Two of four Clovis school board races have sole candidate. Here’s how to fix that | Opinion

In November, voters in the Clovis Unified School District will finally get to choose representatives who live in their area rather than voting for candidates who might live anywhere within the 198-square-mile district boundaries.

Too bad choices are limited in two districts where the incumbents are running unopposed. Voters in Districts 5 and 7 will see incumbents Steven G. Fogg and Yolanda Moore, respectively, win reelection without voter input.

Meanwhile, the other two races have a different story.

District 2 incumbent David DeFrank is not seeking reelection, but his wife, author Molly DeFrank, is running. Other candidates are Wilma Tan Hashimoto, a veteran educator and executive director of CASA of Fresno and Madera counties; and, Janet S. Kardashian, a retired teacher.

District 4 incumbent Hugh Awtrey is facing Gina Vue, an educator who founded an autism center for children.

Races with just one candidate are not rare in Fresno County. According to information from the Fresno County Elections Office, there are 91 “contests not on ballot.” That means there is only one candidate in 91 races. There are 14 other races where there are a minimum of two candidates seeking to fill two seats.

That might be OK with voters in small, rural school districts but it shouldn’t be that way in the state’s 12th largest school district with more than 43,000 students, a staff of about 5,200 and a budget of more than $992 million.

Clovis Unified is not alone. Sixty-two percent of school board races nationally were uncontested, according to BallotReady, an organization that analyzes local election data.

Uncontested school board races should not be a way of life in Clovis Unified. Voters deserve a say in how funds are spent, how to choose a superintendent, how school boundaries are defined, and how the district will accommodate future growth, among other issues.

Healthy competition is good.

“If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu,” Verjeana McCotter-Jacobs, a former school board member and executive director/CEO of the National School Boards Association, told EducationWeek in 2023. “And we want as many qualified, passionate people at the table as possible.”

We’re not saying that Clovis Unified is in dire need of new leadership. That is for district residents to determine. However, they should have choices when deciding who is going to represent them on the school board.

Would increasing pay draw more candidates?

Perhaps the solution would be better compensation. Clovis board members are paid $750 a month, or $9,000 a year. Fresno Unified, whose enrollment is almost double that of Clovis, will pay its trustees $29,320 in the 2028-29 school year. That comes out to $2,433 a month.

The Los Angeles Unified School District – the country’s second-largest with 530,000 students – pays $125,000 annually to board members who have no outside income. Members with a second salary get $50,000. Thirteen states ban payment for school board members.

A 2020 study published by the National School Boards Association found that in large districts like Fresno and Clovis, nearly 40 percent of board members work more than 40 hours a month. The association suggests that increasing compensation, and possible include health benefits, could attract more diverse candidates and boost economic diversity.

Better compensation could draw more candidates, including those who most closely resemble a school district’s enrollment.

Increasing school board pay, however, isn’t easy. Their pay is determined by the California Education Code. It limits board salary to no more than $750 if their school district has an average daily attendance for the previous school year of less than 60,000 but more than 25,000.

The state should consider upping the compensation for school board members

You get what you pay for.