Hundreds of Durham educators confront school board over withdrawn raises

Quentin Headen’s work is about the kids.

It’s about ensuring all of Durham’s children — especially those who feel counted out or judged — receive the “free and appropriate public education” promised to them under U.S. law.

“We see these kids, and we see a piece of ourselves. We want them to know we care about them,” Headen told The News & Observer late Thursday.

Headen, an instructional assistant, is one of the 1,300 classified staff members who received a raise in October only for Durham Public Schools to realize it had budgeted incorrectly and couldn’t continue paying the higher salaries.

For many of those employees, the switch will erase hundreds of dollars a month.

“Who is it affecting more?” an angry Headen asked the school board earlier that night. “Is it affecting our teachers and our workers and our classified staff? Is it affecting the principals and the (assistant principals)? Or is it affecting the kids I care about? My students.”

Headen was one of hundreds who attended a testy Thursday night meeting that overflowed into the hall and outside with employees, parents and students.

The board voted unanimously to spend $4.5 million so that employees can keep all the money they have been paid this school year at the higher salaries, extending those pay rates through the end of January.

As for February and beyond, no one yet knows. Board members agreed to meet weekly until they work out a long-term solution.

“We’re going to work really hard,” Superintendent Pascal Mubenga, who was largely silent during the meeting, told The N&O.

“We need to have educators’ voices in those meetings,” Durham Association of Educators president Symone Kiddoo said during a break.

‘Off with their heads’

The Durham Association of Educators organized a rally ahead of the meeting, which started with Rihanna’s “B**** Better Have My Money” playfully floating over the muddy lawn.

The crowd that secured spots inside booed and shouted comments throughout the night. Some privately discussed not showing up for work Friday.

“This reduction in pay impacts employees who already make the least amount of money,” said Erin Doncaster. “We as (occupational therapists) know better than anyone what makes a school functional, and it is these people right here: cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians and groundskeepers.”

“This is not fair,” board member Jovonia Lewis later acknowledged. “This salary study was meant to create equity.”

The 1,300 impacted employees’ pay raises are being withdrawn by changing the way Durham counts experience, excluding any years spent in the private sector. School employees’ pay is calculated according to highly regimented steps and grades, with each step representing a year of experience.

For example, a nurse who spent 10 years at Duke and 10 years at DPS would be moved from step 20 to step 10.

Celia Mora spoke on behalf of six fellow interpreters who were present Thursday.

“I expect retaliation, but I will speak the truth even if my voice shakes,” Mora said in Spanish. “We alone got 101 years of experience taken away. Good luck ‘’growing together.’”

Board member Alexandra Valladares said she understood why people were upset and mistrustful.

“Tonight, I was like, it might be like the French Revolution — off with their heads. And maybe it is!” Valladares said.

Parent Lauren Sartain, also an education policy professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, said it was time for just that.

“We are here urging you to clean house — finance, human resources and the superintendent,” she said, receiving a standing ovation.

The district suspended its finance director with pay earlier this month.

Questions remain

The school district’s budget comes from tax dollars appropriated by the state legislature and by the Durham County Board of Commissioners.

In higher paying districts like Durham, the county supplements wages provided by the state.

Cierra Ojijo, senior executive director of financial services for the school system, said the district requested an additional $4 million from the county for classified staff raises this school year.

Based on the $4.5 million approved Thursday to cover only July to January, it would have cost far more. (The precise amount is unclear. Depending on the role, staff are paid 10, 11 or 12 months a year.)

Board member Millicent Rogers said the total cost “was not clearly communicated to the board.”

Board members would not answer questions about the accounting error or when it was discovered, saying it was under investigation

“We want to make sure that we share accurate information,” Umstead told The N&O.

The board voted unanimously Thursday to ensure when new salaries are finalized, all affected staff receive at least a 4% monthly raise compared to last school year.

Public discussion lasted 30 minutes. Private talks took 5 hours

The motions made and unanimously approved Thursday night were carefully choreographed and discussed only briefly. The board had already met Monday morning and Thursday afternoon in closed session.

Those closed-door meetings lasted a combined five hours. The board spent 30 minutes discussing the issues in public after hearing one hour of public comment.

North Carolina law only allows elected officials to exclude the public from their meetings in limited circumstances.

In this case, the board cited personnel matters, a narrow exemption meant to discuss specific employees, and attorney-client privilege, which offers a bit more wiggle room.

North Carolina statute says “general policy matters may not be discussed in a closed session” and an attorney being retained does not allow a public body to “close a meeting that otherwise would be open.”

Rogers told The N&O they did not come up with the motions in closed session, but “have been able to discuss among ourselves what we wanted to do as individual board members.”

Earlier in the night, parent Kristina Baldridge said officials should be transparent and truthful in acknowledging what went wrong.

“That can’t happen behind closed doors. That is not how you rebuild trust. That’s how you continue to erode it. That’s how you send money to charter schools. That’s how you send money to private schools,” Baldridge said.

“I don’t think any of us want that.”

NC Reality Check is an N&O series holding those in power accountable and shining a light on public issues that affect the Triangle or North Carolina. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@newsobserver.com