Concerned about pay, Durham school staffers pack meeting to demand answers

WRAL News saw people streaming through the doors, filling seats and standing along the walls at the Staff Development Center on Hillandale Road Thursday morning.

The meeting was scheduled for classified workers to hear from the superintendent about an accounting mistake that saw many overpaid and the plan for clawing back that money. Staff have said the plan would adjust pay in a way that would leave them with less.

The Durham Association of Educators invited members to show up, wearing red, in a post to Facebook that began, "Public school workers deserve a seat at the table and full transparency when decision makers are considering changes to crucial district policies — especially ones that affect our paychecks. Period."

A grounds supervisor told WRAL News 30 percent of his employees came to work on Thursday.

At a meeting on Thursday, one bus driver refuted the district's claim. He said the bus drivers did show up for work, but none of their managers or supervisors showed up.

"We did not have a bus shortage," the bus driver said at the meeting. "Fifty employees waited outside the transportation building. They were locked out. Someone came up and opened the gate. Then we found out we had no manager, no supervisor, no mechanics. [We] called the director and asked what they should do.

"It was not our fault that your kids did not get picked up yesterday. We did not have procedure or protocol to go out at that time. Do not keep throwing us under the bus. We have dedicated bus drivers."

Parents got a message late Wednesday that they would be expected to provide transportation to and from school again for their children for a second straight day. DPS bus driver Avis Langley, who did not participate in the strike, told WRAL News that employees are striking because they want to be compensated fairly for their work.

Langley said that positions like bus mechanics, cafeteria staff, supervisors and more help schools run properly.

"As a driver without a mechanic, legally, our buses are not supposed to move," she explained. "Without supervisors, drivers don't know what they're supposed to do."

"Frankly for a lot of our instructional assistants, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, everybody that came to the town hall earlier this week, there were so many stories where people made major life changes based on what they thought they were going to get," said occupational therapist Molly Bagby. "They quit second and third jobs, bought new cars, changed housing. And now all of that's been taken away from them."

Turquoise Parker, media coordinator at Lakewood Elementary School, told WRAL News that the pay issue is now hurting students, not just staff.

"They are missing some important instruction, they are missing breakfast and lunch, and now they're missing [the] opportunity to be around their peers," she said.

DPS confirmed 10 schools needed coverage for nutritional services Thursday and all of them were covered.

The district said state years of service will count in salary step calculations, but classified employees - including therapists, building and grounds crew, and transportation employees - told WRAL they have outside experience that won't factor in.

"They're taking years from us," said instructional assistant for exceptional children Stacy Holley. "All of the experience that we had. Some people are going from 30 years to 12 years."

Some employees said their paychecks will decrease under new policy, and some had made plans with that money.

"I'm one of the ones that made a change in transportation because our vehicle broke down," said instructional assistant Christy Cradle. "So I purchased a new one. Now the difference is my car payment. Now I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to make up this difference."

"I would be frustrated too," Umstead said. "I am frustrated as well. We have to do a full investigation to understand the layers and where this error occurred. That investigation will give us information about how to move forward."