The Northampton County Board of Education is made up of seven (7) members. Board members are elected biennially in a non-partisan at-large election by the voters of Northampton County at the time of the primary election held pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes and any applicable local acts. The members are elected to four-year terms. The terms of office of the Board members shall be staggered such that approximately one-half of the terms shall expire every two years.
A member of the Board shall endeavor to attend all meetings, discuss items presented on the agenda, and vote upon motions and resolutions presented. A Board member should be nonpartisan in dealing with school matters and should not subordinate the education of children and youth to any partisan, group, interest, or personal ambition.

Because all powers of the Board of Education lie in its action as a group, individual Board members exercise their authority over district affairs only as they vote to take action at a legal meeting of the Board. In other instances, an individual Board member, including the Chairperson, shall have power only when the Board, by vote, has delegated authority to the individual Board member.

Official decisions of the Board can be made only at duly constituted Board meetings. An individual Board member or groups of Board members do not have independent authority to speak for the Board and are not authorized to make commitments on behalf of the Board outside of Board meetings unless directed to do so by the Board.