[Junction 54] A Clean Break - Editor's Column/Audio Note

I’ve heard some folks say Durham Public Schools should’ve insisted that Dr. Pascal Mubenga stick around to help clean up the mess his administration caused with the classified worker pay crisis.

I get it. I do. If one of my kids spills food on the floor, I want them to be responsible and clean it up. And perhaps there’d be a sense of justice and fair play, asking Dr. Mubenga to fix what he broke with the help of the district’s former Chief Financial Officer, Paul LeSieur.

But.

If you’d been at DPS Board of Education meetings before Dr. Mubenga’s resignation, you could easily read the room with the standing-room-only crowd. From the moment the district announced that the administration had “overpaid” classified workers for several months, wanted to reverse those raises, and might even claw the extra money back, many in that crowd wanted him gone.

I think it’s for the best that he stepped down. It certainly worked out okay for him, as his contract guaranteed a hefty severance payment. But for DPS it meant a clean break, not a prolonged, protracted road on the way to the inevitable departure.

The district needs to move forward. The departures of LeSieur and Dr. Mubenga remove unnecessary distractions. With Catty Moore at the helm – for now – and Kerry Crutchfield examining the books and providing advice about how to proceed with the classified pay situation, Board of Education members can keep the focus on where it belongs:

How best to do the most for the classified workers who have felt undervalued and mistreated by the district.