The Board of Education members in Bryan County have asked Georgia lawmakers to approve a pay raise for the local representatives.
State Representatives Jan Tankersley, Ron Stephens, and Jesse Petrea filed legislation on January 12, 2022. The local legislation follows approval of a resolution by the Board of Education in 2021. Last year, BOE members voted to ask lawmakers to increase their maximum compensation to $875 per month for the chairman and $750 per month for board members, an increase from the $300 cap currently in place. Members are paid $150 per meeting, but can only hold two meetings per month under the current pay structure, unless they go without compensation.
They’re also asking for reimbursements of expenses they incur individually, but the legislation does not call for any limitation on what kinds of expenses will be reimbursable.
Surrounding county salaries include:
- Appling County – ~$200 per month
- Bulloch County – $150 per meeting, no additional funds for chairman
- Camden County – $300 per month
- Effingham County – $200 per meeting, Chairman receives $500 per month
- Glynn County – $500 per month for all members
- Screven County – $1,840 per year (~ $150 per month)
- Wayne County – $2,800 per year (~$230 per month)
In an article on the resolution last year, the Bryan County News compared the Bryan County BOE compensation to that of DeKalb County, which pays $18,000 per year, plus $450 per meeting, and Savannah-Chatham Public Schools, which pays $12,000 per year for members and $16,000 for the chairman.
Interestingly, the National School Boards Association reported that school board members are “typically volunteers who receive no annual compensation. 75% of small district school board members receive no salary. Less than 40% of large district school board members work more than 40 hours per month on board-related duties in return for a salary.”
Board members have also asked that the elections be made non-partisan, a trend which has taken hold in a majority of school districts around the state in recent years. Currently, more than 60% of school board elections are non-partisan.
You can read the legislation below.
https://www.thegeorgiavirtue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/20212022-203302.pdf
