“It was the most turbulent year in the history of the Providence school department,” said Carol Young, then a 24-year-old Journal reporter covering city schools. Young, now 81, told the Globe that the public was fed up with the elected board’s antics; the president “didn’t show up” for nearly a year during desegregation, and some politicians running for the board cared more about “putting Uncle Charlie in the school system as principal” than about educational issues. In the end, 56 percent of voters chose to move to an appointed board.

School governance partially returns to voters next week. On Election Day, beneath the names of candidates for president and U.S. Congress on their ballots, Providence voters will be asked to elect a school board member to represent them for the first time in 58 years old. The new hybrid school board model, which will include five elected members and five appointed by the mayor, was approved as a change to the city charter in 2022.

While historic, the race has flown under the radar in this presidential election year, despite the outside influence of special interest groups and the possibility that election winners take back control of the state school district during his first term. Many of the 17 candidates spread across 5 districts have focused on campaigning on the ground. efforts like door-knocking and social media, with several candidates raising $0.

“It’s a very unusual format,” said Jonathan Collins, a school governance expert and professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College. “People will need to see proof of concept before making a big investment.”

Three candidates, including two incumbent school board members, failed to even file campaign finance reports last month as required by law, resulting in fines from the Board of Elections. Campaign finance director Richard Thornton said he imposed $25 fines on Night Jean Muhingabo, Michael Nina and Michael Jefferson for failing to file reports. (The Globe contacted them on Monday, Muhingabo and Nina said they were filing their reports and Jefferson could not be reached.)

As of Tuesday night’s reporting deadline, only five candidates (Corey Jones, Heidi Silverio, Andrew Grover, Kobi Dennis and Ty’Relle Stephens) had raised more than $2,000 in donations this year. Stephens, an incumbent, raised the most of any candidate, more than $12,000. (His only opponent, DeNeil Jones, raised $660.)

More than half of the candidates have spent less than $200. It’s a far cry from the tens of thousands of dollars candidates often spend in the city’s competitive City Council races. School board members will represent three times as many constituents as a council member.

“It could be a reflection that this is a new race,” said John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, which is closely following the election. “It could also be a reflection of the fact that the school board currently has no power. “Money flows to power in politics, which is why (House Speaker) Joe Shekarchi has more than $2 million.”

The board is essentially advisory right now under the state takeover of the school system, with no official power to hire employees, spend money or set policy. But the acquisition is currently scheduled to finish in 2027during the new board’s first four-year term.

Most school committees across the country are elected, said Collins, a former Brown University professor. When school management changes, it often goes from elected to appointed, as Providence did in the 1960s, he said.

“The designated format is supposed to provide a longer runway for superintendents and educational leaders to implement reform efforts without the influence of electoral politics,” Collins said. “Once leaders get a taste of the fewer restrictions that can come along with the appointment system, we rarely see those same systems return to elected systems.”

Providence isn’t the only city returning to a chosen format. Chicago voters will elect a hybrid school board next week, as a stepping stone toward a fully elected board in 2026. Boston has also considered switching from an appointed board to an elected board, but the measure was vetoed by Mayor Michelle Wu last year. In Rhode Island, the city of Johnston is ask voters next week to switch to a hybrid boardsimilar to Providence.

Providence’s new board of directors is even rarer because it will have 10 members, an even number.

“It’s unusual that there wasn’t a tie-breaking vote,” Collins said. “They’re basically creating an opportunity for a stalemate.”

There has been external influence on the race. Both the Providence Teachers Union and Stop the Wait RI, a group of charter schools, approved a list of candidates in Septemberand this last group sent advertisements in the four regions where they chose a candidate. Mayor Brett Smiley has not publicly endorsed anyone.

“When information about contests is lacking, sponsorships can play a key role,” Marion said.

The total amount of money spent by outside groups has not been disclosed. A coalition of unions sent an email only to union members, exempting them from the obligation to publicly report spending. Stop the Wait founder Janie Segui Rodríguez also said her group did not need to report its expenses because it was “general defense.” Both groups declined to tell the Globe how much they spent.

Teachers union leaders have sharply criticized Stop the Wait for getting involved, since the Providence School Board does not oversee charter schools.

But Rodriguez noted that because of a long waiting list for charter schools, many parents in the group still send their children to public schools.

“The vast majority of the families we served were not autonomous families,” Rodríguez said. “It seemed like the right thing to do was to work on these races.”

An outside group, Collective Action for Education, has publicly reported spending money on the race. The nonprofit, which favors both charter schools and innovation within traditional public schools, has raised $70,000 and has so far spent $25,000 on radio ads supporting candidate Jenny Mercado.

Losing candidates will have another chance to join the board if they apply for one of the mayor’s appointed positions; Smiley plans to start accepting applications 3 days after the election.

Much has changed since the last elected school board that integrated black and white students in the 1960s. More than two-thirds of the city’s public schools The students are Hispanic. In addition to low reading and math scoresThe main challenges facing the district include a financial crisisan increase in students with special needs and a growing number of English language learners.

“The argument for ending the state takeover has been the fact that they haven’t seen significant progress,” Collins said. “This is quite an experiment.”

You can contact Steph Machado at [email protected]. follow her @StephMachado.