Denver school board approves $33,000 salary for members

Before newly-elected board members take their seats in less than two weeks, the Denver Public Schools Board of Education pushed through a resolution to pay members $33,000 annually on Thursday.

“We owe it to the voters of Denver; we owe it to the schoolboard; we owe it to our teachers, to our faculty; we owe it to our students to make sure that we remove the barriers that prevent a school board that looks like and reflects them,” Director Scott Esserman said before the vote.

In urging his colleagues’ support, Esserman, the resolution’s primary sponsor, argued that a compensated board will attract a wider swath of candidates interested in serving.

The vote was 6-1, with Board President Xóchitl Gaytán voting against the measure.

Before the vote, Gaytán argued that the district had other pressing, financial needs. Although Director Scott Baldermann shared a similar sentiment, he voted in favor of the increased pay for future members.

The move now makes the Denver school district an outlier in Colorado.

The total cost annually to pay each member — once eligible — will be roughly $230,000.

The $33,000 a year pay represents a 267 percent increase compared to the board members’ previous compensation.

The vote comes as the board has struggled with public confidence.

In the weeks leading up to the Nov. 7 election, local polls showed that just 30 percent of likely Denver voters held a favorable view of the school board.

For months, the board has endured sometimes scathing criticism for its handling of a series of missteps that include school closures, safety concerns, an illegal executive session and the firing of a community-supported principal, among others.

Political watchers have noted the incumbent losses earlier this month, with Baldermann and Director Charmaine Lindsay losing their seats to reform-backed candidates, is a manifestation of public dissatisfaction that could move the incoming board in a different direction.

It’s as yet uncertain whether the three newly-elected members — John Youngquist, Marlene DeLaRosa and Kimberlee Sia — who will immediately benefit from Thursday’s vote, support increasing the board’s compensation.

The board, which is set to welcome three new directors late this month, tabled a similar measure in February.

Two years ago, the board approved — in a split vote — paying board members $150 a day for as many as five days a month, or $750, under a then new state law.

Directors Carrie Olson and Baldermann were among those currently seated who voted for the board compensation in 2021.

The policy allows members to be paid for attending regular or special board meetings, committee meetings and training sessions, as well as other district-related activities.

Gaytán and Directors Esserman and Michelle Quattlebaum have taken advantage of the pay, according to district officials. Lindsay has also been eligible for the previous pay, but does not receive any compensation.

Bill Good, a district spokesperson, has said the existing policy requires board members to submit — just like employees — a timecard.

Thursday’s vote means, upon eligibility, board members will be automatically paid.

None of the sitting board members are eligible for the increased compensation until they are re-elected, but could receive the old pay of $150 a day, Good said.

The board pushed the measure through Thursday, concerned that if not passed before the newly-elected board members are sworn in at the end of the month, the new compensation would not be available to the entire board until 2027, Board Vice President Auon’tai Anderson has said.

“Let’s just pay people for their work,” Anderson said Thursday.

Because Anderson dropped out of the school board race to run for House District 8, he will not receive the increased pay.

It’s unclear how many Colorado school districts — if any — pay board members to serve. But the compensation will be the exemption to the rule because school board offices are typically volunteer, unpaid positions.

Officials with the Colorado School Board Association earlier said compensating school board members is rare in the state.

The Denver Gazette reached out to a number of school districts in the Denver metro area — JeffCo, Douglas County, Cherry Creek and Adams County 14 — to learn whether their board members are paid.

Officials with JeffCo, Douglas County and Cherry Creek said the school districts have volunteer boards.