In Iowa, school board members, or directors, are elected to serve four-year terms. School Board elections are held on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November in odd-numbered years, on the same day as municipal elections. School Board members are an unpaid elected position.

The next School Board election in Iowa will be held on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. This page will be updated closer to that time. In the meantime, information on voting is available at the the Polk County Election Office.

ABOUT AT-LARGE/DIRECTOR DISTRICT SEATS

School Board members in Des Moines are elected by a combination of at-large and director district seats. Three members are elected at-large and four members are elected from one of four districts. At-large members are elected by voters from the entire school district while district members are elected by voters who reside within a specific district. The map below shows the boundaries for each of the director districts (zoom in or enter an address in the search bar for greater details):