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Assembly committee advances bill letting districts vote to raise school‑board stipends
Summary
AB 1390 would raise allowable monthly compensation thresholds for school‑board members, a change proponents said would broaden the candidate pool and promote diversity on boards; the committee advanced the measure to appropriations.
The Assembly Education Committee voted to advance AB 1390, a measure authored by Assemblymember Josh Sloat to update longstanding compensation thresholds for county and local school board members. The bill would allow districts and county offices of education to increase monthly stipends for trustees within updated statutory limits; it does not mandate a raise for every district.
Sloat said the thresholds for board member compensation have not been adjusted in about 40 years and that modestly increased allowable compensation would make service more accessible to people of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Deborah Bautista Savala, president of the Woodland Joint Unified School District board and vice president of the California Latino School Board Association, testified that her board members currently receive $240 monthly and described the hours required for board service.
The California School Boards Association (CSBA) sponsored the bill; Carlos Montel, a CSBA legislative advocate, described support from several county board members who could not appear. Public testimony included school board members and a mix of district representatives who urged committee support to preserve public process and local board decision making.
Committee members asked clarifying questions and confirmed the bill does not impose a statewide mandate for pay increases; it would let local governing bodies adopt higher compensation through their own public processes. The committee vote forwarded AB 1390 to appropriations; the motion was recorded as having 5 committee votes in favor at the time the roll was read and the chair left the roll open for additional signatures.
Outcome and next steps: AB 1390 was advanced to appropriations. The author and supporters said the bill is intended to reduce financial barriers to board service while preserving local public process.
