What Wilson County Records and Tennessee Law Actually Say

Wilson County has a school board vacancy, and people are using it as a political tug of war. That is backwards. Schools exist for students, not for party scoreboards. If we are going to persuade our neighbors, we should do it with facts, not with spin.

Some of what is being shared online about school boards, taxes, and partisan elections is simply false. Spreading false claims to steer people emotionally is dishonest, and it is a disservice to families who are trying to make good decisions for our children.

Here is what the public record shows.

The vacancy process is about representation, not party ownership

Wilson County government has published the process for filling the vacant school board seat, and it is clear that the County Commission will appoint someone to serve until the public votes. The county notice also states, in plain language, that qualified candidates may apply regardless of political affiliation. In other words, this is not legally treated as a party seat that must be handed back to a party. It is a public seat meant to represent students and families in that zone.

If we want the strongest schools, the healthiest approach is to evaluate applicants by qualifications, temperament, and ability to govern, not by the letter next to their name.

School boards matter, but they do not control everything people claim they control

It is true that a school board has serious influence over school operations, policies, and what materials are used in classrooms. But two common claims being circulated are not accurate.

First, local school boards do not set Tennessee academic standards. Tennessee requires districts to provide a curriculum that meets or exceeds the academic standards adopted by the State Board of Education. Local boards and districts implement those standards and choose instructional materials within state rules, but they are not writing statewide standards from scratch.

Second, local school boards do not set county tax rates. In Tennessee, the county legislative body, meaning the County Commission, is the body that levies taxes. School boards build and approve an education budget request, but the tax levy is not theirs to set. Saying otherwise misleads taxpayers about who actually controls the rate.

Wilson County taxes: a flat rate is not the same thing as “the school board prevented tax increases”

The adopted Wilson County budget sets the county property tax rate at $1.9089 per $100 of assessed value. That number is in the county’s official budget document, not in anyone’s talking points.

Also in that same adopted budget, the General Purpose School Fund is budgeted at $225,809,374, with $135,451,208 budgeted for instruction. Those are the kinds of figures that actually matter for class sizes, staffing, services, and student support.

Here is the key honesty check. Even when the tax rate is flat, tax bills and total collections can still rise with reassessments, rising property values, and growth. And legally, the body that holds the pen on the tax rate is the County Commission, not the school board.

How Tennessee school board elections became partisan, and who drove it

For generations, many Tennessee school board elections were run as nonpartisan contests in the practical sense that candidates did not run with party labels on the ballot. That meant voters often focused more on experience, character, and competence than on party branding.

That changed in 2021. Tennessee passed Public Chapter 1 in the Third Extraordinary Session of 2021, and it created a legal pathway for partisan school board elections. This was not some kumbaya moment where both parties “came together” to offer candidates a friendly option. It was a state law change pushed through a legislature dominated by Republicans and signed by the Republican governor.

The mechanics matter, too. Tennessee law allows school board elections to be conducted on a partisan basis, and it allows a county party primary board to opt in. Reporting at the time highlighted that one party could trigger the shift even if the other party objected, which is exactly the kind of structural change that predictably increases polarization.

So yes, politics touches education because government touches education. But it is also fair, and historically accurate, to say Tennessee recently turned the temperature up by injecting party machinery more directly into school board elections.

Student outcomes should be the North Star

If someone wants to argue that a certain approach is working, the proof should not be vibes or slogans. The proof should be student outcomes and responsible stewardship.

Tennessee’s official State Report Card is designed for exactly this purpose. It includes district and school performance measures such as achievement, growth, graduation rate, readiness, discipline, and more. That is where families should look when they want to judge how well the system is serving students.

A kids first way to talk about this vacancy

The closing message Wilson County needs is simple and it should be said plainly.

Do not contact your County Commissioner and ask them to appoint a Republican or a Democrat.

Contact your County Commissioner and ask them to appoint the best person to support our children.

Ask for someone who will focus on literacy, math, safety, teacher support, special education, career readiness, and transparent budgeting. Ask for someone who can disagree without turning board meetings into a reality show. Ask for someone who understands what the school board actually controls, and what it does not.

Our kids deserve adults who tell the truth, read the law, follow the money, and keep the mission sacred.