The Cajon Valley Union School District board just gave itself a hefty raise, and plenty of people are not having it. In a tense 3-2 vote this week, trustees approved a jump in their monthly stipends to $2,000, a more than threefold increase that parents, classified staff and other residents blasted as out of touch. The hike is set to kick in March 1, landing at a moment when many employees are getting only modest pay bumps. For critics in the room, the optics were brutal.
Board vote and timeline
The 3-2 decision sets each trustee’s stipend at $2,000 a month starting March 1, according to FOX 5 San Diego. Trustees will also keep access to district health benefits as part of their service package. That perk became a flashpoint too, with several speakers comparing board benefits to what many classified employees can actually afford.
How big the jump is
Until now, trustees collected roughly $630 per month under the district’s long-standing compensation practice, based on California public-pay records. The new $2,000 figure more than triples that amount. At $2,000 per month for each of the five board members, the district will be spending about $120,000 a year on trustee stipends. Opponents argued that those dollars should be steered into classrooms or used to boost worker pay instead.
Public backlash and staff concerns
Public comment at the meeting was blistering. “You have the arrogance to vote yourself almost $1,400 a month of an increase,” one resident told the board. Another warned, “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should,” as reported by FOX 5 San Diego.
Supporters of the raise argued that higher stipends could broaden the pool of people who can afford to serve on the board, especially working parents and residents who cannot take on unpaid or low-paid public roles. Critics countered with specifics: some district employees recently received only 2 percent raises, and others still struggle with gaps in family health coverage. For them, the timing of a large self-approved board raise felt like a misread of the moment.
State law and a broader trend
The move comes on the heels of a change in state law that loosened long-standing limits on school board pay. The new rules stem from AB 1390 and raise maximum allowable stipends for trustees for the first time in decades. As CapRadio notes, the legislation authorizes higher caps but does not require any district to increase pay. That distinction is exactly what has fueled the backlash in Cajon Valley, where critics argue the board chose to prioritize its own compensation.
Other districts across California, including some in East County, have already moved to adjust trustee stipends under the new law, drawing similar mixed reactions from voters and employee groups.
What comes next
With the stipend increase set to take effect March 1, attention now shifts to how trustees respond to the uproar. Individual board members could publicly decline the higher pay, or the board as a whole could bring the policy back for reconsideration at a future meeting. Local union leaders and community advocates are already pressing for the money to be redirected to employee compensation or student services, and they are calling for clearer budget priorities from district leadership.
For the moment, the decision stands, and the controversy has plugged Cajon Valley straight into a broader statewide debate over what school board members should be paid and how districts balance the cost of governance with paychecks for the people working in classrooms every day.
