Board approves monthly stipend structure for members, 7‑2 vote on compensation option

The Kershaw County School District Board approved a compensation policy implementation (BID) that sets board member pay at a monthly rate under "Option A," the administration told trustees.

Under Option A, regular board members receive $8,500 per year (presented as $708 per month) and would be compensated for attendance at monthly meetings; if a month contains two meetings, the monthly amount would be divided between meetings (for example, roughly $354 per meeting for two‑meeting months). Administration presented two alternative models — a quarterly calculation with attendance thresholds (Option B) and a monthly model requiring 50% in‑person attendance for full pay (Option C) — but recommended Option A as closest to current practice and simplest to administer.

Trustees debated whether virtual attendance should qualify for pay. One member asked whether he had been paid for attending meetings virtually while traveling; administration confirmed virtual attendance had received compensation in practice. A motion to adopt Option A passed with seven ayes and two nays.

The board approved the operational policy language that establishes when and how stipends are paid; the underlying resolution changing the stipend structure was previously approved in June 2023, and the new policy makes the change functional (timing, calculations and payment procedures). Trustees asked administration to clarify attendance and payment procedures for future meetings where virtual attendance may be used.

The motion passed 7–2. The meeting record does not attribute individual yea/nay votes to named trustees in the transcript.