that,” Pryor said. “We want people who want the best for kids.”

State Rep. Carolyn Jackson, D-Hammond, said people run to serve on a school board to give back to their community and support children’s education. This bill would stop those people from running because they don’t do it to be a politician, she said.

“You are putting them at a disadvantage,” Jackson said.

After the discussion, 42 people signed up to testify on the bill. Those against the bill stated it would polarize school boards and discourage people from running for school boards.

Those in favor of the bill stated school board races are already political and requiring school board members to list their political affiliation would be similar to the way county coroners, surveyors and other local candidates list their affiliation.

Steven Thompson, a school board member of Washington Township Schools, said this school board seat was his first time he’s served his community. Thompson, who said he doesn’t know his political party affiliation, said school board candidates should be selected based on their qualifications.

“We need to do what’s best for our students and communities by keeping school boards nonpartisan,” Thompson said.

Warsaw Community Schools Board President Heather Reichenbach said board members focus on education and never discuss their party affiliation. The board does a good job, she said, because the board operates as an apolitical body.

Noblesville School Board member Misti Ray said she supported the bill because it will provide transparency for voters, who don’t always have time to research school board candidates.

The bill would also bring school board candidates inline with other local offices, like coroner and surveyor, Ray said.

“If you’re on a ballot for anything, you have to be honest and transparent. This is one step in that direction,” Ray said.

Juanita Albright, president of the Hamilton Southeastern Schools Board of Trustees, said she supports the bill because it gives voters, who don’t always research candidates, more information about who is on the ballot.

“A school board is inherently political, whether we want to admit it or not,” Albright said.

Joel Hand, a lobbyist for the Indiana Coalition for Public Education, said Indiana ended the practice of electing the Superintendent of Public Instruction on the basis of removing politics from education. The proposed bill, Hand said, would do the opposite.

If school board members have to declare a party, Hand said it will open them to become beholden to the party.

“This fundamentally changes the way school board candidates are elected,” Hand said.

Terry Sprandlin, executive director of the Indiana School Boards Association, said this is the fourth session the legislature has proposed legislation to make school boards partisan. People run for school boards to give back to their communities, not to participate in a lengthy election process, he said.

Sprandlin said ISBA heard from a U.S. Office of Special Counsel official that if a school board candidate chooses to disclose on campaign material a political party that does not violate the HATCH Act. But, if that candidate seeks support from a local political party that would violate the HATCH Act, he said.

Julia Vaughn, executive director of Common Cause Indiana, said the organization opposes the bill because a school board candidate can disclose their party affiliation on campaign literature if they so choose. The bill would allow ideologies to further polarize school boards, she said.

“This is not a positive change for schools, for students or for Indiana,” Vaughn said.

The bill will be further discussed by the committee at a future meeting.

akukulka@chicagotribune.com