The School Board voted to raise future School Boards’ salaries by $8,000, Tuesday, June 26. The School Board currently makes $12,000 a year. Beginning in January, the board will make $20,000 annually. The chairman will receive an extra $2,000.
The School Board voted 5-3-1, with Chairman Robert DuPree (Dulles), vice chairman Tom Reed (At large), Joseph Guzman (Sugarland Run), Priscilla Godfrey (Blue Ridge) and John Stevens (Potomac) for the increase, J. Warren Geurin (Sterling), Robert Ohneiser (Broad Run) and Sarah Smith (Leesburg) against it, and Robert Nuzacco (Catoctin) absent.
Geurin said part of the reason some members School Board members wanted to increase the salary was so that the public would view them as a more important body.
"I do not believe for one minute that we will get more respect from the Supervisors if we are paid as much as they are …. I do not believe that the level of respect we have earned and the level of credibility we have with the citizens rests on the salary we pay ourselves. I do not believe for one minute that a child in any school in this county knows or cares that we only make $12,000," Geurin said. "Let’s be honest. This is not a full-time job. This is a part-time service. I do not believe that anyone on this dais does this work for the salary. When I go to an event at Sully Elementary or Park View High School, do you think that I log my time on a time card and then calculate that I only ‘made’ $2 per hour for my valuable time?"
The School Board voted to give Superintendent Edgar B. Hatrick a 5 percent salary increase in June, bringing his yearly salary to $226,563 from $215,775. The board voted 8-0-1 with DuPree absent.