Senate advances school board term limit proposal

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The Senate’s preferred proposed constitutional amendment to force term limits on school board members now carries an eight-year limit, too.

A Senate elections panel signed off on a resolution (SJR 1216) by Sarasota Republican Sen. Joe Gruters to implement eight-year term limits for school boards, similar to those for state lawmakers.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has thrown his support behind the measure. Despite the bill passing the Ethics and Elections Committee along party lines, some Democrats have backed the legislation, including Plantation Sen. Lauren Book and Wellington Rep. Matt Willhite.

Before an amendment, also approved Monday, the language proposed 12-year term limits. Last year, then-Chair Sen. Dennis Baxley carried the resolution for eight-year term limits, which passed the committee by the same 4-3 party-line vote.

“The reason why we’re going to eight in this amendment is to really provide a consistency across elected office,” Gruters said.

The amendment brings the proposed amendment in line with the House version (HJR 157) filed by Rep. Anthony Sabatini and Willhite and makes Book’s version (SJR 1480) redundant. Sabatini, a Howey-in-the-Hills Republican, says “eight is enough” when it comes to years on school boards.

Last Session, Rivera Beach Democratic Sen. Bobby Powell attempted to add an amendment extending the bill’s term limit language from eight to 12 years. But that amendment was withdrawn before the bill ultimately died without a floor vote.

And again Monday, Powell voiced opposition. He feared perennial candidates who previously ran for state, county or city office might settle for school board elections if more qualified candidates cannot run.

But Gruters pointed to state lawmakers’ eight-year term limits, implemented in 1992, and the diversity of the Legislature since then.

“This is about good government. And you can tell that term limits work by looking around this room and seeing all of us that are here as a result,” Gruters said.

Mike Budd, a Palm Beach County-based former educator, said the learning curve on school boards is so steep that he wouldn’t even advise a 12-year term limit.

“But most of us know that this bill is not really about term limits at all. It’s about the privatization of education in Florida,” he said.

Rich Templin, the Florida AFL-CIO’s legislative and policy director, argued the amendment should instead allow individual counties to decide whether to implement term limits. Only the state’s 20 charter counties currently have the power to adopt school board term limits.

Gruters’ bill now heads to the Senate Education Committee. The House version has one stop, that chamber’s Education Committee, before the House floor.

If the Legislature passes the proposed amendment, the language would head to voters.