Minutes-10-17-2023-Business Meeting

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16 PUBLIC COMMENTS: Riza Jenkins, CHCCS Board of Education member, spoke about her own personal experience in support of the request to increase compensation for Board of Education members. She said the reality is that the work of the school board takes effort and time, as the commissioners are well aware from their service as well. She said it may seem that she does well for herself now, but that was not the case a few short years ago or thirteen years ago when her family first moved here. She said she declined to run for school board for years due to the time commitment she couldn't manage while also raising three children. She said the child care it would have required was a cost her family couldn't support, and getting to meetings on time and staying late just wasn't possible. She said even now that her children are older, she still has to take time off of work, ask friends or pay for transporation for her children,just to attend meetings. She said sometimes her son walks home after an evening practice, her daughters wait for thirty minutes or more outside of their dance class, and sometimes her kids are just unable to do some of the activities they want because they do not always have someone to take them and pick them up. She said the current stipend offsets some financial barriers, but it isn't enough compensation for the 800-1,000 hours spent per year doing the work of the school board. She said school board members must also take on the cost of ensuring their own personal safety. She said when she first attended an information session on becoming a school board member, the members at the time were two-parent households, high wage earner households, or retired or semi-retired individuals. She said she appreciates the contributions of all school board members past and present, but representation from the communities whose needs they are trying to meet matters. She said as the only solo parent on the board and a woman of color, she knows that representation matters and while she has the privilege of a college and advanced degrees to help her overcome many of her own personal struggles, many of the voices that should be at the table may or do not. She said she wants to see more diversity on the board of education and increasing the stipend isn't the only way, but it will help decrease the barriers for some community members. Following public comments, Vice-Chair McKee said he would like to discuss this topic at a joint meeting with the CHCCS Board of Education and then have the request come to the Board as part of the budget. He said he would also rather have any increase apply to both Boards of Education. Chair Bedford said there are two decision points if the Board chooses to act tonight. The first is to determine an amount for the increase and the second is to determine whether or not to use new funds. Commissioner Richards asked if the alternative to new funding is for the Board of Education use money already allocated for the increase, and in that case there would not be a requirement to give funds to OCS. She said she is concerned about the timing because once money is given, the next year this amount is in the continuation budget for CHCCS. She said this creates a false baseline since it's mid-year. Commissioner Fowler said she tried to find school board rates online. She said the time commitment may be less than as a Commissioner, but school board members probably receive even more emails and sometimes meet even later. She said she is willing to increase the stipend, and suggested increasing to $10,000 a year for board members, $11,250 for the Vice-Chair and $12,500 for the Chair. She said she is open to providing new funds, or having the school board find the money in their current fund balance. Commissioner Portie-Ascott said she thinks that representation does matter and acknowledges that it is a lot of work to serve the community and wants people to be fairly compensated. She said she is in support of the school board using their fund balance for the increase now and to revisit this request as part of the budget cycle. Commissioner Hamilton said, having served on the CHCCS school board, she understands the work required and supports a raise. She said she is concerned about the timing