Kenai could put school board term limits to voters under a new state law

Kenai Peninsula Borough voters would decide whether school board members face term limits under an ordinance going to public hearing Sept. 1.

The question can be asked at all because state law changed this year. Assembly member Dale Eicher, who sponsored the measure, had said state law "doesn't currently allow municipal governments to place term limits on school board members." That restriction lifted, leaving each borough to set its own rules.

The assembly cannot impose the limits itself. A yes vote only sends the question to borough voters.

They have taken it up before. Voters approved term limits for both the assembly and the school board in October 2007, and passed a related measure, Proposition 1, in October 2009. The nine-member board currently serves three-year staggered terms with no cap.

Eicher is joined as sponsor by assembly president Ryan Tunseth, assembly member Lenora Niesen and the mayor. The assembly is also set to approve the proposition summary that would appear in the voter pamphlet.

Alaska News covered the ordinance's introduction on Aug. 4.

The hearing begins at 6 pm in Soldotna, with remote participation available by Zoom.