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School board meetings

Typical length is video length, first second to last · the longest meetings are time spoken, first word to last

The typical school board meeting ran 1 h 19 min this past year.

5,429school board meetings in the past year
  • from 1,353 districts
  • typical length 1 h 19 min
  • longest we measured 9 h 04 min, Los Angeles Unified
Meeting length

Oakland Unified's typical meeting ran 4 h 54 min, among the longest of any district with 10,000⁠–⁠49,999 students we measured (it could rank 1st–3rd).

10,000 to 49,999

Oakland Unified CA34 meetings measured4 h 54 minFairbanks North Star Borough School District AK9 meetings measured3 h 41 minKeller Independent School District TX12 meetings measured3 h 24 minPearland Independent School District TX12 meetings measured2 h 55 minThompson School District R-2J CO12 meetings measured2 h 55 min
All 10Weslaco Independent School District TX11 meetings measured2 h 49 minLodi Unified CA9 meetings measured2 h 49 minSacramento City Unified CA9 meetings measured2 h 44 minIssaquah School District WA15 meetings measured2 h 40 minClear Creek Independent School District TX14 meetings measured2 h 36 min

2,500 to 9,999

El Rancho Unified School District CA8 meetings measured4 h 05 minWyandanch Union Free School District NY12 meetings measured3 h 55 minMountain View Whisman School District CA9 meetings measured3 h 30 minKingsville ISD TX11 meetings measured3 h 25 minDavis Joint Unified CA11 meetings measured3 h 22 min
All 10Port Washington Union Free School District NY12 meetings measured3 h 16 minArgyle Independent School District TX14 meetings measured3 h 11 minMontgomery County Public Schools VA9 meetings measured3 h 10 minIsle of Wight County Public Schools VA11 meetings measured3 h 03 minSwartz Creek Community Schools MI11 meetings measured2 h 55 min

Under 2,500

Franklin City Public Schools VA14 meetings measured3 h 31 minFallbrook Union High School District CA11 meetings measured3 h 14 minKent County Public Schools MD11 meetings measured3 h 08 minAntigo School District WI13 meetings measured2 h 50 minBamberg County School District SC9 meetings measured2 h 22 min
All 10Bristol #1 School District WI12 meetings measured2 h 20 minHartland-Lakeside Joint No. 3 School District WI11 meetings measured2 h 16 minGoshen County School District #1 WY10 meetings measured2 h 04 minHillsboro-Deering Cooperative School District NH11 meetings measured2 h 03 minEast Helena K-12 School District MT13 meetings measured2 h 02 min

50,000+ students

Fewer than 20 districts this size have enough meetings to compare.
District by district

Budget and finance take nearly 1 in 9 minutes at the typical school board.

50,000+ studentsTypical board 6% · 23 boardsAustin ISD, TX 34%Austin ISD, TX 34%
10,000–49,999Typical board 10% · 123 boardsLee's Summit R-VII School District, MO 65%Lee's Summit R-VII School District, MO 65%
2,500–9,999Typical board 10% · 275 boardsAnderson County School District, KY 72%Anderson County School District, KY 72%
Under 2,500Typical board 11% · 170 boards

White tick = typical board (median). Named dots = the two highest on each row, where 20 or more boards that size qualify; a low share isn't named, because time the two readers didn't agree on counts toward no topic.

Two boards, one scale

Put your board next to any other, topic by topic

  • Budget and financeSan Francisco Unified, CA11% · 7%–14%Typical board10% · 10%–11%Too close to tell apart
  • Ceremony and recognitionSan Francisco Unified, CA—Typical board4% · 3%–4%Not measured for one of these boards
  • Public commentSan Francisco Unified, CA—Typical board2% · 2%–2%Not measured for one of these boards
  • Safety and disciplineSan Francisco Unified, CA—Typical board<1% · <1%–<1%Not measured for one of these boards

Scale 0–15% of meeting time, the same for both boards. Bars are floors; the line is the 90% range.

Where the public shows up

42% of the board meetings we counted had at least one public speaker. When anyone spoke, the typical meeting heard from 2.

  1. San Francisco Unified, CA32.3 · public speakers per meeting · 12 meetings
  2. Los Angeles Unified, CA30.9 · public speakers per meeting · 24 meetings
  3. Fort Worth ISD, TX30.1 · public speakers per meeting · 11 meetings
  4. Scottsdale Unified District, AZ22.1 · public speakers per meeting · 7 meetings
  5. Austin ISD, TX21.5 · public speakers per meeting · 11 meetings
  6. Santa Barbara Unified, CA18.4 · public speakers per meeting · 7 meetings
  7. Orange County Department of Education School District, CA18.0 · public speakers per meeting · 8 meetings
  8. Sequoia Union High School District, CA17.4 · public speakers per meeting · 8 meetings
  9. City of Chicago School District 299, IL17.1 · public speakers per meeting · 18 meetings
  10. New Haven Unified School District, CA15.8 · public speakers per meeting · 6 meetings
Coming up

Next school board meetings at the largest districts, the next 14 days

  • Nov 210:00 AMMontgomery County Public Schools MDDistrict posting ↗ Add to calendar
  • Nov 2Clayton County School District GADistrict posting ↗ Add to calendar
  • Nov 26:00 PMLewisville ISD TXDistrict posting ↗ Add to calendar
  • Nov 26:00 PMHorry County School District SCDistrict posting ↗ Add to calendar
  • Nov 23:00 PMAnchorage School District AKDistrict posting ↗ Add to calendar
  • Nov 2Cabarrus County Schools NCDistrict posting ↗ Add to calendar
  • Nov 25:00 PMLake Washington School District WAAgenda ↗ Add to calendar
  • Nov 26:00 PMGoose Creek CISD TXAgenda ↗ Add to calendar
  • Nov 26:00 PMEvergreen School District (Clark) WAAgenda ↗ Add to calendar
  • Nov 23:30 PMWayne County Public Schools NCDistrict posting ↗ Add to calendar
  • Nov 27:00 PMForney ISD TXDistrict posting ↗ Add to calendar
  • Nov 2Naperville CUSD 203 ILDistrict posting ↗ Add to calendar
More meetings
Long meetings

The longest meeting we measured this year: Los Angeles Unified, 9 h 04 min, on Jun 16

9 h 04 minLos Angeles Unified CAJun 16, 2026 · time spoken8 h 54 minLos Angeles Unified CASep 15, 2026 · time spoken7 h 46 minDavis Joint Unified CAOct 1, 2026 · time spoken7 h 19 minFort Worth ISD TXApr 28, 2026 · time spoken7 h 11 minWashoe County School District NVJul 28, 2026 · time spoken6 h 46 minBamberg County School District SCMar 27, 2026 · time spoken6 h 42 minPeoria Unified School District AZOct 8, 2026 · time spoken6 h 35 minWashoe County School District NVSep 8, 2026 · time spoken
By the numbers
  1. 5,429school board meetings in the past yearHow we count meetings
  2. 1,353school districts with a meeting in the past yearHow we count meetings
  3. 19,199(all years) hours of meeting video we have measuredHow we measure length
  4. 1 in 5meetings, at least, dealt with reading and test scoresOn the issues
  5. 1 h 19 minthe typical meetingMeeting length
  6. 9 h 04 minthe longest we measured, Los Angeles UnifiedLong meetings
  7. 35%of the talking by the top speaker on the typical board, of 24 we compareWho does the talking