By Brian Trompeter
In a decision that came shortly before 1 a.m. on June 27, the Fairfax County School Board agreed to raise future members’ salaries to $48,000 starting next year, with the chairman receiving $2,000 more.
The board approved the raises on a 9-1 vote, with member Abrar Omeish (At-Large) voting nay and members Melanie Meren (Hunter Mill District) and Stella Pekarsky (Sully District) abstaining.
The new salaries were consistent with those of board members overseeing large school systems around the nation, said Board member Karen Corbett Sanders (Mount Vernon District).
The Fairfax County School Board oversees an enrollment of more than 182,000 students – more than twice that of any other school system in Virginia – and manages more than 28,000 full-time employees and a budget exceeding $3.5 billion per year. Members typically attend almost 150 meetings, work sessions, public hearings and other functions, officials said.
School Board members and the vice chairman currently make $32,000 per year and the chairman earns $34,000. (The student representative also receives $50 per meeting and the motion passed June 27 did not address whether that amount would rise next year.)
The School Board legally cannot pay its members more than what Board of Supervisors members earn, but that threshold will be rising next year as well. Supervisors earlier this year voted to boost future members’ pay to $123,283 (up from $95,000) and pay the chairman $138,283 (up from $100,000).
State law allows the School Board to pay its chairman up to $2,000 more than other members receive. The law also requires salary changes for future School Board members to be approved by the current board no later than July 1 in years when the board’s seats are up for election. Salary increases take effect Jan. 1 after the election.
The School Board has raised salary levels three times in the last 35 years, with the last one in 2015 raising board members’ pay from $20,000 to the current level.
Staff had recommended that School Board members be paid $60,404 annually and that the chairman receive $2,000 more per year. Board vice chairman Tamara Derenak Kaufax (Franconia District) advanced a substitute motion to pay future members $48,000 and the chairman $50,000.
“When we have a salary for $32,000 a year and say this is a part-time job, it sends a message that is not accurate,” said School Board member Laura Cohen (Springfield District). “The expectation from our constituents is that we will be accessible to them at all times . . . This is a full-time job. You should be expecting to walk into a full-time job with a full-time commitment.”
Higher salaries also might help ensure greater socio-economic diversity among School Board members, she said.
(Cohen will not be able to take advantage of the higher salaries because she is running as the Democratic nominee in the 15th House District race this fall. Seven other board members also are not seeking re-election, including two others who also are seeking state legislative posts.)
School staff calculated annual raises and cost-of-living adjustments given to school employees over the last eight years – a similar process to the one recently undertaken by the Board of Supervisors – and came up with a School Board salary slightly higher than $42,000, Board member Megan McLaughlin (Braddock District) said. The $48,000 figure reflects the school system’s size and comparable salaries elsewhere in the country, she said.
Based upon a follow-on motion passed by the School Board June 27, school staff will review the board’s salary in the third year of members’ terms, using data comparing Board of Supervisors’ pay, salary adjustments made for school employees and pay given to other school boards across the country with similar workloads or school-system sizes. The School Board will act on salaries in the fourth year of its term. (The last two raises both came after eight years with no adjustments.)
“This is an opportunity for us to stay ahead of the conversation that just took place by having data is current and is done in time, that is well-researched and is transparent to the public,” said School Board member Ricardy Anderson (Mason District).
The School Board’s salaries long have “significantly” lagged those of the Board of Supervisors, McLaughlin said. Unlike county supervisors, School Board members do not receive $600,000 for offices and full-time staff in each of its magisterial districts, and members do not get pensions, she said.
“Now I am not trying to equate that School Board members should make what Board of Supervisors members make, but I am hard-pressed to believe, having done this job for 12 years, that the Board of Supervisors [is] doing three times – or 300 percent – more than the School Board members.”
McLaughlin added, “It is not lost on me as well that this has been a predominantly female board. We’ve continued to lose men on this board and I can’t help but think it’s because [of] the very small compensation that comes with this job.”
Too many School Board members for too long have had to rely on the higher incomes of their spouses or partners, she said.
“It’s a significant sacrifice over time,” McLaughlin said.
