Benefits to school trustees questioned

District will survey other school districts|

The Sonoma Valley Unified School District board will survey other school districts before it makes any decision on what to do about health-care benefits for board members.

The question was raised recently when former board member Helen Marsh filed a Freedom of Information request to see how much it costs the district to offer health-care and dental benefits to board members. In 2017, the district paid more than $93,000 for health-care benefits for the board. The figure was almost $68,000 in 2016 and $57,000 in 2015.

At the May 8 board meeting, Marsh pointed out that four of the five trustees accepted benefits from the district. “Over the last three years, that has amounted to $218,000,” she said.

Marsh admitted that she accepted benefits from the district while she was a board member. Over the course of four years and parts of two other years, it ranged from a low of $855 to a high of $8,535.

The four board members who accepted benefits last year, ranged from a low of $21,490 for Britta Johnson to a high of $28,777 for John Kelly.

Dan Gustafson didn’t accept any health-care benefits last year and said he accepted health-care benefits for only 23 of the 138 months he’s been on the board.

“I didn’t know this was offered when I ran,” Marsh said. “And I took single coverage.”

In a letter to the district, Marsh pointed out that Board Bylaw 9250, “states that service on the board is viewed as a voluntary contribution to the community and that the board elects not to receive compensation as allowed by law.”

The letter said that if the district elected to receive compensation allowed by law, that would amount to $240 a month.

Marsh pointed out that the money could be better spent on employee salaries and benefits.

“Many part-time employees cannot afford to obtain district health coverage,” Marsh’s letter continued. “Board members are not employees and they do not work as many hours as many of the part-time employees who cannot afford the district insurance.”

But at least two members of the audience didn’t agree with Marsh’s proposal to axe the benefits.

Celeste Winders told the board it was an equity issue. “By offering benefits, you’re offering an opportunity for a poor person to run,” she said. And she urged the board to continue the policy – but that trustees should “up their game.”

Anne Ching said being a board member feels like a full-time job. “If you want to attract high-quality candidates, there’s got to be some sort of compensation,” she said.

During the board discussion, Nicole Ducarroz, who was calling remotely from Europe, said she didn’t know anything about the benefits when she ran. “Maybe this could be an incentive for a single-mother to run for the board,” she said. “And I think part-time employees need benefits too.”

Johnson said she too didn’t know about the benefits when she applied for the board seat that Marsh vacated.

“I work for a company that has seven people that doesn’t offer benefits,” she said. “Benefits was not my motivation.”

Since the item was an information item, Johnson asked staff to do a study on what other districts offer, but there was no timeline set for the study.

The City of Sonoma offers benefits to council members, but the cost from July 1, 2017, through March 30, was $29,675. In that time, Madolyn Agrimonti received $1,029 in benefits; David Cook, $16,184; Amy Harrington, $5,996; Rachel Hundley, $6,392; and Gary Edwards, $74.

Neither the Sonoma Valley Health Care District nor the Valley of the Moon Water District offers any benefits to its board members.

Email Bill at bill.hoban@sonomanews.com.

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