ATTENTION RICH COUNTY VOTERS!
PLEASE Read this before casting your ballots!
The following is an open letter to the voters in Rich County regarding the open school board seats (Districts 3 & 4. District 3 covers Laketown and part of county and part of Randolph and District 4 which is basically everything north of Laketown to 350 South Street in Garden City).
Duties of the Rich County School Board (RCSB) member include attending graduation ceremonies, speaking at meetings, overseeing the annual budget, review and approve/disapprove staffing requests, training (travel and registration costs are paid by the Rich County School District ), attending other meetings (BATC, UHSAA, USSBA), etc. On average over the course of a year RCSB members spend approximately 15-20 hours/month on duties related to their elected positions, based on my experiences the last 3 years. Some months could be more and some months significantly less.
First, I will provide some publicly available information regarding the compensation of the Rich County School Board (RCSB) members that many voters may not be aware of. All RCSB members are compensated at the rate of $250.00/month for their service. In addition, RCSB members also receive mileage reimbursements for attending each school board meeting.
Finally, by state code, the Rich County School District (RCSD) must offer health insurance to each elected RCSB member and their family. This health insurance benefit costs the RCSD on average $17,000/year/RCSB member. Therefore, IF the RCSB member chooses to accept the health insurance in addition to their monthly stipend, it results in a compensation of approximately $20,000/year. If you figure this out on an hourly basis, some RCSB members are making $83.00-$133.00/hour!
I don’t know about you, but I feel this is excessive compensation for a RCSB position. I feel that a RCSB member should be considered a public servant that works for all the people in the RCSD and specifically represents those people in their voting district. I also feel that the only “right” thing to do as a RCSB member is to choose to DECLINE the health insurance benefit. If a RCSB member declines the health insurance, the money that is saved remains in the RCSD and does not go to the “state” or “federal” government coffers. This is important because the money can be re-budgeted to other “needs” in the RCSD. Finally, if a RCSB member declines the health insurance, they can still choose to receive a cash pay-out of $6,000! Currently there are only three RCSB members who decline the health insurance or cash pay-out: Monty Weston (District 3), Bryce Huefner (District 4), and myself, Scott Tolentino (District 5).
So, before you decide who to vote for as a RCSB member in your district this fall, ask the people who are running in the election (Districts 3 and 4), whether they will accept the health insurance benefit or choose to decline it? Also, ask them if they decline the health insurance benefit, whether they will accept the cash pay-out? Considering there are five RCSB members, if all the members decline the health insurance this could result in an $85,000 shift in spending to improve your children’s education instead of paying for full health insurance for the RCSB members and their families for what is honestly a part-time job.
Another way to look at this is, to ask yourself if do you feel good about electing a RCSB member and paying them $83.00-$133.00/hour (those who accept health insurance) to represent you; or would you feel better electing someone who is paid $12.50-$16.50/hour (those who decline health insurance and the cash pay out) to do the same job? It’s your choice. Whatever you decide, PLEASE get out to vote in November! Remember Monty Weston, Bryce Huefner, and myself are the only RCSB members who do the right thing and DECLINE the insurance benefit!
Scott Tolentino
Rich County School Board Member, District #5
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