ANTIOCH – After decades of a $400 monthly stipend, Antioch Unified School District Board of Trustees members voted Wednesday to give themselves a raise of $2,000 a month.
The move is in accordance with Assembly Bill 1390, which allows for increases between $600 and $4,500 per month, based on the average daily attendance in the prior school year. Previously, the rate was $60 to $1,500 per month.
Four of the five members of Antioch’s board of trustees voted to increase their pay, which will impact the district’s general fund $96,000 more annually.
Trustee Mary Rocha, who objected to the pay bump, said she “did not believe that it was the right thing to do at the moment.”
The district is facing a deficit of about $30 million over the next two years after the expiration of one-time COVID-19 relief funds, increased salary and benefit costs, higher utility costs, and rising special education expenses.
During a recent budget discussion, the district noted the factors “have created financial strain as the district expanded staffing and programs to support post-pandemic learning recovery.”
Rocha said the amount of time and money it takes to be a trustee can add up, but that is expected of an elected member.
“I know $96,000 doesn’t sound much, but it is in the long run,” Rocha told this news organization. “I do face up to the fact that we’re going to have to be hard-nosed when it comes to this budget.”
The California Education Code authorizes a monthly stipend of $400 for board members in a school district which averages daily attendance for the prior school year of 25,000 or less, but more than 10,000, according to the district.
“The monthly amount in Education Code section 35120 has been $400 since 1984, and the authorization to increase it by 5% a year took effect January 1, 2002,” the district said. “Many districts, including AUSD, have had the monthly Board member compensation set at $400 for many years, never increasing it despite the statutory authorization to do so.”
In 2024 to 2025, the district’s average daily attendance was around 13,699.
Antioch Unified School District Board of Trustees President Jag Lathan said the $400 monthly stipend translated to about $2.30 an hour, based on her “calculation.”
“I am not sure if you all know the scope of work of a school board member, but it is pretty expansive in terms of what we are required to do as an elected body,” said Lathan. “With the increase in stipend, it would make it $11.55 per hour.”
Lathan said the monthly stipend increase would attract more “qualified board members.”
“We recognize that in order to increase the number of qualified board members and folks who are a lot of times not wealthy and underrepresented to get into these positions, we need to have a stipend that is closer to what we’re doing, and it’s still not, but we’re grateful for that,” said Lathan.
Trustee Antonio Hernandez echoed Lathan’s sentiments, adding that the total cost of the increase was “0.05% of the general fund budget.”
Hernandez shared his own experiences, juggling his time pursuing a medical degree and serving as a board member. He hoped the new compensation would encourage more people to take up the position.
“It’s especially hard for younger people to want to be in these positions because they’re often sacrificing time and money for themselves,” Hernandez said. “I want school boards to be a place where everyone can feel that they have a voice, that they have a position, that they have an ability to be there.”
Antioch is not the only school district that has voted to increase monthly compensation for board members.
In November 2025, the Stockton Unified School District Board of Trustees approved increasing its monthly compensation from $750 to $3,000 monthly.
In December 2025, the Napa Valley Unified Board of Trustees voted to increase monthly compensation from $536 to $2,000.
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