Schools’ Budget Cutters Aiming at Trustees’ Perks

Orange County’s school districts are unlikely forums for a debate on whether elected officials receive too many perks. After all, school board members get no lavish expense accounts, no government cars and, in most cases, no mileage reimbursements of any kind.

In fact, the vast majority of school trustees average less than $4,800 a year in stipends, according to a Times survey of the county’s 27 school districts. Their most expensive perk: health and life insurance coverage that costs districts anywhere from $50 to $9,000 a year for each trustee who accepts it.

But even these relatively modest forms of compensation are coming under attack as school systems struggle to improve educational programs while dealing with tight budgets and financial losses caused by the county bankruptcy.

In several districts, trustees have attempted to eliminate or reduce their perks, arguing that school board service is a form of volunteerism that shouldn’t be compensated.

“Every dollar we can redirect toward education is money for kids,” said Hank Adler, who has asked his fellow Irvine Unified School District trustees to give up their stipend and insurance.

“I virtually guarantee that every school board member would say that [districts] don’t have enough money to do the job,” Adler said. “So why take money that could be used to do the job and spend it on the board?”

But other trustees and some parents are quick to defend the compensation, which represents a tiny fraction of their districts’ multimillion-dollar budgets.

Many trustees said the stipends barely cover their out-of-pocket expenses and the hours they spend each month at board meetings, talking with parents and teachers and attending school events.

“Being on the school board is one of the most thankless jobs,” said Elizabeth Thomas, head of the Irvine Education Foundation, which raises money for school programs.

“The two meetings a month are nothing compared to all the activities, school graduations and traveling they have to do,” Thomas said. “I think the stipend and insurance is well worth all the time and effort the board puts in.”

The debate comes as the California Constitution Revision Commission, the 21-member state panel preparing a dramatic revision of the state Constitution, considers ideas for making school districts and other forms of local government more efficient and accountable to the public.

One proposal under consideration by the commission would allow school districts, cities and special districts to merge into single “charter governments.” Some government reform advocates favor the plan because it would replace the various perk-receiving school boards and city councils with a single governing body.

Even the most vocal critics of school perks say such compensation is modest compared to what others in government receive.

Orange County supervisors, for example, earn $82,000 a year but also receive an assortment of other payments and perks--including use of a county-owned car--that brings their total compensation to more than $92,000.

Even some water and transportation agency board members receive more lucrative stipends and are eligible not only for health and life insurance but retirement benefits as well. Orange County Water District officials can receive as much as $13,000 a year in stipends while Irvine Ranch Water District board members can get up to $19,000 annually.

School stipends are determined not by individual boards but by state education codes. The amount is based on student enrollment. In Orange County, stipends range from $750 a month at the Santa Ana Unified School District to $240 a month at the tiny Savanna School District.

Most school systems also grant board members and their immediate families the same medical and dental coverage that full-time employees receive.

Two school boards--La Habra City and Laguna Beach--have opted not to receive any stipends, though trustees do have access to insurance.

The Orange Unified School District appears to be the only system in Orange County not to offer health coverage. The board eliminated it during a round of budget cuts in 1991. But members can still buy coverage from the district using their $750 monthly stipend.

Beside Orange Unified, few districts have focused on the issue of perks until recently. In 1992, Frank L. Ury, a trustee with the Saddleback Valley Unified School District, openly criticized board insurance coverage during his campaign for office.

“These are low-profile offices, so the public is generally not aware of the perks,” Ury said.

In recent months, the debate has moved to Irvine, where Adler has pushed for the elimination of all forms of compensation.

So far, the effort has proven unsuccessful. Not only did the board reject his proposal, it also voted to raise the monthly stipend back to $400 after reducing it to $100 in the weeks following the county’s Dec. 6, 1994, bankruptcy filing. Trustees also voted to provide health insurance benefits to retiring trustees who have served for 12 years or more.

Adler said such actions run contrary to the spirit of public service. “There are thousands of people in Orange County who spend thousands of hours doing charity work,” he said. “They don’t get stipends or benefits.”

But other trustees said it is wrong to compare school board service with working for a charity or even serving on the local PTA.

A trustee is an official representative of the school district and is frequently called upon to make far-reaching decisions that will affect the lives of teachers and students, they said.

“I know of very few volunteer jobs where you have the same level of responsibility and liability,” said veteran Irvine Trustee Margie Wakeham. “The demands and pressures are very high. You get shouted at during meetings. . . . You talk with the parent whose kid has been cut from the school play.”

Thomas and other school volunteers agreed, though they questioned the Irvine board’s decision to offer insurance benefits to retiring trustees.

“I think parents understand the need for some [compensation] while they are on the board, especially considering the sacrifices [trustees] make,” Thomas said.

It remains to be seen whether perks will become a major issue in the next round of school board elections. Ury, for one, said he plans to raise the topic during his reelection campaign next year.

Wakeham and others expressed the fear that eliminating the stipends and benefits would make school boards the sole domain of wealthy people who can afford to serve.

But Edward Decker, a trustee with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, said he doubted that the public will demand an end to the perks.

“As long as the system is not abused, I think the taxpayers will understand the need for it,” Decker said. “They want people in the position who will work hard and responsibly for them.”

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Compensation Compared

Maximum monthly stipends for school board members is determined by state education codes, with the amount based on student enrollment. In Orange County, monthly stipends range from $240 to $750. Two school boards, La Habra City and Laguna Beach, opted not to receive any stipends. Here is the monthly state stipend structure:

More than 400,000 students: $2,000

60,001-400,000: 1,500

25,001-60,000: 750

10,001-25,000: 400

1,001-10,000: 240

151-1,000: 120

150 or fewer: 60

Source: Local school districts; Researched by SHELBY GRAD/For the Times