At a raucous meeting last night, hundreds of Durham Public Schools employees, parents, and supporters turned out to admonish the school board for its mixup over salary payments to about 1,300 classified staff members.
By the meeting’s end, staff were assured that they wouldn’t have to pay back any money they already received. But it remains unclear how a policy change DPS has adopted that won’t credit classified staff—including physical and occupational therapists, instructional assistants, nutritionists, and facilities and transportation staff—for years of professional experience outside of the school district will affect salaries going forward.
Demonstrators, led by members of the Durham Association of Educators (DAE), gathered outside of the DPS Staff Development Center on Hillandale Road an hour before the DPS School Board was set to hold its regular board meeting.
The fiery crowd eventually made its way inside to await answers from the school board. Patience waned quickly. The meeting was supposed to start at 6:30 p.m. but school board members didn’t arrive until 7:08 p.m.
“If you won’t pay us for our time, at least respect it,” an audience member shouted from the back of the room.
Speakers were given one minute each during public comment. Some chose to yield their time to the person behind them to try and ensure folks wouldn’t be cut off.
Symone Kiddoo, a DPS graduate and president of DAE, said, despite the anger on display, most of the people in attendance understand that the school board shares their goal of high-functioning public schools and a desire to collaborate and right what went wrong.
“I’m tired, they’re tired. Y’all are tired. What I’ve heard you [the DPS school board] say is that you want answers almost as much as we do,” Kiddoo said. “And the righteous outrage is understandable under the circumstances, and we validate the frustrations of classified staff, all staff and our community in this room. We also affirm our desire to lead with vision and unity and we invite the board and central office to join us in setting this debacle straight.”
After nearly an hour of public comment, the DPS finance department shared a presentation that showed the school board had enough money in its fund balance, the board’s savings, to cover the payment error through the end of January. The board voted unanimously to move about $4.5 million from fund balance into its account that will be distributed as a one-time additional payment to workers by the end of the month.
Folks in the audience left with mixed feelings and more questions. It is unlikely that workers will just accept the change in how their professional experience is recognized by the school district.
“I’m concerned about the removal of the steps [for payment for staff members based on experience],” said Emily Chavez, vice chair of the DPS school board. “That’s one of the major things that people have commented to us about tonight. Many people shared their stories with us. And we realized that there is a lot of valuable experience that people bring, especially in careers that aren’t teaching.”
Chavez proposed that the board meet again next week to determine an intermediate solution.
“As people are asking about February, we also are thinking about February,” Chavez continued. “The issue is that what was promised to people was not budgeted for, and now we are finding ways to make adjustments to address that.”
It remains unclear who is responsible for the source of the budgeting error. A third-party firm is conducting an investigation at the behest of the board to find the answer. DPS’s attorneys are also looking into what happened. Until then, affected workers will continue to put pressure on the district and the school board.
Follow Reporter Justin Laidlaw on Twitter or send an email to [email protected]. Comment on this story at [email protected].
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