Azusa Unified Board to Consider Aligning Trustee Stipends With New State Limit

At its Jan. 27 governance workshop, the Azusa Unified School District Board of Education directed staff to bring an agenda item to the board’s Feb. 10 meeting to consider aligning trustee stipends with AB 1390, the state law that raises the maximum stipend for districts in Azusa’s Average Daily Attendance (ADA) bracket.

Superintendent Ortega briefed the board on the local context. “The current maximum amount for our district based on our ADA is $240 a month,” he said, adding that when Azusa’s ADA once exceeded 10,000 students the district previously qualified for a $400 monthly stipend. “AB 1390 for our bracket of a district, the maximum amount allowed for the monthly stipend is $1,200 a month.”

Vice President Rodriguez Pena argued the raise would help retain and attract board members who otherwise might be unable to serve. “For 15 years I’ve been getting my check of a $188 a month,” Rodriguez Pena said, urging alignment with the new state maximum. Board member Arianez likewise said the increase could broaden participation and urged the board to act.

Board member Grrommest asked whether the increase would be budgeted; Ortega responded that the forthcoming Feb. 10 agenda item will include a budgetary impact statement so trustees can see the fiscal implications before any formal vote.

The discussion did not produce a formal, immediate vote. Instead, the board president said she would place an item on Feb. 10 so the board could take formal action — whether to adopt the new maximum authorized under AB 1390 or choose a different stipend level. The board’s consensus to agendize the matter moves the question from discussion into a formal process in which fiscal analysis and a public vote would follow.

Next steps: staff will prepare the Feb. 10 agenda report with the proposed stipend alignment and a budgetary impact section for board consideration.