During a media briefing Monday, County Council President Andrew Friedson said full-time positions for school board members should be considered.
“I do think we should think about it being full-time and I have raised that question, as have other councilmembers, of whether or not these should be full-time positions,” Friedson said.
“I think at the very least, they need more resources to do the type of oversight that is necessary.” Friedson said he has advocated for more staff support for the Board of Education.
“I do think that it is legitimate to question whether or not it is reasonable for part-time board members with very limited, virtually no independent staff to be able to provide the level of governance and oversight that is needed.”
Friedson thinks it needs to be addressed with state partners — “ultimately many of those dynamics are state decisions, not county decisions, but all of us, as I said, play a role in it and we need to work together to resolve it.”
As for salaries, school board members receive $25,000 and the president receives $29,000, according to a Board of Education handbook revised in 2021. The student member receives a scholarship instead of a salary.
