Durham schools interim superintendent says district on verge of having to make up lost days

The press conference included a formal introduction of Moore, who was previously the superintendent with the Wake County Public School System. Her tenure begins at a shaky time for the district as conversations around employee salaries continue.

"It's clear to me that my immediate focus is to continue to move forward with DPS in many of the excellent directions and work that is already happening," Moore said Wednesday. "Despite our immediate challenges, there are a lot of great things happening for DPS and we have to make sure to remember that as we work through the challenges that are before us."

School Board Chair Bettina Umstead was asked about raises employees received in 2023 and how that pay model led to the district's current situation.

"What we know is the raises that our staff received from July through January were unsustainable financially for our district," Umstead said.

The board is expected to vote on a solution at its Feb. 22 meeting.

"What we do know is whatever solution that we end with, we want all employees to receive a raise," Umstead said.

When asked if the district would go to county commissioners to ask for money to help solve the issues, Moore said she expects they will next year, adding they'll also have to make other requests. Moore also said it's not clear how students will make up for time lost from classes being canceled in recent weeks.

"There is what a lot of districts call banked time that can be used when students are not in session before you have to start making up time by taking teacher workdays or taking vacation days and making them student days," Moore said. "We are not there yet, but we will be if we have additional school closures. We will need to look at days that, right now, are scheduled to be student holidays or staff holidays and see whether they need to be made student days."

WRAL News also asked Umstead whether there are plans for the district to go to the state level.

"We know that the state has not funded public education in the way it should," Umstead said.

Umstead mentioned how DPS is "excited" to go to the state for funding.

Last week, Moore talked about her goals for the district in mending fences.

The district added the employee absences do not include bus drivers but mechanics and transportation staff, who are necessary to allow the buses to operate. There are 45 transportation support workers and 150 buses in DPS.

Classified staff account for about half of DPS employees. It’s a group that includes instructional assistants, occupational therapists, physical therapists, nutritional staff and transportation support staff.

Moore has expressed support for more pay for educators, classified and essential staff in Durham and throughout North Carolina.

"I think that when we think about really the root cause of what we're looking at here - staff in our schools in the state of North Carolina need to be better compensated, top to bottom," she said last week.

The school board has agreed to a meeting with the Durham Association of Educators on Thursday.