FUHSD approves board compensation for meeting attendance

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

Members of the Fallbrook Union High School District board may now receive pay for attending board meetings.

A 5-0 FUHSD board vote July 12 approved pay of $240 for the month if a board member attends all of the meetings that month or has an excused absence. The board member must be present for the entire meeting, and a board member who does not have an excused absence may receive a pro-rata amount.

In May 1995, the FUHSD board at that time approved a policy addressing pay and other benefits for board members. A March 2008 board meeting amended that policy and deemed board activity as a voluntary contribution to the community.

The July 12 revisions allow each board member to decide whether he or she wishes to receive the compensation. If all five board members qualify for the $240 compensation each month the annual cost to the district will be $12,000.

The new policy requires a board member to attend every regular meeting, special meeting, and study session held in a calendar month unless he or she has an excused absence. An excused absence will be granted if the board member is performing services on behalf of the school district at the same time as the board meeting, is ill, is on jury duty, or has a hardship deemed acceptable by the rest of the board.

A board member may have up to two excused absences each year. If a board member misses a meeting without an excused absence, the $240 will be divided by the number of meetings held that month and then multiplied by the number of meetings the board member attended to determine the board member's compensation for that month.

The original policy also covered reimbursement and other benefits. The reimbursement for travel expenses was clarified so that personal expenses are not reimbursed. Those personal expenses include tips and gratuities, alcohol, entertainment, laundry, personal use of an automobile, traffic violation fines, personal losses, the expenses of a family member who is accompanying the board member on a trip, and the personal portion of any trip which includes the school district business. The district superintendent will resolve any questions regarding whether a specific type of expense may be reimbursed, although that decision must be made before the expense is incurred.

Prior to 1994, the school district paid for health and welfare benefits for former members if those members had served for at least 12 years and some of that tenure was after Jan. 1, 1981. The health and welfare benefits matched those provided to school district employees. Any former member whose first term of office began after Jan. 1, 1985, could continue to receive health and welfare benefits at his or her own expense. The policy revisions now allow any former member leaving office rather than one retiring from the board after at least one term to be eligible for those benefits at his or her own expense.