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Assembly asks legislature to consider school board term limits

The Borough administration and school district building in Soldotna.
Riley Board
/
KDLL
The Borough administration and school district building in Soldotna.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly is asking the state to change its policy on school board term limits.

Currently, state statutes do not allow local governments or school boards to set term limits for themselves. Kenai Assembly Member Richard Derkevorkain sponsored the resolution, which asks state lawmakers to consider a change to those statutes.

In a memo, Derkevorkian wrote that term limits foster better policymaking, prevent the concentration of power and enhance accountability. He explained his motivation for bringing forward the resolution at last night’s assembly meeting.

“The mayor has term limits, the borough assembly has term limits, and I think it’s odd that there’s no avenue for the school board to have term limits if they wanted to impose them on themselves, or if the public wanted to pursue that in any way,” Derkevorkian said.

The resolution passed unanimously, with several amendments from Soldotna Member Tyson Cox. A copy will now be sent to every member of the Alaska Legislature.

Derkevorkian, who is not running for reelection for the Kenai assembly seat, served during his last meeting Tuesday.

Riley Board is a Report For America participant and senior reporter at KDLL covering rural communities on the central Kenai Peninsula.
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