DPS Board Votes for 11% Pay Plan

Starting in March, classified Durham Public Schools workers who saw their pay increased based on a 2022-23 salary study can expect their checks to shrink – some by more than $1,000 – until the end of the school year.

The DPS Board of Education voted Thursday night to pay those workers 11% above what they had earned in 2022-23, as recommended by a contracted comptroller and Interim Superintendent Catty Moore. The vote was 5-2, with Vice Chair Emily Chavez and Alexandra Valladares voting in opposition against Chair Bettina Umstead, Jessica Carda-Auten, Natalie Beyer, Jovonia Lewis, and Millicent Rogers.

“This is an impossible decision for this board,” Beyer said. “We are struggling with it mightily.”

Chavez wanted to keep paying classified workers at the rates promised in October – and as had been maintained through February. 

“I feel like we should pay them what we told them we would pay them,” she said.

Valladares sought to postpone implementation of the change until at least 30 days from now so that affected workers could be properly noticed, to no avail.

Jessica Carda-Auten asked the administration to find the money to provide bonuses to workers who may find themselves struggling to pay rent or afford childcare in the closing months of the school year.

Meanwhile, Kerry Crutchfield, the comptroller hired to examine the district’s finances in the aftermath of the botched implementation of the latest salary study, is charged with presenting the board with options for a new framework for 2024-25 that could be effective on July 1. 

The board asked him to aim for March 21 to develop his proposals, with an eye toward incorporating the previous salary study’s market analysis and honoring the total years of work experience for classified workers.

Moore sought to assure workers that the flat 11% is a stopgap that provides a bridge within the district’s budget to something better in the coming months.

“This is not a destination,” she said. “This is a journey.”

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