School board members in Florida limited to two terms

In 2022, lawmakers in Florida approved a 12-year term limit for school board members. A year later, Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 477, which revised the new law and imposed a two-term limit for school board members.

Current members are now limited to only two terms, which will set in motion frequent open-seat elections. The vote occurred during a legislative session in which lawmakers pursued a variety of other issues affecting school boards and the state’s public school districts.

Overstepping local authority — or constitutional rules — seemed to be in question due to the fact that the Legislature imposed this term limit, although most districts in Florida did not sign off on it.