Study finds ‘part-time’ MoCo school board works full time   

Members preparing for conversations over increasing board’s capacity, compensation

July 19, 2024 8:38 p.m.

Despite holding a part-time position, many Montgomery County school board members worked an average of at least 40 hours a week last year, according to a study presented at Thursday afternoon’s board meeting.  

The results of the study conducted by county school board staff members come amid a revived conversation among county officials about making board positions full time with higher compensation. 

Board President Karla Silvestre told MoCo360 on Thursday that the study will be used to evaluate how the board can do its job more effectively. Ultimately, she said, the decision to increase compensation and make board members full time is in the hands of the state legislature.  

- Advertisement -

“We want to be prepared, yes, to advocate to increase the capacity of the board to be able to be more effective,” Silvestre said. “We want to be ready to have a conversation with a study such as this and other ideas that we have.”  

In June, the board directed staff members to explore the elected nonpartisan group’s responsibilities to “shape the board’s annual work” and further public understanding of what it does, according to the resolution the board passed. The board is charged with overseeing Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), which is the state’s largest school district with more than 160,000 students and almost 25,000 employees.  

Board member positions are part-time and members receive $25,000 annually. Consideration to increase pay for board members began in the 2018 Maryland General Assembly session after lawmakers passed a bill authorizing a commission to explore the Montgomery County school board’s compensation.  

The Board of Education Compensation Review Commission published its findings in 2019. According to its report, the group found that board members should be paid $60,000, with the board president earning $70,000. In that commission report, board member Rebecca Smondrowski said the board was “a part-time job, with full-time hours and one-quarter-time pay.”   

The idea for higher compensation returned in February after some County Councilmembers expressed an interest in expanding the board’s capacity in an oversight hearing.  

Sponsored
Face of the Week

In that meeting, Councilmember Gabe Albornoz (D-At-large) called for his fellow councilmembers to advocate at the state level to make the board positions full time.  

Channen Paddyfote, a board senior analyst, and Patricia Ursprung, legislative affairs coordinator, said at Thursday’s meeting that the board’s primary responsibility is to support the school system’s strategic plan. Still, members’ work includes selecting and appointing the superintendent, formulating policies, appointing personnel, interacting with residents and deciding appeals, among other responsibilities.  

According to the presentation of the study by Paddyfote and Ursprung, the board conducted 20 business meetings, 39 closed-session meetings, 20 committee meetings and four individual committee meetings last year. The board also adjudicated 128 appeals. Board members also listed an average of 455 calendar items on their school board calendars.  

The board staff said in the study that board members also spend hours preparing for meetings.  

Paddyfote and Ursprung said the data doesn’t capture all of the time that board members put in because they also serve on other committees or in groups and have private and work calendars that weren’t included in the study.  

- Advertisement -

The study presented on Thursday was an overview of the findings. The two board staff members said a full report will be released in August.  

Digital Partners

Enter our essay contest