--- type: "Bill" title: "School board matters." description: "Requires a petition of nomination for a school board office to state one of the following: (1) The candidate's political party affiliation. (2) That the candidate is an independent candidate. (3) That the candidate elects not to disclose any affiliation with a political party or that the candidate is not affiliated with a political party and does not identify as an independent candidate. Specifies that unless a candidate who states a political party affiliation is challenged, the candidate's statement must be indicated on the ballot. Provides that the name of a candidate for school board office who does not run in affiliation with a political party or as an independent candidate must be printed with a blank space after the candidate's name signifying that the candidate elects not to disclose any affiliation with a political party or that the candidate is not affiliated with a political party and does not identify as an independent candidate. Specifies that a straight party vote does not count for any candidate for a school board office. Requires a school board vacancy to be filled by: (1) a caucus if the vacating member stated an affiliation with a major political party; and (2) the remaining members of the governing body if the vacating member did not state an affiliation with a major political party. Modifies the annual amount that the governing body of a school corporation may pay a member of the governing body from $2,000 (under current law) to an amount not to exceed 10% of the lowest starting salary of a teacher employed by the school corporation." jurisdiction: "us/states/in" legislature: "Indiana General Assembly" session: "2025" identifier: "SB 287" citation: "Indiana SB 287 (2025)" classification: ["bill"] subjects: ["EDUCATION; Local School Boards", "ELECTIONS; Generally", "ELECTIONS; Political Parties", "ELECTIONS; Vacancies", "LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS; Generally", "LOCAL GOVERNMENT; Generally", "SCHOOLS; Funds and Budgets"] status: "enacted" primary_sponsors: ["Blake Doriot", "Chris Garten", "Gary Byrne", "J.D. Prescott"] version_count: 4 action_count: 38 vote_count: 7 first_action: "2025-01-13" last_action: "2025-05-06" source: "openstates" source_identifier: "ocd-bill/9b9044c4-03c0-46ca-88e6-a5a09b1f95a2" source_url: "https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/sb0287" source_hash: "14ceab2f26346a7434174ffd7d4085c382ea5f0d9b7553b2f00310a3422fcc26" vintage: "2026-07-01" source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump" retrieved_at: "2026-07-06" confidence: "reported" tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-in"] --- # Indiana SB 287 (2025) — School board matters. Requires a petition of nomination for a school board office to state one of the following: (1) The candidate's political party affiliation. (2) That the candidate is an independent candidate. (3) That the candidate elects not to disclose any affiliation with a political party or that the candidate is not affiliated with a political party and does not identify as an independent candidate. Specifies that unless a candidate who states a political party affiliation is challenged, the candidate's statement must be indicated on the ballot. Provides that the name of a candidate for school board office who does not run in affiliation with a political party or as an independent candidate must be printed with a blank space after the candidate's name signifying that the candidate elects not to disclose any affiliation with a political party or that the candidate is not affiliated with a political party and does not identify as an independent candidate. Specifies that a straight party vote does not count for any candidate for a school board office. Requires a school board vacancy to be filled by: (1) a caucus if the vacating member stated an affiliation with a major political party; and (2) the remaining members of the governing body if the vacating member did not state an affiliation with a major political party. Modifies the annual amount that the governing body of a school corporation may pay a member of the governing body from $2,000 (under current law) to an amount not to exceed 10% of the lowest starting salary of a teacher employed by the school corporation. ## Version chain The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment. 1. **Engrossed Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2025/senate/bills/SB0287/SB0287.04.ENGH.pdf) 2. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2025/senate/bills/SB0287/SB0287.05.ENRH.pdf) 3. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2025/senate/bills/SB0287/SB0287.01.INTR.pdf) 4. **Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2025/senate/bills/SB0287/SB0287.03.COMH.pdf) ## Votes - SB 287 - Byrne - 2nd Reading — **11–34** (fail) · upper - SB 287 - Prescott - 2nd Reading — **27–63** (fail) · lower - SB 287 - Prescott - 3rd Reading — **54–40** (pass) · lower - SB 287 - Byrne - 3rd Reading — **26–20** (pass) · upper - House Rule 126.4 Recommit — **26–58** (fail) · lower - SB 287 - Prescott - 2nd Reading — **29–62** (fail) · lower - SB 287 - Byrne — **26–24** (pass) · upper ## Sponsors - Blake Doriot — primary (person) - Chris Garten — primary (person) - Gary Byrne — primary (person) - J.D. Prescott — primary (person) - Michelle Davis — cosponsor (person) - Mike Gaskill — coauthor (person) - Robert Heaton — cosponsor (person) - Timothy Wesco — cosponsor (person) ## Timeline The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote. - **2025-01-13** First reading: referred to Committee on Elections `reading-1, referral-committee` - **2025-01-13** Authored by Senators Byrne and Doriot - **2025-01-21** Senator Doriot added as third author - **2025-01-21** Senator Garten added as second author - **2025-01-21** Senator Doriot removed as second author - **2025-01-30** Senator Gaskill added as coauthor - **2025-02-10** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage` - **2025-02-13** Amendment #1 (Ford J.D.) failed; Roll Call 121: yeas 11, nays 34 `amendment-failure, failure` - **2025-02-13** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2` - **2025-02-17** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 140: yeas 26, nays 20 `passage, reading-3, reading-3` - **2025-02-17** House sponsor: Representative Prescott - **2025-02-17** Cosponsors: Representatives Wesco, Davis, Heaton - **2025-02-18** Referred to the House `referral` - **2025-03-03** First reading: referred to Committee on Elections and Apportionment `reading-1, referral-committee` - **2025-03-13** Referred to Committee on Education pursuant to House Rule 126.4; Failed, Roll Call 258: yeas 26, nays 58 - **2025-03-13** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage` - **2025-03-20** Amendment #2 (Errington) failed; Roll Call 278: yeas 27, nays 63 `amendment-failure, failure` - **2025-03-20** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2` - **2025-03-20** Amendment #1 (Boy) failed; Roll Call 277: yeas 29, nays 62 `amendment-failure, failure` - **2025-03-20** Amendment #3 (Prescott) prevailed; Division of the House: yeas 63, nays 27 `amendment-passage` - **2025-03-31** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 335: yeas 54, nays 40 `passage, reading-3, reading-3` - **2025-04-01** Returned to the Senate with amendments `receipt` - **2025-04-01** Motion to concur filed `filing` - **2025-04-10** Concurrence withdrawn `withdrawal` - **2025-04-10** Motion to dissent filed `filing` - **2025-04-10** Senate dissented from House amendments - **2025-04-14** Senate conferees appointed: Byrne and Ford J.D. - **2025-04-14** Senate advisors appointed: Hunley, Garten and Gaskill - **2025-04-15** House advisors appointed: Wesco, Davis, Heaton, Boy, Errington and Pryor - **2025-04-15** House conferees appointed: Prescott and Jackson C - **2025-04-22** Motion to concur filed `filing` - **2025-04-22** Dissent rescinded - **2025-04-29** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage` - **2025-04-25** Signed by the Speaker `passage` - **2025-04-24** Senate concurred with House amendments; Roll Call 504: yeas 26, nays 24 - **2025-04-24** Signed by the President Pro Tempore `passage` - **2025-05-06** Public Law 195 `became-law` - **2025-05-06** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature` ## Source OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/9b9044c4-03c0-46ca-88e6-a5a09b1f95a2`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).