ESCONDIDO (KGTV) — Escondido school board members are considering a major pay raise for themselves, and not everyone in the community is on board.
Board members currently earn about $5,000 a year. They are set to vote on raising that stipend to as much as $24,000 a year — an increase of roughly 400%.
During the 2024-2025 school year, board members held 17 school board meetings. If each member were paid the full $24,000, that would work out to about $1,400 per meeting.
Brandi Krepps, president of the Escondido Elementary Educators Association, said she plans to attend the board meeting Thursday night to oppose the raise.
"I was furious, absolutely furious," Krepps said.
Krepps said the timing of the proposed raise is particularly frustrating given the financial pressures the district has cited when it comes to staff compensation.
"That's something they bring up every year in regard to us and our raises is, hey, we have declining enrollment. We need to cut staff. OK, well, you're cutting staff, but again, you're giving yourselves a raise," Krepps said.
A district spokesperson said the district is currently not doing any layoffs.
The union also contends that board members have not been fulfilling their current responsibilities.
"Expect yourselves to do the work. If you require us to do the work, then you do the work, and we'll support you," Krepps said.
If the raise is approved, Krepps said the union will hold board members to a higher standard of accountability.
"If they're gonna give themselves the full stipend, we're gonna demand that they not only attend 100% of their school board meetings, that they attend all of their committee assignments, and they go on regular site visits. That's what we expect," Krepps said.
For context, public records show the board president of San Diego Unified — the second largest school district in California — made $21,000 in 2024. Escondido's district is significantly smaller.
I reached out to the district for an interview, but no board member was available for comment.
Click here for part of the board policy manual that talks about the $2,000 stipend.
The board meeting will be at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 5th. Click here for the agenda.
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