While San Francisco schools have been squeezing every dime out of their dwindling budgets, the city's school board has increased its own budget each of the past four years, spending more on travel to conferences, taking taxis around the city and paying for a board member's babysitter.

All told, the board has increased spending by 28 percent over the past four years, which includes the added cost of televising board meetings as well as increases in staff salaries and benefits, according to 600 pages of public records obtained by The Chronicle.

In each of those years, the board failed to stay within a set budget and dipped into the district's primary spending account to cover the difference.

In 2009-10, the board spent $492,629, including $22,000 for catered meals prior to board meetings for members and staff; $7,300 for a Portland conference attended by six of seven board members rather than the usual two or three; and $766 in taxis used by one board member during a five-day conference.

It's not a lot of money given the district's $500 million annual budget, but it's a spending pattern that stands in direct contrast to the slicing and dicing of programs and services at city schools.

"It does seem a little strange that they're increasing while everybody else has to decrease down to the bone," said parent Lorraine Woodruff-Long, who has two children at Aptos Middle School. "We don't have enough paper at my school. We've got to have a PTA drive for paper, and it's October."

Budget ignored

Every June, the board sets a budget for itself, but it has failed to stick to it in each of the past four years, exceeding it by amounts ranging from $7,000 last year to $58,000 in 2007.

The schools don't get that kind of wiggle room.

"I can tell you the schools are monitoring every cent," Woodruff-Long said. The board "needs to be held accountable for every penny, just as the schools are."

The board has trimmed costs in several areas even as overall spending has increased, cutting overtime pay for board staff as well as supply costs and membership dues or fees.

At the same time, there are no limits on what individual board members can spend, meaning that, for the most part, they can travel to as many conferences as they wish, take taxis around town or treat constituents or staffers to meals without having to consider costs.

Some board members are more frugal with the public checkbook than others.

Annual board member spending ranges from $1,500 or so to more than $10,000. Members also receive a $500 stipend per month, a life insurance premium and use of a district car.

More limits urged

Board Vice President Hydra Mendoza said few rules govern the spending, a point she would like to address.

"I agree that there hasn't been any oversight in the past," she said. "If (school) sites are putting a freeze on things, we need to honor that as well."

Board member expenses last year included:

-- $766 for 21 taxi rides taken by board member Kim-Shree Maufas during a 2008 conference in Orlando. About $500 of that was submitted for reimbursement last year, 15 months after the conference - even though the district's policy is that such expenses should be submitted within 15 days. She said the hotel she selected, which cost $12 less per day than those used by other board members, was farther from the conference.

-- $1,500 for six months of babysitting during board meetings for Mendoza's two children, who are now in seventh and 10th grade. The benefit has been authorized by the school board.

-- $622 for a rental car for Maufas during a five-day conference in 2009 near Allentown, Pa.

Mendoza and board President Jane Kim have urged board members to restrict travel and spending in recent months, but there is no official moratorium.

Individual board members attended as many as seven conferences each in 2009-10.

Travel costs high

Board member Jill Wynns is a frequent traveler, although she has often attended conferences for organizations in which she has a leadership role. Those organizations regularly cover many of her expenses.

Wynns said that attending conferences, including those of the California School Boards Association or the Council of Great City Schools, is important, giving the school district a voice in state and national education policy and helping educate board members about school issues and trends.

But she noted that the district doesn't take steps to make sure board members attend conference sessions. And there have been no discussions about how many board members should attend and what they hope to achieve at the conferences.

"We have been unwilling to do that," she said. "I think we could do better."

Wynns has been on the board for 18 years. Maufas and Mendoza are running for re-election on Nov. 2; Kim is running for a seat on the Board of Supervisors.

Biggest spender

Maufas is also among those who travel frequently and has spent the most on transportation and business-related dining.

In the first six months of the year, Maufas had taxpayers pay for almost $500 in San Francisco cab rides. That doesn't include her use of prepaid taxi vouchers available to board members.

Maufas noted that the car is shared by board members and some district staff members and isn't always available.

"Public transportation is my preferred method, and it has been my goal to use it as often as possible to conduct district business," she wrote in an e-mailed response to questions. "However, there are instances where time is limited and I will use a taxi service to attend an event on behalf of the board or to attend meetings regarding SFUSD."

She said the cost of the Pennsylvania rental car was billed and expensed correctly. The bill included $199 for the cost of the rental and taxes. A representative for Avis told The Chronicle that the remaining $423 was spent on extras such as insurance, loss/damage waivers and prepaid gas.

The president of the San Francisco teachers union said any overspending by the school board is an "administrative failure," adding that district officials - not the school board - have responsibility for budget oversight.

"I have some sympathy for these essentially unpaid people," United Educators of San Francisco President Dennis Kelly said of the board members. "The people who actually have the wallet should be the ones to stand up and say something about it."