Pay Raises Approved For Next Fairfax County School Board In 2024

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — The next Fairfax County School Board with terms beginning in 2024 will see higher pay.

In a Monday meeting extending into early Tuesday, the School Board approved pay raises for School Board members. Members' salaries will increase from $32,000 to $48,000, while the chair will get an extra $2,000. The salaries will be effective Jan. 1, 2024, which is when the new term begins for members elected in the November general election.

At-large representative Abrar Omeish, who wanted more discussion on data supporting the recommended salary, was opposed, while Hunter Mill District representative Melanie Meren and Sully District representative Stella Pekarsky abstained.

The pay raise was different from the $60,404 originally proposed before members came to a new consensus. That $60,404 is the same as the starting pay for a teacher with a master's degree in the upcoming fiscal year 2024.

"Our board has reached consensus and has come forward with a salary change that is necessary and data driven based on factors that include the average step and [merit salary adjustment] that was given to each of our employees for the last eight years, benchmark to the percentages increases undertaken by the Board of Supervisors, [and] comparison to board salaries for similar size school divisions," said Franconia District representative Tamara Derenak Kaufax, who introduced the motion.

The School Board made the decision after the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors increased pay to $123,283 for supervisors and $138,283 for chairman in the new 2024 term. Current board salaries are $95,000 for supervisors and $100,000 for chairman.

Per Virginia code, school boards can only adjust salaries by July 1 of the year a school board election is scheduled. Mount Vernon District representative Karen Corbett Sanders said if the School Board didn't approve a salary increase for 2024, it would go 12 years without making a salary change. The last time the School Board adjusted salaries was 2015.

"The School Board salaries are about one-third of the salary of a member of the Board of Supervisors," said Corbett Sanders. "With this motion tonight, school board salaries will be 39 percent of the salary of a member of the board of supervisors with the recent adjustments that they made."

Eight of the 12 current School Board members are not expected to be on next year's board. At-large representative Karen Keys-Gamarra is running for the Virginia House District 7 seat and won the Democratic primary. Springfield District Supervisor Laura Jane Cohen and Sully District representative Stella Pekarsky won primaries for the Virginia House District 15 and Virginia State Senate District 36, respectively. At-large Omeish, Mount Vernon's Corbett Sanders and Franconia's Derenak Kaufax are not seeking new terms.

Braddock District representative Megan McLaughlin is not running for re-election, but current at-large representative and chair Rachna Sizemore Heizer is running for the seat. Hunter Mill's Meren, Mason District representative Ricardy Anderson and Providence District representative Karl Frisch are also seeking re-election.

Several members spoke to the time commitment on the School Board and the workload without the office staff Board of Supervisors members have.

"I am not trying to equate the board members school board members should make what Board of Supervisors make, but I am hard-pressed to believe having done this job for 12 years that the Board of Supervisors are doing three times or 300 percent more than the School Board members," said McLaughlin. "This is more than reasonable when the board of supervisors will now be making about $123,000 and this puts us at [$48,000].

Cohen said the School Board is beyond a part-time job and that members missed out on milestones with their children. That message resonated as the discussion on salaries extended the meeting to 1 a.m.

"It is all part of the job, and I'd happily sign up to do it again these last three and a half years," said Cohen. "But I recognize that when we have a salary for $32,000 a year and say that this is a part-time job. It sends a message that is not accurate. The expectation from our constituents is that we will be accessible to them at all times."

Along with approving the salary increase, the School Board will request a salary review in the third year of the School Board's term. The review would examine the Board of Supervisors salary, school district employees' merit salary adjustments and step increases over the last four years, and comparable salaries for similarly-sized school districts' school boards.

"This is an opportunity for us to stay ahead of the conversation that just took place by having data that is current and is done in time, that is well researched and is transparent to the public so that we can have all of this information be available during the third year, but not acted upon until the fourth year as per state code, as just occurred," said Anderson.

The School Board election will happen on Nov. 7, 2023. All 12 seats will be up for election, including nine district seats and three at-large seats. School Board members serve four-year terms.