Legalities

Board Member Compensation

by Howard E. Seufer, Esquire
Bowles Rice McDavid Graff & Love

House Bill 2722, which took effect on April 30, 2001, increased the amount which county board of education members may be paid for attending school board meetings. The new limits have been in effect since the Governor signed the bill on April 30, 2001.

Previously, a school board member could not be paid more than $100 for each board meeting attended. H. B. 2722 increased the per-meeting cap to $160. The legislation also decreased the maximum number of board meetings for which a member may receive pay during each fiscal year. The maximum used to be 60. It is now 50.

Naturally, these changes have raised many questions about the pay raise and related issues. Here are some tips for steering clear of legal problems in this area.

· The new law authorizes, but does not require, school board members to receive $160 per meeting attended.

· A raise in pay is not automatic. In order to change the rate at which members are compensated, a school board must take official action to approve the new rate.

· A school board may choose to set compensation at less than $160 per meeting. $160 is merely the highest amount which a board member may be paid for attending a meeting.

· Regardless of the rate of pay, a member who has been paid for attending 50 school board meetings in a fiscal year may not be paid for attending additional school board meetings in the same fiscal year.

· According to the Attorney General, a sitting school board member may lawfully accept increased pay for attending meetings even though the board member took office before the pay increase went into effect.

· School board members serving on multi-county vocational center administrative councils may annually be paid up to $160 per council meeting attended, for a maximum of 12 council meetings attended each fiscal year. These meetings do not count toward the number of annual school board meetings for which members may be paid.

· The rules are different for school board members serving on regional educational service agency (RESA) boards. These members may be paid a maximum of $100 per RESA board meeting attended, not to exceed 15 such meetings per year. Such members may also be reimbursed for travel to and from the meetings at the same rate as state employees under the rules of the Travel Management Office of the Department of Administration. Unlike the statute covering the pay of board members serving on multi-county vocational center administrative councils, the RESA statute does not expressly exempt RESA board meetings in counting the number of annual school board meetings for which members may be paid.