Kenai Peninsula school board term limits head to Sept. 1 borough hearing

School Board Term Limit Proposal Set for Introduction

Kenai Peninsula Borough school board members would face a cap on how long they can hold their seats under an ordinance sponsored by Assembly Member Dale Eicher. The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly cannot enact the change on its own. If members approve it, borough voters would decide.

The measure amends two sections of borough code. It comes up for introduction Aug. 4 at both the Policies and Procedures Committee and the full assembly, where it sits on the consent agenda. Public testimony will be taken when the consent agenda is considered that day. A reference copy of Resolution 2023-060 is listed among the agenda attachments.

Voters Have Weighed In Before

Borough voters have taken this question up before. They approved initiatives establishing term limits for the assembly and the school board in October 2007. They approved Proposition 1 in October 2009, which the borough implemented by ordinance.

State law sets the baseline. The school district's board election page cites Alaska Statute 29.20.300, under which board members are elected until their successors take office. The nine-member board serves three-year staggered terms tied to assembly districts.

A public hearing on the ordinance is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 1. Testimony will be taken then as well.