This year, 477 school board seats are up for election statewide, according to the Kentucky School Board Association. Board members are elected on a nonpartisan ballot in even-numbered years and they serve four year terms, which are staggered so no more than three members of a local board expire at the same time, according to state law. A total of 865 school board seats exist. Incumbents are running in nearly 86 percent of these races and nearly half of that group are running unopposed, said Brad Hughes, Kentucky School Board Association’s member services support director. The rate of incumbents running for reelection has been around 80 percent for the last four election cycles, he said. In Jefferson County districts 2, 4 and 7 are up for election. Fourteen candidates are actively campaigning in those three races and none are incumbents.