By Lucy Parker

The Daily News

Washington Parish voters have elected to limit the terms of board members in each of the parish’s public school systems.

The local option proposal passed in the Washington Parish School District by a significant margin, with 77.92 percent of votes cast in favor of the measure. A total of 8,248 “yes” votes were cast, while 22.08 percent, or 2,337 voters, were against the proposal.

In the City of Bogalusa School District, 4,148 voters, or 75.56 percent, supported the term limit proposal, and 1,342, or 24.44 percent, voted “no.”

The longest-serving member of the Bogalusa school board, Rev. Raymond Mims, who has been in office five terms, said he respects that the results have shown term limits are “what the public wants.”

“I, myself, think you have term limits because you have to run, and the community term-limits you if they want to,” he said. “But that’s fine with me.”

Mims added that he thinks it is too early to tell if the plan’s affect on local school boards will ultimately be negative or positive.

“Sometimes you have some experienced people who have been on board and understand what the issues are and things of that sort, and sometimes you may get some newcomers who may not understand,” he said. “It could be good or bad; I’m not sure. Time will tell whether it’s good or bad.”

The measure limits school board members’ service to three consecutive four-year terms, beginning with elections after Jan. 1, 2014.