Davidson County Commissioners approved pay raise for local school board members
Members of the Lexington City, Thomasville City and Davidson County school boards of education have received a pay raise, even though it wasn’t exactly what they had planned.
The Davidson County Board of Commissioners voted on June 13 to approve an increase in the monthly stipend for school board members after receiving a request from both Davidson County Schools and Lexington City Schools.
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The vote on the increase also changed how Davidson County Schools Board of Education are paid. In the past, board members have been given $120 per meeting and the board chair received $150 per meeting. They were requesting to increase this to $150 per meeting for board members and $180 per meeting for the chair and vice chair.
During the lengthy discussion at the meeting, the county commissioners decided to change Davidson County Schools to $400 a month for board member and $450 for the board chairman instead of per meeting. Several commissioners stated that this would make all three school systems on the “same level” and “uniform” as far as how they were paid.
Commissioners also stated that Davidson County Schools deserved more money because the district is larger than Lexington and Thomasville.
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At the meeting, Davidson County Schools Board of Education Chairman Alan Beck stated board members rarely met more than 2 or 3 times a month and requested that compensation remain per meeting, which was denied.
When contacted, Beck declined to make a statement, saying the Davidson County School Board has not voted on the new pay structure and no decision has been made.
Lexington City Schools requested a pay raise of $400 a month for board members and $450 for the board chairman. Previously, they were paid $200 a month. The county commissioners approved $300 a month for board members and $350 for the board chairperson.
Darrick Horton, chairman of Lexington City Schools Board of Education, said although they were glad to receive an increase, it wasn’t what they asked.
“It’s not what our board wanted, but I guess we will have to accept it,” said Horton. “We came up with that number by looking at other school districts and tried to get something comparable. We haven’t requested an increase in over 25 years, and we wanted something that was worthwhile.”
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The surprise winner in this decision by the Davidson County Board of Commissioners was the Thomasville City School system, who was not present at the meeting and did not request a pay increase for the school board.
The commissioners voted to increase Thomasville City Schools Board of Education members to $300 a month and $350 for the chairman.
Dr. Cheraton Love, Chairperson for the Thomasville School Board also declined to comment, stating their board also has “not reached a decision” on the pay increase approved by the commissioners.
Lexington City Schools had voted prior to the county commissioners meeting to approve a pay raise for its members, while Thomasville and Davidson County school boards have not yet voted to approve an increase for board members.
Board of Education members are paid from the school system’s annual budget, which is locally funded annually by Davidson County in addition to state and federal funding.
General news reporter Sharon Myers can be reached at sharon.myers@the-dispatch.com. Follow her on Twitter @LexDispatchSM.
This article originally appeared on The Dispatch: Davidson County Commissioner approve pay raise for school board members
