Durham Public Schools held a special meeting to gather community input before finalizing its budget, but the session revealed deep rifts between what residents want and what the district appears willing to discuss.
The evening's most pointed moment came from the Durham Association of Educators, the union representing most school workers. Union president Micah Tweet Meyer told the board it has dodged meetings with elected worker representatives for over a year, despite the union's repeated requests to "meet and confer" on pressing issues. The union identified eight spring priorities, with pay compression for classified staff and the transportation crisis topping the list. Meyer invited board members to meet March 25th at the staff development center, but the invitation carried an unmistakable undertone: the union is ready to talk, but doubts the board will show up.
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