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School board seeks pay raise and asks for nonpartisan BoE elections
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The Bryan County Board of Education is asking state lawmakers to pass legislation to give its members a pay raise for the first time since 2009 and also make future school board elections nonpartisan.

The BOE made the request in a pair of resolutions Jan. 28 at the board’s meeting in Richmond Hill.

One resolution notes school board members currently earn $150 per meeting but can be paid no more than $300 a month, and asks legislators to increase it to $875 per month for the chairman and $750 per month for board members, as well as reimbursing members for expenses they incur while on school board business.

The resolution asking the state to make future BOE elections non-partisan said the board “is charged with the task of providing an exceptional experience to all students without regard to political agendas and political party lines,” adding that more than 60 percent of school boards in Georgia “are selected in non-partisan elections.”

In an emailed written statement from the BOE provided by Chairwoman Amy Murphy, the board said the requests, which apparently will be introduced by state Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, “were not decisions made in haste; we have given significant time and consideration to these resolutions.”

The BOE said the request for increased compensation for board members followed years of salary studies to ensure employees were paid fairly. It incorporated a look at compensation for other local government officials and included that for other “high performing Boards of Education across the state of Georgia. The effort was made “with the same spirit of wanting to attract the best and the brightest,” according to the statement.

“As the Bryan County Board of Education is responsible for a budget of over $80 million and almost 1,400 employees, our aim is that this compensation increase will fairly compensate the time commitment and significant level of responsibility which Board of Education members bear,” it said.

According to pay information reported by schools to the Georgia School Board Association, compensation for school board members varies widely.

Dekalb County pays its members $18,000 per year plus $450 per diem for meetings, while Savannah-Chatham pays its chairman $16,000 per year and its members $12,000 annually.

Area districts pay less. Bulloch County Schools pays members $150 a meeting and has no provision for paying the chairman, according to GSBA; Camden County school board members are paid $300 a month across the board. Effingham County school board members are paid $200 per meeting and the chairman is paid $500 a month.

Glynn County Schools pays $500 a month to its BoE members and the chairman.

As for the effort to make local BOE elections nonpartisan, the board’s statement said partisan elections keeps talented federal employees from serving, a big deal when many in the community work on Fort Stewart or Hunter Army Airfield.

“Approximately 15 percent of our students are military dependents. Because our Board of Education elections are partisan, any federal employee who works on Fort Stewart, is barred from serving on the Board of Education due to the Hatch Act. Several years ago, an involved parent, who was an Army veteran with 3 children in our school system, announced his candidacy to run for the Board of Education. However, he had to withdraw his intent to qualify for the election because he was a Department of Defense employee and our board elections are partisan. We feel this disqualification of potential candidates, who represent our community and military population, is unnecessarily discriminatory.”

The BOE said the Georgia School Board Association encourages school board members to be elected in non-partisan elections, and that many area school boards are non-partisan.

“Upon review, we learned that Appling County, Bulloch County, Camden County, Candler County, Effingham County, Long County, Wayne County, Evans County, Tattnall County, Toombs County, and Vidalia City School Districts also hold non-partisan elections,” according to the Bryan County BOE.

Here’s the full statement:

 The Bryan County Board of Education, on 1/28/2021, unanimously passed 2 resolutions to seek changes in our local legislation. We are appreciative of the opportunity to share the information we considered prior to passing these resolutions.

First, our Board of Education consists of 7 members, with combined years of service totaling over 50 years. We believe the composition of our Board, which includes board members with extensive experience,as well as newer members who support strong levels of engagement and excitement, provide the knowledge base to review and suggest changes in our local legislation. These were not decisions made in haste; we have given significant time and consideration to these resolutions.

Second, one of the strongest practices of the Bryan County School System is the practice of gathering and critically reviewing information to guide our decisions. For example, Bryan County Schools began several years ago to conduct salary studies to confirm that our employees were compensated fairly and in line with other local school districts. We now conduct salary reviews for all positions on rotating cycles. Because the Board of Education compensation scale had not been reviewed in over a decade, we additionally chose to study this compensation.

With this same spirit of wanting to attract the brightest and best, the Board of Education conducted a compensation study of locally elected officials. We reviewed our other local governing bodies, including the Bryan County Board of Commissioners, the City of Richmond Hill, and the City of Pembroke elected officials, and their annual operating budgets and number of employees. In addition, we reviewed the compensation of other high performing Boards of Education across the state of Georgia. As the Bryan County Board of Education is responsible for a budget of over $80 million and almost 1400 employees, our aim is that this compensation increase will fairly compensate the time commitment and significant level of responsibility which Board of Education members bear.

In addition, the Bryan County Board of Education has reviewed all Boards of Education in the state of Georgia and whether they elected through partisan or non-partisan elections. Of note, Bryan County is a community which prides itself on its support and welcoming of our military families. Approximately 15% of our students are military dependents. Because our Board of Education elections are partisan, any federal employee who works on Fort Stewart, is barred from serving on the Board of Education due to the Hatch Act. Several years ago, an involved parent, who was an Army veteran with 3 children in our school system, announced his candidacy to run for the Board of Education. However, he had to withdraw his intent to qualify for the election because he was a Department of Defense employee and our board elections are partisan. We feel this disqualification of potential candidates, who represent our community and military population, is unnecessarily discriminatory.

Finally, Georgia School Board Association, with the input of all school boards across the state, holds that the official GSBA recommendation is to elect board members through non-partisan elections. In reviewing the other 180 school districts in Georgia, 109 school districts (60.55%) hold non-partisan school board elections. While we are 7 individual board members with strong personal and political convictions, we recognize that when we are in the Boardroom, our focus is on our students and their academic achievement. Liberty County and Savannah-Chatham County School Districts hold non-partisan school board elections. Upon review, we learned that Appling County, Bulloch County, Camden County, Candler County, Effingham County, Long County, Wayne County, Evans County, Tattnall County, Toombs County, and Vidalia City School Districts also hold non-partisan elections. We feel this change in our local legislation would align us with the vast majority of our surrounding counterparts, as well as remind our school district employees and Bryan County constituents, that we are focused primarily on our students’ success, which is an apolitical issue.

Source: The Bryan County Board of Education

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