Term limits for school board members on ballot
Last Modified: Monday, October 15, 2012 1:40 PM
BATON ROUGE (AP) — After years of off and on debates, voters in most school districts will decide on Nov. 6 whether to limit local school board members to 12 consecutive years of service.
"I think probably a majority of the school districts will be in favor of term limits," said state Rep. Stephen Pugh, R-Ponchatoula and sponsor of the 2012 bill that sparked next month's vote.
The Advocate reported the only exceptions are Lafayette and Jefferson parishes.
The vote represents a local option on the issue.
Under the ballot measure, voters of each school district that approves the change will limit time on local boards to three consecutive, four-year terms.
The limit would take effect with elections after Jan. 1, 2014, which means that even board members who have served for decades could do so for another 12 years if local voters backed the limits.
Districts that reject the measure will allow local board members to continue to serve for an unlimited number of years.
The issue has surfaced several times in recent years during Louisiana's push to improve public schools.
In 2009 a bid by state Rep. Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge, to impose term limits without a statewide vote died in a House committee.
In 2010 legislation that would let local voters decide the issue — similar to this year's plan — passed the House but died in a Senate committee.
Pugh's plan won final House approval April 4 by a vote of 62-35.
On May 22 the proposal passed the Senate 20-16, the minimum number of "yes" votes needed.
The Louisiana School Boards Association, which has opposed term limits for years, has not taken a formal stance this time, LSBA Executive Director Scott Richard said.
But leaders of the group, which includes 654 members, question the need for any new rules.
The state has 70 public school districts.
The ballot measure will not be submitted to voters in Lafayette and Jefferson parishes and does not apply to the state-run Recovery School District, which is overseen by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
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