The Oregon Government Ethics Commission issued its opinion on school board stipends Wednesday. An already difficult philosophical issue for school board members just became even more complicated.
Rep. Ben Bowman, a former Tigard-Tualatin School Board member, championed a bill in the 2023 Legislature to allow compensation for school board members. Bowman said the time demands of school board service are preventing some community members from volunteering. The new law’s goal is to lessen the financial barriers and draw a more diverse pool of potential board members.
House Bill 2753 removed the Oregon prohibition on school board compensation and allowed school board members to award themselves a stipend of up to $500 a month that would grow with inflation. Bowman, D-Tigard, worked closely with OSBA to amend the bill to address the prohibition as well as a rule against paid district employees serving on their school board.
According to the commission, HB 2753 allows a stipend as part of a school board member’s compensation package, but it does not address the conflict of interest disclosure requirements. Voting on a pay package is an “actual” conflict of interest according to Oregon statute, the commission opinion says, and thus school board members can’t participate in a vote on their own stipends.
“Given the apparent legislative intent in HB 2753 to provide school board members with stipends,” the commission opinion says, “the commission has considered a number of options for how school board members could adopt the stipends.”
The commission offers four:
1. School board members could adopt the stipends for future board members. School board members who might run in the next election would need to declare a “potential” conflict of interest before participating in the discussion and vote. The stipend would go into effect for a future office holder after an intervening election.
2. The school board could vote on individual resolutions for each school board member. A school board member would need to declare an “actual” conflict of interest for their stipend resolution and refrain from debate or vote. This means a board that is split on the issue could end up approving stipends for some school board members but not others.
3. The school board could draft a resolution that refers the stipend issue to voters. If the voters approve a stipend, the school board could adopt the voter-approved resolution without a conflict of interest.
4. The Legislature passes a new bill that removes the conflict of interest problem.
Earlier in the week, OSBA encouraged school boards to delay any votes on stipends until the commission’s opinion came out.
School boards that passed a stipend without using one of these methods may be violating Oregon statute and open to an ethics complaint investigation, the commission said. OSBA Policy Services Director Spencer Lewis plans to meet with commission staff Friday to clarify the details and options. OSBA will issue guidance to help school board members sort it out, Lewis said.
Lewis recommended that boards that have already voted on stipends contact legal counsel or OSBA to consider their options. The ethics commission typically does not advise on past actions and contacting them could open an investigation, Lewis said.
On Tuesday night, OSBA Executive Director Jim Green said OSBA will talk with Bowman about a possible legislative fix.
– Jake Arnold, OSBA
jarnold@osba.org
