Durango School District 9-R Board of Education voted in favor of establishing a stipend for future board members on Tuesday.
The ability to offer a stipend was made possible through the passing of Colorado HB21-1055 in 2021, which removed a restriction on compensation for the president or vice president of school boards and allowed for the compensation of board members.
District 9-R’s decision to compensate future board members follows the lead of other districts in Denver, Aurora and Sheridan that did so after the bill was passed. After discussing the topic over the last three months with the district’s finance department, 9-R developed a plan for how the stipend would be paid.
A stipend of $161.70 per day for each board member elected after November 2023 will be given for two days per week, 11 months of the year, for a maximum yearly amount of $14,299.60. The amount was based on the estimated hours that board members work.
“Board members are putting in more and more time to complete all of the necessary job requirements,” said board president Kristin Smith. “It's equated to a job that used to be 5 to 10 hours per week and is now taking board members 20-plus hours a week each, which is quite a bit of time for a volunteer position.”
Smith said the district is developing a way to accommodate stipends into the district’s budget and that it will be finalized during the June 23 meeting.
She estimates the cost of compensating five board members will be around $75,000 per year out of the district’s approximately $50 million per year budget. However, there are still existing board member serving their terms, and so the full financial impact won’t take affect until an entirely new board is voted into office.
Part of the decision to compensate board members is to diversify and attract candidates to the position.
“There's been many times in Durango where there has been a seat that no one has ran for, or an uncontested seat,” Smith said. “At that point, voters only have one choice.”
In addition, the district hopes a stipend will diversify the candidate pool. Smith used single parents as an example of people who may not have been able to run previously. Compensation could allow single parents to make up for lost wages or pay for child care.
The resolution also allows board members and their families to enroll in the district’s group health care plan, as long as it is permitted by the plan provider and the board member pays the entire premium for coverage at no cost to the district.
“We're really excited to be able to offer this opportunity,” Smith said. “(Durango) City Council members and (La Plata) County commissioners are paid. We're kind of the only local elected body that didn't have any compensation system in place.”
tbrown@durangoherald.com
