San Diego Unified student board members are now paid, seek to vote

The San Diego Unified School District recently started paying its student board members a stipend of $1,736 per month as well as elective course credit, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. 

“It’s the symbolic idea that we are finally being recognized,” San Diego Unified trustee Matthew Quitoriano, a junior at San Diego High School, told the Union-Tribune. “But also we know that there’s a lot more that we can do to recognize our students.”

Quitoriano said he spends between 25 and 30 hours per week on his duties to the board, and paying students for their role on the board would help level the playing field for students who are low income. 

Their pay is on par with what full board members earn — and students are now hoping to expand their role and be allowed to vote. 

“If you want a demonstration of the capability of young people to serve in elected office, I mean, my God, listen to these two and compare that, frankly, to a lot of other people in elected (positions) around this country,” trustee Richard Barrera said.