Elk Grove school board members consider quadrupling their pay

The Abridged version:

• Elk Grove Unified School District trustees are considering quadrupling their monthly pay, from $750 to $3,000. The move follows a new state law, which raised the maximum for school board compensation for the first time in over 40 years.
• The deliberation comes as Elk Grove Unified, the fourth largest school district in California, faces a multi-million-dollar deficit and potential staff reductions.
• Trustees are expected to decide on the raises at their next meeting, Feb. 17.

---

Elk Grove Unified trustees could see their monthly paychecks quadruple as soon as next month.

The school board is considering raises for themselves, after a state law that went into effect at the start of the year raised the maximum for California school board pay.

However, the discussion during Tuesday evening’s meeting was “awkward” and “unpleasant,” leaders said, given the district’s unsteady financial standing.

“We are not saying that board members shouldn’t earn a degree of compensation,” said James Sutter, a sixth-grade teacher and president of the teachers union, the Elk Grove Education Association.

“What we are questioning,” Sutter continued, “is whether this is the right time to dramatically increase that compensation.”

Raises would come soon

Members of Elk Grove’s board would go from earning $750 a month to $3,000 a month. If approved at a meeting later this month, the raise would go into effect as soon as March.

After all seven board members receive the bump, the change would cost the district an extra $189,000 annually, according to Superintendent David Reilly.

The Sacramento-area district is currently the fourth largest school district in the state. And it’s growing.

With rising enrollment, trustees could be eligible for a higher maximum monthly compensation of $4,500 starting next school year, under the new state education code.

Discussion amid budget deficit

Elk Grove Unified is facing a $35 million deficit this school year, according to a report from December.

“That timing is not fantastic,” board member Michael Vargas said Tuesday.

Trustee Jennifer Ballerini described her initial reaction when seeing the proposed $3,000 a month figure: “Woah, that’s a lot of money.”

But she said after realizing that the state had not raised compensation levels in decades, her perspective shifted.

“It’s too bad because it wouldn’t seem like so much all at once,” Ballerini said. “I was afraid of the look of giving us a raise at the time where we’re laying people off.”

Board members describe workoad

Trustees acknowledged the discussion’s “awkward” timing. But they asserted the adjustment would also incentivize less economically privileged candidates to run for the role.

“Serving on a board of a district as large and complex as Elk Grove, it’s not a volunteer activity,” board member Susan Davis said.

Multiple members spoke of work they do behind the scenes, including regular school visits. They argued current compensation levels fall short of recognizing those duties and expenses.

“I will poke a little bit at our EGEA friends,” Vargas said, addressing the district’s teachers union. “If you guys hadn’t gotten a pay increase in 40 years, you guys would be apoplectic.”

Other changes on the table

The board is also considering giving themselves an extra excused absence.

Currently, trustees can miss up to two meetings per year and still receive pay, if they were absent due to illness. The updates to policy would bump that to three paid absences a year.

Students in top leadership would reap some reward, too.

Elk Grove Unified includes on its board one student from the district, who serves a one-year term and is able to cast a vote same as other trustees.

New policy would offer the individual student $400 a month. At present, they are unpaid.

Savannah Kuchar is a reporter covering education. She came to Sacramento to be a part of the Abridged team and contribute to a crucial local news source.