OC Register Expose Reveals Part-Time School Board Trustees Getting Gold-Plated Healthcare Plans
A new report shows trustees across Orange County receiving full employee health benefits — even though these positions are part-time
⏱️ 6 min read
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Part-Time Politicians Taking Full-Time Benefits?
A Healthcare Cost Crisis — With Exceptions
America is in the middle of a healthcare cost crisis. Premiums rise year after year. Families debate whether to downgrade coverage, increase deductibles, or absorb higher out-of-pocket costs. Employers struggle to manage the growing expense.
Yet for many part-time elected officials, that debate looks very different. When healthcare coverage is taxpayer-funded rather than employer-funded or individually purchased, the financial burden shifts from the officeholder to the public.
That contrast is central to a revealing report Cost of Health Insurance Got You Down? Maybe Run For School Board by Teri Sforza in the Orange County Register. There’s a paywall, so you may not be able to read her column, but I am pulling some great data from what she wrote (augmented by some of my own research).
Across Districts — And Beyond
There has been recent focus on the decision by the Orange Unified School District Trustees to award themselves substantial stipends. But the larger story with school board trustee compensation has not been the cash compensation. It has been the health benefits attached to these part-time positions.
In Orange Unified, trustees are eligible to enroll in the same health coverage offered to district employees. This means that a part-time elected position may provide full employee-level medical coverage.
Orange Unified is not alone. In Newport-Mesa Unified, trustees earned less than $7,000 in wages while receiving health benefits valued at nearly $44,000 per year. In Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified, one trustee reported $12,020 in wages and $36,109 in health benefits in 2024 — roughly three times the wage. Garden Grove Unified reported health benefits of about $29,000 per trustee. There are so many examples that I will leave you with these.
The countywide Orange County Department of Education reflects the same structure. Two board members there earned $6,751 in wages in 2024 and received health benefits totaling $55,558 each. Other members reported benefit totals of $32,482, $24,049, and $19,006.
Separate governing bodies. Similar compensation framework: part-time trustees enrolled in the same health plans as full-time staff.
The Incentive Structure Matters
Trustees approve budgets and vote on collective bargaining agreements that determine the scope of health benefits offered to teachers, administrators, and classified employees. They decide how much the district contributes toward premiums and what plans are available.
When trustees themselves are enrolled in those same plans, they are not entirely detached from the outcome of those decisions. The more generous the benefit structure, the more valuable their own coverage becomes. That does not require bad motives to create tension. It simply means that the line between oversight and participation is becoming thinner.
Taxpayers reasonably expect school board members to evaluate compensation packages with discipline. That expectation becomes more complicated when decision-makers are participants in the same system.
The Incentives We Create
Another dimension warrants attention. Local school board service has traditionally been viewed as part-time civic responsibility. It is meant to attract individuals motivated by education policy and community stewardship.
When the position comes with health benefits valued at $30,000, $40,000, or more, the equation changes. Even if most trustees seek office for the right reasons, systems are shaped by incentives, not intentions. When the benefit package rivals or exceeds the wage, the position itself acquires economic value that voters may not fully appreciate.
In the private sector, employment decisions often turn on compensation and benefits. Public service has historically operated under a different expectation. Normalizing full-time benefits for part-time governance blurs that distinction.
It Is Not Limited To Schools
This compensation model is not confined to education. In Costa Mesa, according to information reported by the City of Costa Mesa, city council members receive health care and related benefits totaling between $33,000 and $39,000 per year, in addition to their stipends. Most cities offer healthcare benefits equivalent to those for their full-time employees.
At the Orange County Water District, directors are paid on a per diem basis but are offered medical, dental, and vision coverage for themselves and their dependents. In 2024, most board members received district-provided health insurance benefits, with the highest reported premium at $26,609.64.
Different agencies. Same underlying approach.
The Larger Question
Supporters argue that these amounts are small compared to those of public agencies with large budgets. In isolation, that is true. But compensation structures do not exist in isolation.
School districts across California face declining enrollment and rising long-term obligations. Cities and special districts face similar fiscal pressures. Against that backdrop, offering full-time health coverage for part-time elected officials raises legitimate questions about alignment and restraint.
This is not about legality. These arrangements are permitted. It concerns whether the structure is sensible in an era when ordinary families are bearing the burden of escalating healthcare costs.
So, Does It Matter?
This column focuses on Orange County because Teri compiled and reported the school district data there. It would be difficult to believe, however, that the structure stops at the county line. California’s part-time elected boards operate under similar frameworks across the state.
This is not a partisan problem. Trustees in Republican and Democratic districts alike participate in these benefit systems. Both sides vote on these packages. Both sides benefit from them.
What begins as community service can gradually become more comfortable when healthcare coverage is layered into the position.
The question is whether part-time governance should resemble full-time employment in this way—and whether taxpayers are comfortable with elected officials setting benefit policy while participating in the same system.
Perhaps the most important question is the propriety of providing these benefits to anyone who is not an employee. Maybe if you happen to be a part-time elected official who is moved by this, and currently takes full-time employee level benefits, you will find out what is involved to simply decline them… :-
Oh yeah — did I mention that a lot of part-time elected officials are getting pensions? That is a story for another day.
Transparent California - Look Up Your Part-Time Elected Officials!
There is a great website that allows you to look up compensation. You select the city, school district, or special district, and then you can search within that organization. If you put in search terms like “Council Member” or “Board Member” or “Trustee” — that usually does the trick.
You can access that here.