The Oregon Government Ethics Commission has now issued its opinion on school board stipends and it has apparently prompted some complicated philosophical issues for school board members serving in the state of Oregon.

Representative Ben Bowman, a Democrat and a former Tigard-Tualatin School Board member, sponsored 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. He said the new law’s goal is intended to lessen the financial barriers and draw a more diverse pool of potential board members.

House Bill 2753 was passed into law on July 18th and 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 apparently 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, but they are still problems with the new law.

According to Article II, Section 10 of the Oregon constitution, individuals are prohibited from holding more than one "lucrative" office at a time. As one example, this means that you can't be a legislator and a school board member.

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.

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The commission proposed some workarounds, but OSBA leadership said they appear unworkable.

“We don’t see these suggested solutions as practicable,” OSBA Executive Director Jim Green said. “Instead, we will be working on a legislative solution in the short 2024 session. In the meantime, we are strongly urging that school boards hold off on considering the stipend issue.”

OSBA says they now encourage school boards to delay any votes on stipends, however the law, allowing school board members to receive a stipend up to $500 a month, went into effect July 18 and some school boards have already taken votes either accepting a stipend or saying no to it..

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 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.

OSBA Executive Director Jim Green said OSBA will talk with Bowman about a possible legislative fix.


--Ben Fisher

Post Date: 2023-09-23 11:41:28

Last Update: 2023-09-23 13:57:02