Westwood Community School District, At-large

General election

General election for Westwood Community School District, At-large (2 seats)

Cheryl Bell andAngela Mecks Hopkins ran in the general election for Westwood Community School District, At-large on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Cheryl Bell (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Angela Mecks Hopkins (Nonpartisan)

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Election dates and frequency

See also:Rules governing school board election dates and timing

School board general elections in Michigan are held on the first Tuesday after the First Monday in November every two years in even-numbered years.

See law: Michigan StatuteSection 380.384

Below are the recent/upcoming dates for all local school districts in the state. There may be exceptions to these dates for specific districts because of local charters and district-specific exceptions and carve-outs.

• Filing deadline date: July 21, 2026
• General election date: November 3, 2026

Election system

School board members in Michigan are elected through nonpartisan general elections without primaries.

See law: Michigan StatuteSection 380.384

Party labels on the ballot

See also:Rules governing party labels in school board elections

School board elections in Michigan are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates. Michigan Election Law on school board candidate nominating petitions states, "(2)The nominating petition must be substantially in the form prescribed in section 544c, except that the petition must be nonpartisan." It also states, "At any regular election, the names of the several nonpartisan offices to be voted for shall be placed on a separate portion of the ballot containing no party designation in the following order: [...], and in a year in which an election for the office is held, local school district board member, metropolitan district officer, and district library board member."

See law: Michigan StatuteSection 168.303 andSection 168.699

Winning an election

The candidate or candidates that receive the most votes in the nonpartisan general election are elected to office.

See law: Michigan StatuteSection 168.307

Term length and staggering

All school districts other community school districts in Michigan have board member terms of either four or six years depending on the board by-laws. As of 2022, 60% of school districts in Michigan had six-year board member terms, and 40% -- including community school districts -- had four-year board member terms.

Community school districts in Michigan have four-year board member terms. Initial terms for the first board members of newly organized community school districts are two, four, or six years to stagger elections.

See law:Michigan Statute Section 380.11a andMichigan Statute Section 380.384

For community school districts in Michigan, as close to half of school board members as possible for each district are elected every two years, which means either three or four seats are up for election at each even-year election. At the first board member election after community school districts are first organized, all seven board member seats are elected. Two members are elected to two-year terms, three members are elected to four-year terms, and two members are elected to six-year terms, with higher vote totals dictating longer initial terms. After initial terms, all board members have four-year terms, which results in staggered elections: four seats up in one election and three seats up in the next election.

Michigan statute requires that at least one board member must be elected every two years at each regular even-year election. Specific seat staggering details for school districts other than community school districts are determined at the local level by the district board's bylaws. Most districts with four-year board member terms elect as close to half of board members as possible every two years. Most districts with six-year board member terms elect as close to one-third of board members as possible every two years.

See law:Michigan Statute Section 380.384 andMichigan Statute Section 168.301

Representation: at large vs. by sub-district

School board members in Michigan are elected at large by all voters in the district.

See law: Michigan Statute Section 168.303,Section 168.307, and Section 380.384 (3)

Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates

School board candidates must file affidavits and nomination petitions or candidate filing fees by 4 p.m. on the 15th Tuesday before the November election. This means that the school board candidate filing deadline is in late July every even-numbered year.

See law:Michigan Statute Section 168.303

Newly elected school board members in Michigan officially take office on January 1 of the year following the election.

See law: Michigan Statute Section 380.384 andSection 168.302

• Revenue
• Expenditures

• Mathematics
• Reading/language arts
• Graduation rates

• Enrollment
• Demographics

• Teachers
• Administrators
• Other staff

1. ↑National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
2. ↑U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC: EDFacts, "State Assessments in Reading/Language Arts and Mathematics- School Year 2021-22 EDFacts Data Documentation," accessed October 18, 2025
3. ↑National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
4. ↑National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
5. ↑National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025