Term limits urged for school board

Deirdre Newman

At the last community forum for school board candidates,

challenger Ed Loyd said enacting term limits for trustees would be

one of his three priorities if elected.

Loyd has been the most vocal advocate for an infusion of new ideas

to the school board. He has repeatedly chastised current president

Judy Franco for serving on the board for more than two decades, even

though he is not running directly against her. His opponent is

incumbent Serene Stokes, an eight-year board member.

“Judy Franco has been on the board for 22 years,” Loyd said last

month. “She’s now doing a disservice by being on the board. She has

no kids in the district anymore.”

Franco did not respond directly to Loyd’s call for term limits

during the forum and was not available for comment on Friday. She has

continually emphasized her extensive experience, training and skills

as a listener and consensus-builder from having served on the board

for so long.

Mark Petracca, chair of the political science department at UC

Irvine, said he does not know of any school districts in the state

with term limits. But the advantages and disadvantages would be the

same as they are for any other legislative body, including city

councils, Petracca said.

The advantages include greater competition during the election,

which should ultimately provide more accountability, Petracca said.

The disadvantages would be the potential for a dominant

superintendent and greater staff control.

Petracca said the byzantine nature of state education policy

should not be a deterrent to impose term limits.

“If we’re prepared to allow the state of California budget and

public policy, which is fairly complex, to be made by people who are

term-limited, why not let school board trustees?” Petracca said.

Petracca said he would like to see a school district consider term

limits just to see what kind of debate would ensue.

“Maybe some important distinctions [would arise] that would make

term limits less valuable in dealing with school policy,” Petracca

said.