Board of Education · Work Session · February 8, 2024

The Board of Education a closed session for the beginning of this meeting Madam chair I move that we go into close session for attorney client information and Personnel.

Second all right so we got a motion on the floor can I get a second it's been moved by Miss Byer seconded by Miss Millicent Rogers we do have a quorum of the board so we can go ahead and start our meeting all those in favor please say I I any oppos please use the same sign it passes unanimously we now move in Clos.

Session.

Good evening everyone I'll Channel my chair and say one more time good evening everyone good evening we welcome you to our February 8th 2024 work session and and thank you for joining us tonight we will begin this evening with a moment of.

Silence thank you the next item on our agenda is the agenda review and approval Madam chair could we move the compensation study implementation options ahead of the consent agenda we can if there is a motion and do other folks have discussion items got a motion Miss bar I move that we move the discussion of compensation study implementation options to just after general public comment that's second all right there's been a motion and a second is there any other discussion all in favor of the amended agenda say I I I I it passes unanimously next on our agenda is our Board of Education minutes from January 11th.

2024 move approval of the minutes from January 11th second there's been a motion to approve and a second is there any other discussion all in favor say I I all right passes unanimously oh any opposed passes unanimously all right we now move to our general public. Comment.

And okay a review of the rules for this evening oh and I I apologize I did not announce that our interpreters for tonight are Marty Ramirez and Vanessa Pena Ramirez so thank you thank you to them for interpreting for us this.

Evening so our public comment rules a quick review please first state your name if speaking for an organization please state your name and the name of the organization secondly speakers are asked to present their comments in a in the time we are allotting which tonight will be 1 minute when the yellow light comes on you will have 30 seconds left to start winding up your remarks when the red light comes on it will be which indicates that your time is up complaints about named staff students or parents should not be voiced in open session however we are very interested in hearing your concerns with regard to public education safety students or the operation of the school system finally the board members will listen carefully and consider the comments but we do not engage in a discussion with speakers and I will call three people at a time so the the people who are up next can get ready the first person is Denise Prim friend Prince coutur Mason is second and then Tammy.

Phillips not yet I can see my time to coutur Mason okay thank I'm catoria Mason I can see my time to Tammy Phils. Good evening members of the board my name is Tammy Phillips I am the area manager for transportation at Northern Division let me give you a little history about myself I'm a 27 year veteran with DPS all of which has been with Transportation nothing has ever been given to me I worked my way up from a bus driver to area manager I feel as though all the hard work and sacrifices I've made and my years of dedication I mean absolutely nothing to DPS no matter which offer no matter which of the two options you presented at the last meeting would mean that a veteran like me would lose tremendously if you go back to my salary in July minus my hold harmless and add an additional percentage with that state with the state's 4% my salary would be what it was originally in June July with the.

Hold harmless amount plus a few extra dollars placing your veterans in a position of non-e equitable distribution of funds that will not not change before our retire reement date hold haras was explained in the last meeting however I feel you did not get a full grasp on how it works I was in hold haras FR status for five consecutive years up until the salary change in October if given a state raise the percentage given is calculated using your salary minus the hold harmless amount if DPS gives a raise your hold harmless is supposed to lessen each raise until you meet that state salary schedule five years and mine did not because DPS tweaked the salary schedule throwing me even further behind so how long will it last I will be retired by the time DPS decides to give another raise to lessen my hold harmless and so will others in my shoes it isn't hold harmless it's hold helpless I'm not sure I can continue to work for a system that thinks only of.

Itself and not the hard work dedication and well-being of its employees it has been proven repeatedly that the classified workers are the tail end of the dog and DPS and now are we are left to feel like the pile left behind that dog to be discarded in the trash we continue to be discriminated against and treated unfairly if we must endure at hands of the board a lesser pay for the remainder of the fiscal year then we ask that you give us the one-on-one heel study with years of experience for the upcoming fiscal years to follow I've not seen that on your list of options you have a you have four and a half months to tweak your budget and obtain the money needed to make it work for us like you tweak our salary schedule year after year to make it work for you I have become physically ill mentally exhausted since the announcement that our salary raises were going to be revoked I am a household of two DPS.

Classified salary employees so this affects my entire household what I don't understand is how DPS spent over $3 million on a salary study that was approved and implemented and now that approval and implementation can be just dismissed throwing millions of dollars in the trash so is DPS really broke when will this end DP DPS cannot continue to rob Peter to pay Rich Paul there is only one option give us the hill study salary we deserve and that we re thank.

You the next person is Stephanie H followed by Andre Obie followed by Tiffany. Smiley hi my my name is Stephanie H and I am the mom to three DPS students all of whom have IEPs I am so grateful to highly train professionals at every level who work with our family we owe them so much and that's why this situation has enraged the community I appreciate the board's investigation I did read it but we need to figure out first how to fix it and secondly how to ensure this never happens again at the end of the day the responsibility lays squarely on the board's shoulders and every level of leadership leaders rely on information from people they hire and there are times that they make poor decisions as a result of poor information the board is not here to rubber stamp a budget and before implementing anything they should use every math teacher motto show me your work put policies in place to ensure there are safety nets to prevent future communication breakdowns don't hire.

People who La communication skills wreak havoc and require your silence when they leave with 297,000 in their pocket in the meantime go through that budget please go through that budget line by line and find the money to pay what the community agreed to thank you thank.

You my name is Andre Obie and I am an instructional assistant and a football coach at Riverside High School I have worked hard to motivate and encourage these students to believe in themselves and their future on any given day I could be asked to change diapers du to feed administer medicine or restrain a violent student this job is not easy but it is important and I am not easily replaced when I accepted this position at Riverside I did so with the expectation that my pay would be based on my relevant work history instead I've been moved down to 19 total steps and my pay has been cut in January you promised that our paychecks will be the same as December's mine's was $400 short my mother taught me never to trust a liar and a thief and you've done both accepting the resignation of our superintendent and CFO however has not solve the problem the only way to solve this is to give us our money back thank you and be.

Transparent thank you thank you very much we have Tiffany Smiley followed by Zach Levy and Mark Franklin I'm Tiffany I se my time to zap good evening members of the board Dr King my name is Zach Levy and I'm a nurse with DPS speaking on behalf of the rest of the DPS nurses you remember the global pandemic do you remember when nurses were Heroes I do because I was there on the front lines in the hospital in this very Community along with these other nurses we may have had different roles but our experience is valid we're not asking for special treatment just what is fair we understand that mistakes were made we've heard the term Hemorrhage bandied about here's another medical term for you hemostasis achieved now let's fix it we're aware that however much we want to keep our promised raises it's not fiscally sound I come before you this evening with a proposal for a raise that is equitable after all a rising tide lifts all boats we want our years of experience.

Return to us we want a minimum 15% raise for all classified employees across the board finally I'd like to speak for myself and offer thanks to all of the parents and the staff particularly those from my school mer Moore whose paychecks weren't necessarily affected but who have stood in solidarity with us thanks thank you next we have Mark Franklin followed by Rachel b b or B Cheryl K Catlin my name is Mark Franklin and I am an IIA at Parkwood I have a ba in education at Ma in administration I've been an urban educator for over 30 years and the last year's been an IA at Parkwood one minute isn't inadequate for me to express what I'm feeling so I'll just speak from the heart here what's happened with a classified person now is really terrible and I happen to be lucky because next Monday I'm leaving after you stripped me from 27 steps down to four so unfortunate there's hundreds of us too many people I know that it's just it's awful what has.

Happened and you need to make it right it's very simple thank.

You. My name is Rachel BB and I seed my time to shelle. Vus my name is Cheryl Catlin and I seeed to shelle yeah Shel is thank you want to announce next two people oh sure thank you after Shelly is Quenton heeden and Crystal Moore thank you hello my name is Shelley vus and I'm an occupational therapist with 27 years experience and have proudly served the last 15 at Durham Public Schools alongside my esteemed occupational therapy colleagues as you all are aware there is strong competition for employees and it is a challenge in this job market to remain competitive UNCC Duke Health private sector jobs and nearby school districts all compete with Dr schools the DPS OT department has longstanding Partnerships with UNC Duke Medical ECU Winston Salem State and Durham Tech and have proudly hosted fieldwork students from their OT programs we recruit many of our OT staff from these fieldwork placements we are well known for our experience our knowledge mentorship our co-practice model all of which attracts.

New grads and OTS with valuable experience to join our team however we have lost staff and have been unable to add new staff on our team because the salary package offered by HR is not competitive as part of the interviewing team for new hires I interviewed an experienced OT from another school district who was looking to work closer to home home in Durham she was very interested in joining our team to promote how we support students transitioning from high school into the workforce unfortunately she declined the position after meeting with HR the salary study was completed for a reason and those reasons remain valid today Durham Public Schools needs to offer a fair Equitable and competitive wage in order to recruit and retain qualified occupational therapists I'll leave you with this our knowledge and training matters respect our years of experience the uncertainty of our paychecks is stressful no changes to our February paychecks and our trust in this Administration has been broken make room at the table for our voice to be.

Represented thank you we have quenon heeden chrismore and then Anna. Berg my name is Quinton hden I concede my time to Crystal.

Moore good evening my name is Crystal Moore and I an EC teacher at Riverside High School over the weekend I asked for information about superflu District spending but received so many responses that that I could not keep up so instead I'll say this the Cornerstone of the foundation of public education is free and appropriate educa public education do you know what that is I hope so I hope that by now you do my question then is how do you plan to provide for students to receive this civil right under the US Department of Education Without classified staff if you do not honor your own policy which today still stands as one toone steps you do not honor your workers how can you expect them to continue to work for you without them you cannot hope to fulfill fape we learned in covid-19 that schools are the Cornerstone of the community restore the trust of your community at the same time you fulfill your duty by working with the community to build better schools by.

Restoring full steps and pay you say that you do not have the money to do so but you just hired a six-figure comp troller and paid out a six-figure severance pay I don't think that the problem is that you don't have money I think the problem is you don't know how to spend it thank you now we have Anna Berg then Sherry Brodrick and Barbara Tapper excuse me hello my name is anab berg I'm a physical therapist serving students across eight to 10 sites each year I'm also a Dae member I want you to know that I love my job I love seeing a smile on a student's face when they first learn to walk or even stand on their own and if they cannot stand or walk on their own I help them get the right equipment so they can participate in their education alongside their peers I have been a licensed physical therapist for 22 years and with DPS for 11 years but now I'm demoted to step nine year.

After year our wages have been stagnant the wage increases given in October were long overdue and finally we felt heard and valued there were 10 physical therapists in the district now we have nine our colleague with over 40 years experience resigned her position as of Monday due to this recent crisis if we are not respected and paid at a market rate more of my colleagues will be leaving and it'll be difficult to fill those vacancies thank you after Barbara Tapper we have joy Teasley my name is Sher Broad and I seed my minute to Barbara Tapper hi welcome Dr King y'all have seen my face numerous times up here and heard my story going from 31 years or steps to 11 in spite of working for Durham public schools for 25 years in the same position with the same students with the same job responsibilities and now I'm at an 11 right now you have a decision in front of you and making that decision you should know that many of us have.

Applied for other jobs changed our resume and talked with families and the community about impending decisions I am a member of the Dae and the Dae is not only for teachers and but and certified staff parents can join at a reduced rate custodians cafeteria workers have joined all classified staff not just an educator as a teacher as part of your agreement to meet and confer with the Dae we need a date for that to happen and we must keep our raise for February Ary and our steps must be restored and fairpay restored and honor to to honor longevity and experience I maintain and my colleagues maintain State lure with continuing education credits that are required to do my job at Durham Public Schools you pay for neither of these you don't pay for my malpractice insurance every year or my license renewal yet I'm required to have these credentials to work for you to serve the children of Durham Public Schools you don't recognize them financially your ability to lead is being tested and.

The outcome that you decide will determine whether our children get a free and appropriate public education your report analyzing the classified Study last night mentions that human resources and finance departments didn't communicate correctly Human Resources should answer to this problem as well as the superintendent that you paid to leave their payer steps weren't affected last night was a start however there are people responsible for these problems that are not being held accountable thank you next we have joy Teasley followed by Angelique parkstone followed by Christy Clen my name is Joy Teasley I'm an IA and da DN classroom at Southwest Elementary.

School I'm also a member of the Durham Association of Educators I'm here because say the following demands of the Dae must be met we need an explanation of the January checks and full payment of the February checks as they were promised in October I came to DPS three years ago with 13 years of lead teaching experience outside of DPS I deserve credit for this experience we all do on January 25th I met with a member of the HR department she stated that she could not tell me if my salary stated on the January 14th email from DPS was correct I still don't know if my check was correct or not I have noted any communication we need an explanation for the checks on January we need februaries to be.

Correct after Christy Clen we'll have Amy Bass so and sorry to clarify Angelie parkstone is next and then Christy Clen and I was just calling the next person Amy Bass thanks good evening my name is Angelique parkstone I'm the cafeteria manager at Glenn Elementary I would like to take this opportunity to tell you what impact your decision could play on my life if you vote for option a option one or option two my father is a very sick man he has leukemia for the last year and a half my father has been receiving blood transfusions every two weeks they are not cheap receiving chemo treatments is not cheap my father only gets Social Security and it isn't a lot of money so I help with his bills on top of my bills I was really looking for another job until I got this raise because the way underpaid for my 20 plus years in closing I want you to consider this a compensation study was done based on the.

Cost of living on one or more occasion the statement has has been made that some employees got significant pay raises does that not open your eyes thank you and you're welcome to leave your the rest of your statement if you'd like for us to read you can leave it on the table and we'll and we'll get it thank you so. Much hello I'm Christy clim I'm a physical therapist in my 8th year with DPS and a current Dae employee I mean member I've not always been a member of in my eight years but even during that time I've always felt represented by them as a non-member I was able to go to school reps to ask questions and discuss concerns the president of Dae at that time met with me several times one-on-one and took my concerns about PT's low pay to the head of finance and the head of HR and Then followed up with me so even as a non-member I have no doubt that Dae represents all employees.

Of D of DPS and I support a formal seat at the table for that also support full pay for February I'm ready for this to be over my mental emotional health and physical fatigue is is never been like it is before but I don't want y'all to rush and make a decision without having all the information and picking option one or two is going to do that it's also going to cause more employees to leave and lead to our staffing shortage thank you thank you we have Amy Bass followed by Bethany ferson and Lawrence arain hi my name is Amy Bass I worked for DPS for 25.3 years I am one of the few not affected by this egregious debacle I stand Here United with my brothers and sisters and my DPS family I have a feeling that once you vote I will be affected and I'm scared this will affect my retirement which is not far off for me and it hurts as parents we do right by our family.

Sometimes what feels best is not what is right this is your family how about if you can't find the funds to manage our current salaries one option you haven't mentioned it is a two to one for private sector and fix the budget and accommodate the salaries in July the option two with 11% is going to affect everybody some of them even harder than what they are now including myself all I ask is you do right by your family Norman Schwarz goov said true courage is being afraid but going ahead and doing your job anyhow your job is to take care of your family do right thank you and after Lauren satin will be Elizabeth Jones but up next is Bethany fergerson.

Hi I'm Bethany pergerson I'm a speech therapist on the preschool assessment team I'm a proud da member I stand with all DPS classified staff and solidarity but I would like to speak specifically for the staff of the multilingual resource center and selia MOA I just want to say that their working conditions are unacceptable they have no running water or bathrooms when they were smelling fumes they requested over and over again for a carbon monoxide Monitor and they could not find a battery for months when they did when somebody pregnant staff member finally brought in a CO2 monitor it immediately res registered unsafe levels and they had to evacuate the building when a staff member would became so sick that she had to go to the ER the DPS said that they could not pay for her medical bills because it was not a workplace injury this is unacceptable DPS must do better by its workers the only thing that keeps this system running we are literally sick and definitely tired of this.

Pitiful thank you so much after Elizabeth Jones will be Mercedes Iran my name is Lawrence Artin I'm a DPS parent of two kids who I just learned won't be in school for the second time this week and I yield my time to hi my name is Elizabeth Jones I'm a DPS parent I teach at Glenn Elementary and I'm a Dae member over a year ago I was here to speak in support of raises for our classified workers I was at the county commissioner's meeting soon after that asking for raises for DPS classified workers I'm here for a third time now pleading that you give our classified workers the raises that you promised in October please pay people what they were promised I understand you're hesitant to use the rainy day fund but right now it's pouring spend your savings so that your employees don't have to pay for others mistakes it is clear that the board is taking this matter very seriously thank you for actions you've already taken.

Thank you for agreeing to meet with Dae now pay your employees what you promised thank you we have meres irvan and then Heidi Joe hetland and Dr Jennifer gich good evening my name is Mercedes Irvin I am an instructional assistant EC struction assistant this crisis has caused me a lot of anxiety classified staff such as myself physical therapists and nurses just to name two yet specialist in they field provide instructional assistance and teachers with instruction and education on operating feeding pumps for students with G tubes we are trained in skin checks potty training administering medication and health and safety use adaptive equipments the thought of money being taken away from our paychecks put so many people in panic mode we are 10-month employees and not able to collect unemployment my friends and co-workers were saying I'm leaving I can't afford this pay cut I already have two jobs I'm sleeping in my car they don't respect us our history our time if they did this what else would they do I.

Hope you all rebuild trust by working with Dae so that transparency and Clarity is achieved and we can be and we thank you thank. You thank you we I'm thank you you can leave your comments too if you would like thank you all right Heidi Joe hland Dr Jennifer geich and Julia Jackson is next good evening I'm Heidi Joe hland a physical therapist in Durham schools and a proud Dae member now that the investigation results have been shared is abundantly clear that safeguards checks and balances must be implemented to prevent a repeat of this gross oversight lack of clarity and communication our steps should remain unchanged your exhausted classified staff should not have to spend a single second jumping through hoops to proove our valuable relevant experience that were verified when we were hired our salary options should not rely on the elimination of either the costly Hill study or our valuable steps other options must be found classified employees have made plans and life altering decisions with salaries promised in October and we.

Demand that they remain same for February we also demand that high priority be placed on explaining and correcting all the errors from our January paychecks thank you for your time thank you Dr Jennifer GID Julia Jackson followed by Susan. Beol Dr Jennifer. Gich okay we'll go on to the next person Julia. Jackson good evening my name is Julia Jackson I work at RN haris elementary school as a kindergarten instructional assistant and I am a proud Dae member I'm also a widow and single parent of 14 years I was hired at DPS back in the mid90s because of my experience at the Durham County youth home I had worked at Whitaker school which is a part of John Umstead Hospital in Butner and I had worked at Elon homes for children so now my steps are being reduced and I don't understand that is is is it as is it as is excuse me it's like that doesn't even exist like I never worked at those places I've worked when I came to Duran Public.

Schools I worked as an EC thank you if you have comments you want to leave with us you may or email the board if you have other comments you'd like to share thank you so much next is Susan geol followed by shandria Myers followed by Ivy ston my name is Susan I yield my time to. Chandrea my name is Shandra Myers I'm gonna give my time to miss. Avy my name is Ay J ston first I'd like to address the statement made last week about getting a new salary study why this one was clear when the salary of the classified staff is compared to comparable positions in Durham County city and the private sector you can see that the classified staff began making a competitive wage with the new salary implementation in October which included total years of experience fiscal responsibility has been mentioned numerous times fiscal responsibility in simple terms means using your money wisely so let's talk numbers my understanding is that the additional cost of payroll rolled out.

October to January including the lump sum checks for July through September equal approximately the 4 and a half million that was then transferred over from the DPS fund balance or their savings account if that's the case and the additional compensation adds approximately $650,000 a month to payroll Miss oija mentioned that it would cost approximately 700,000 to keep February paychecks in alignment with November through January checks so I assume I'm in the ballpark with these figures following these numbers approximately three and a half million is needed to fund February through June until we have a new budget for the 2425 school year if this money was also transferred from the fund balance it would leave approximately 2.9 Million in the account and keep the valuable staff at DPS with competitive market wages then when you bring the new budget for 2425 to the Board of County Commissioners for approve approval you can include the additional 7.3 million to sustain implementing the hills study with onetoone experience which are the.

Numbers Dr Lin shared at the last board meeting three and a half million to keep our valuable staff working schools open and running properly and of importance also to keep the Integrity of Duram Public Schools three and a half million and then asking for the proper amount for the next school year allocating it correctly and making sure that you as a school board do not make quick decisions based on feeling rushed but asking the in-depth questions that provide a clear and factual overview of the situation so that something so incredibly demoralizing never happens again three and a half million is what we're asking this is what is required to bring classified staff who have been chronically underpaid for years to competitive market wages and to restore their faith in dorm Public Schools three and a half million to maintain salaries this year and asking for 7.3 million to sustain these salaries next year that is what we're asking and expecting if you're not willing to do this the question is why thank.

You next we'll have Jeff Sean or cin Hannah ball danberg and Landon Tilly.

Jeff sein I seed my time to Hannah Bal.

Danberg my name is Hannah Bal damberg I am a former DPS student a classified employee a proud Dae member and a farm educator at the DPS Hub Farm We Are The District's Outdoor Learning Center and we serve 3,000 DPS students a year and I've worked there for six years I lost eight steps on January 13th but I'm here on behalf of all classified DPS workers many of whom were impacted more Gravely than I the board did not do their due diligence during the October 12th work session you voted six to one on a verbal presentation given by the CFO despite utter confusion and lack of of documentation you watched as our steps were inexplicably removed on January 11th without a gesture toward finding an adequate solution and continue to rely on insufficient pay proposals from finance and HR the actual cost to keep everyone at their proper step is exaggerated in yesterday's report it costs 4.5 million to finance raises from July to January 3.5 million covers our pay through the rest of the.

Fiscal year the Board needs to immediately call for a joint session with the Board of County Commissioners to request these F funds from their unassigned general fund balance allowable under County PO County fiscal policy in the event of an emergency the district has entirely lost credibility is hemorr genene talented classified employees and will struggle to recruit equally talented staff this is a financial and Mental Health crisis our students are the reason we work underpaid overexploited jobs as Public School Employees they deserve the very best and we believe endlessly in our children's power leadership and Brilliance the The Narrative think of the children must shift to include the workers if workers can't meet their own basic needs then our schools are not great places to learn we can't provide quality education if we aren't included in the chain of care we must not only think of the children but workers too thank you next we have Landon Tilly Amy Tony and Donna ham my name is Landon Tilly and I see my time to Amy Tony.

My name is Amy Tony and I seed my time to Donna ham and after Donna will be Amira NADA Elora Jones and selia MOA good evening my name is Donna ham and I'm the manager of the records department my staff are two technicians and I supervise the district's 53 record specialists at the school level at the Elementary level we have 32 record Specialists who also hold down the role of the school's data manager they hold two positions or being compensated for only one of the 12 middle schools eight hold positions of records and data of the 13 high schools four hold the positions of records and data as the record specialist you continually send and receive records the flow never ceases I ran a report which shows that 1,940 4 students have left our district since August 30th if you are one of these schools who seems to have a revolving door your job is overwhelming like Parkwood with 65 Bethesda with 52 Eastway with 49 and let's not forget our.

Middle schools who are also doing double duty Neil has 90 and Lowe's Grove with 86 if this wasn't enough to keep up with let me share with you the additional duties being asked of our record staff administering medications front desk Duty answering phones doors intercoms radio recess Duty lunch duty ordering supplies principal admin maintain the school's website test proctor pcture day and Dental Program scheduling School interpreter translator assignment of keys manag school calendars call for Sub sub in the classroom and syis and Carline in October of 2023 the salary study was implemented and November I be began my records audit visiting all of our schools in person and what did I find I found positivity across the board witness growth of understanding of procedures discovered that the recular Specialists are being inventive they are all contributing new and fresh ideas regarding records and let me add we're not only about records but I discovered that in many of the schools the cooperation between the record Specialists and the tech Champions were at a high level.

And if they weren't then we discussed how to make it so everyone including me had that feeling of yes DPS values me yes DPS sees my worth then we had January 12th I can share that the light has gone for many me included several are already looking for other jobs why should they stay when they're not valued and tremendously overworked I have no answer to say but I will give them a strong recommendation should that be their choice and so I am here for them and for the others in the room pleading with you to review the hill study find a solution before The Exodus when the experience walks out the door you will not get it back thank.

You now Amir NADA Elora Jones selia Mora and then Katie McConnell yes my name is Elanor Jones I work at mer Mo elementary school and I'm a custodian and I love my job and I'm a member of the a a I mean d a e member and I love my job really do and but I love my money too so all I want you all to do is just fix put y'all don't messed up and I appreciate thank you thank you El nor. Jones.

Delura zamura no Katie mcgonnell you're next and Then followed by Katie KY Samira wellme and Kristen. Southworth yese after last night's Revelations if this board wants my trust as a mother of two DPS students as a resident of Durham I need the following from you page four of your report refers to the contracted budget analysis of our CFO she ran the numbers who is she where is her contract and for whom does she work two last week you demanded answers of the timeline of when we first learned of this issue this probe must be extended to the administration on the right side of this room we your public deserve to know esteemed women of this board you've been hoodwinked once if there are still Snakes in the Grass I promise they will bite you again as an employee thank you for our meet and confer tonight thank you but there are two other things I ask of you one you must vote to keep our February checks as promised and tonight.

Publicly explain what happened to January that is what we're asking of you tonight thank you for your time thank you Katie KY hello my name is Katie KY and I'm speaking for an anonymous member of your it Department I'm a Dae member and this person I'm speaking for is also a proud da Dae member how do you justify hiring someone for their skills but refuse to compensate them accordingly I accepted a position in 2022 to combine work and coaching leveraging my extensive experience as a track coach with DPS since 2014 my coaching achievements including mentoring State and national champions facilitating College scholarships and earning accolades as an athlete such as being a three-time USA champion and a two-time Olympic finalist and World silver medalist despite retiring in 2009 I still hold a world ranking of 20th all time for all that I have done as a coach and athlete I was recognized with a dedicated day in Durham North Carolina May 8th my contributions and impacts extend beyond the resume fostering.

Discipline and academic Excellence among students despite my many years working in the it field it seems insufficient to DPS taking me from Step 21 after being hired now down to step one I POS the question once once more how do you justify hiring thank you next we have Samira wellme Kristen Southworth and then Luna Gomez miror wellam I seed my time to Kristen southord. Good evening tonight as you continue the discussion on resolving the pay issues for our classified staff I hope you will consider the many consequences that will sorry DPS is calling me to cancel school again.

Sorry consider the many qu consequences that will come from not being able to honor your commitment that you made last fall to our classified staff considering not just the financial cost but the cost to our schools and students last week I heard you speak about wanting to provide employees with certainty on their future pay what about the certainty and commitment you have to families and students families want to know that there will be a bus driver to take their kids to school not tomorrow the kids will be met by a classroom teacher who has experience that someone will be there to provide individualized instruction for a struggling reader that a school will have a nurse on site to damage to bandage a scraped knee that there is an art teacher who provides space where a kid can learn about self-expression that a school secretary provides a safe space for a kid who just needs a little reset that there is an instructional assistant to fill in so a teacher can attend an IEP meeting these.

Are our schools and our families need them to be there DPS cannot afford to lose any more staff this was the retention plan and even today there's 60 plus unfilled e EC positions that are still posted on the website the EC budget has been decreased year after year and now this debacle has taken away financial support for our EC staff which will only f further negatively impact our V most vulnerable students thank you next we have Luna Gomez followed by Nathan.

Marvel my name is Luna Gomez I'm a DP a student and I go to Whole Elementary School I'm tired of this nonsense where is the money teachers need to pay rent buy food and purchase clothes some teachers also have children who also need food and clothes I'm tired we're tired of hearing your lies when my mom told me the superintendent quit because of the problems there were I thought it was a cowardly thing to do I just hope that someone does something about this mess thank you thank you.

Now we have Nathan. Marvel can't believe I have to follow that my name is Nathan marll I've been a DPS parent for nine years in the last two years last three years I've become a substitute teacher in order to become more involved in my children's elementary school from my observations discussions with the staff the they felt alter utterly betrayed by this board and the the administration I'm grateful to see us moving forward towards finding a responsible way to meet the promise the district made in October and I applaud the board moving towards partnering with Dae I'm very concerned that even as you started that partnership as you put in bet place better Financial controls and Personnel that you can identif I'm concerned that you you're going to be able to identify a realistic and responsible option beyond what the hill report offers I think that you need to spend some to push forward additional funding for March to buy the district time for Effective rebud getting and if that has.

To go through all the way through June to make sure that you are partnering with Dae and your new Financial controls to make this right Thank you thank you that concludes our public comment for the evening and now we move to our first agenda item under operation Services the compensation study implementation options so I will pass it to Dr L and Miss. Oo good. Evening tonight we share with you a quick review of the compensation study options presented last week along with a few addition additional options for your review and consideration and so I would like to advance to the slide about the fund balance we shared last week the recent actions of the Board of Education that involve the use of fund balance and the fact that though the general statutes say that there is no requirement to maintain a minimum fund balance it is recommended that DPS maintain a fund balance of 12.7 million so the next slide is just as a recap of what that looks like with the recent decisions of.

The board so you can see there that to in order to cover the salaries from July 2023 to January 2024 our fund balance was reduced from almost 11 million to 6.4 million do and so with that we would like to quickly review of the compensation options based on the budget last week we discussed option one which involved the heel compensation study with the adopted State experience this is this is the currently adopted option option two would eliminate the heel compensation study and revert to 2022 23 with a 11% increase option three offers the same with a 15% increase and option four would eliminate the heel compensation study with a 15% increase and consider an additional month of the initial heel compensation with Legacy years that should be next slide option one which is implementing the hill compensation study with the State experience this monthly compensation is based on the green column for the January letter that employees impacted employee well also those that did not have a change receive that.

Letter also this is a minimum 4% increase to classified employees over their 2022-23 compensation it would maintain any salary grade adjustments and the funding for this option is available in our current budget at a total cost cost of 91.2 million option two as discussed last week would eliminate the hill study maintain one: one Ono one ratio for experience experienced steps both public and private it would Implement an 11% in salary increase over the 2022 23 classified salary schedules the if you want to think of it this way the 11% increase would be comprised of 4% from the state on average and 7% locally this option would eliminate any salary grade changes from the hill recommendations and some employees would receive less compensation than what they were quoted in the January letter funding for this option is available and the total cost would be 90.1 million tonight we would like to share option three which would also eliminate the hill compensation study and restore the 2022-23 classified salary schedules with an across theboard increase of.

15% maintaining verified public and private experience at a ratio of one to one this option would eliminate salary grade changes also from the hill study and some some employees could receive less but it would be way less than with the 11% funding for this option is at a cost of 93.4. Million option four and I think we may need to make a correction to this side I'mma go to our CFO U would involve one additional month at the heel compensation study recommendation with Legacy public and private years of experience it would eliminate the heel compensation study and maintain a ratio of one to one it would include the 15% salary increase along with all the things that we just discussed all the impact of that including salary grades I do not this would have an imp from our current budget correct I think that may have been something that was missed and it would be at a cost of 94.1.

Million is that we'll come back to that in just a minute other scenarios that were considered as part of this presentation last week you can see were the heel compensation study with 3:1 experience steps with two to1 experience steps and with one: one experience steps as we entertain your questions regarding these I do want to clarify what is in the what would be within the existing budget options three and four in relation to our existing budget what we presented were within the budget those were options all that were within our diesel budget the 15% one I think you were referring to of the $3.4 million isn't it's $2.1 million over the current fill longevity however it is less expensive than the two to one and more evenly distributed amongst employees thank.

You okay thank you and board members questions comments thank you what is the need for option two you just said option three what was the need for option two option four it was two two option oh I'm sorry the distinction for option four would provide an additional month of salary and that's about 700,000 for each month so 2.8 thank you so I'm just I don't think I have the slides as revised and I wondered if we could get those in our packet okay we so we were asked for a revision at what time did you receive that request and so we are glad to provide those but we have added those slides based on a late afternoon request yes thank y'all for working up to the minute on this because we have been playing out different scenarios and calling and asking and say okay what about this what about this what about this so I know I called you late this evening to make that request if we can get that shared.

With our board assistant so we can go ahead and upload that to the website I want to apologize to folks but we really have just been up until the minute thinking about the different scenarios of how to work this out so thank you all was there an option with a 12% raise that had been modeled that was there is an option for 12% raise it is 90.1 million Which is $334,000 less than our current situation so for every percentage point that we move $1 million is the the round figure in between so you know moving from 10 to 11 11 to 12 if you think a million dollars between each that's a safe gauge and.

Comparison I thank you for all your work on this I hear the the pain from our employees I think we're talking in my mind about a solution for February and I think to me it's important that we maintain October rates for. February and then I I'd like to hear a discussion from the board on how we move forward and and what others thoughts are I think it's significant to acknowledge that the and and miss o Jo please correct me if if I'm wrong ever on on any of these numbers that the payment as if if we continue that on an annual basis 99 million is that the correct amount 99 okay and so folks that read the report saw the gap of how of and the significance of the Gap in funding that we are wrestling with as we make these choices I think it's helpful to hear different scenarios and why is it's challenging to maintain that through this year and also challenging for future years and these are these are all things.

That I think all of us are are struggling with as we lead forward with our values centered on what what originated this work which was was lifting employes employes is is there a reason that people are reporting that they would lose money or not actually get an 11% raise in that scenario can you help me understand what what folks are experiencing when because I've been assuming that we would hold them at whatever pay they were at in the prior year flat 11% teachers got four percentage right I mean so can you help talk through that a little bit at 11% we calculated 1,165 employees will either receive more or no change and only 710 would be less but out of those that received less it's a smaller impact of $113 a month rather than the larger sums that we're seeing that hit in some of the other.

Plans is that from the October that's in comparison to the October pay can you repeat that whole thing one more time s thank you in comparison to the October pay that we are not able to maintain we have 1,165 employees that will be getting more and 710 that would be less but in looking at that 710 that are getting less we're seeing that the impact is not as severe as it is when we were comparing say the two to one so one of the things that concerned us about how the hill study actually was implemented across all of our classified staff was that we saw some folks receive raises that were in the four% range and some of them receive 45 that and it on its face does did not seem fair by any modeling that we could wrestle with and and did not seem to meet the intent of the study so that's part of what I'm wrestling with as we study these scenarios is how we can maximize lifting everyone up.

In in a way that brings that Equity forward thank you Miss oel can you repeat which option that was that had the numbers that you just gave that was the 11% option that okay thank you yeah chair Umstead I would like to put a motion on the floor to keep February's pay the same rate as before we heard that from our Educators we know that we as we continue to wrestle with this decision we're getting closer to Payday and want to make sure that folks have a sense of what they'll be getting for February so I just want to put move that we keep February pay the same from October second February now February the motion has been moved and properly seconded is there any other discussion about this item all right all those in favor say I I any opposed use the same sign it passes unanimously.

And I would ask Miss o would you share with us how we will pay for that February we have a few options that we're evaluating we have a little bit of grant funding that's unrestricted that we're evaluating its use there is always fund balance again and we are also looking through our budget to find efficiencies and make some reallocations to see if we can recoup it that way with thank you okay Jovonia Lewis yes thank you for that I think that we like everyone heard respect super important to honor years of experience so I appreciate the additional options that you brought for us and the clarity about that with the getting us back to the years of experience the base where we've been that is closest to the two: one we have to just find the money and what you're saying right now to find the money is looking at some of the funds that we have would we look at expiring positions and vacancies to find money we will look we rely heavily on.

Expiring positions and the staff overages that we have related to our ADM decline will have to be used in order to cover some of these shortages and with the McKenzie Scott s and fund balance are those options as well they are options but I think there's a little bit more thought process that goes into them to see if what the opportunity cost is for utilizing those options and then with the McKenzie Scott has it been so we just approved that the different line items for Mackenzie Scott in February 2023 are we on timeline for those expenditures I can't speak directly to that we could get back to you from some of the program people to let you know I know Dr pitman's great I don't know if she's ready to for me to volley the question to her but she's much more knowledgeable about the team the academics team and some of the Headway they're making with the and the progress they're making so one of the line items I saw was for.

Summer programming and I'm wondering if as last summer has passed if there was any additional expenditures from that line item in particular that we can look into first and prioritizing what was allocated already and what was not spent and then my other question when you're sharing the numbers for the 11% that's. Impacted for the f 15% how many will experience an increase at 15% 1,38 and the decrease from the previous before the hill. Implementation how many would be a decrease I'll just make sure the comparison was the same from the October November December months yes 567 567 so it be more than where we are at the 710 for that decrease and we've just passed it to keep the February the February payments the same option number four keeps the February payments the same plus the 15% increase is that accurate is that option four can we give that is option four can we get the slides back up please thank you i' like to move that we accept.

Option four to help us move forward and knowing what we're to expect and getting honoring people's years of service if we could go back one slide right thank you may I clarify something o Jo in an email message earlier this week we were trying to understand the total cost of a plan that would include the 15% salary increase and how much that would cost over time and You' indicated if the 4 million from fiscal year 24 County appropriation is recurring then this option would require additional 6.5 million to cover the increased cost of salaries over the prior year can you help us understand that a little bit better so we can think for that one I believe you are referring to the 11% correct that was in response to questions about the 15% that had beenos by Dr mang gotcha so we were comparing to where we are now and it is two 200 sorry $2.1 million however four million of that was already baked in so we have to make sure that that four.

Million is recurring and then we need an additional 2 million of recurring to equal the $6 million that that plan is over the prior year so when we're looking at that plan over prior year it's $6 million over the prior year okay thank you there's been a motion I just want to see if there's before we get to more discussion if there's a. Second I move that we adopt option four that gets us back to our four years of service it's 2.8 that we can find well that wasn't part of the motion I was explaining why I made the motion the motion is adopt option number four at the and keeping the honoring the February payments and giving a 15% from where we were starting in March yes yes unfor over 2022 2023 marching forward second okay it's been moved and properly seconded is there any other discussion Miss Millicent Rogers I just want to be clear that I was sitting in this meeting as a single parent and got the phone call from.

DPS about school being cancelled tomorrow and I got no warning and as much as I want to wanted to hear the public speakers tonight I couldn't hear because the line of communication didn't feel right for that call to go out in this moment I came in here prepared to vote one way and now I would like Administration to bring us a recommendation of where we can find the money to keep the pay through the IND.

Okay other. Comments there has been a motion so we are going to vote on the motion sorry I had some other comments sorry. Fire I love this community and I love advocating with you I want to read to you some of the concerns that we have and I alluded to some of them last week we have a comp troller that has just joined to help us really understand the physical and Financial Health of this District so one of the things that Miss Beyer shared this morning was that we have 113 employees that are currently funded by Esra funds federal funds that are expiring this year we have significant reductions that we need to make because of enrollment that has changed and hold harmless is that have stopped after the pandemic Miss Beyer wrote this week as it currently stands there is an alarming amount of uncertainty when we look at long-term.

Sustainability I am concerned that whatever we do is rushed okay we've already voted on February pay okay we've already voted and yet and yet school is cancelled. Okay we we do need to have order and and respect the speakers.

Please I don't know that any of us have all the information that we need to make a decision Beyond February in this moment I think we are grasping at solutions that don't satisfy everyone I I am concerned about the employees that are affected that got high raises that are looking to be reduced and I understand the concern and I am also very concerned about those that received very modest increases and I know that is a sh shared Durham value that we have and so I'm struggling with us making a decision Beyond February until we get further information on our physical health so that we can truly evaluate how to maximize what we can do both through the end of this year and not have to to make major changes next year as as well some of the things that are on the our agenda that we started talking about for our budget next year include restoring Master's pay for teachers including raising teacher supplements to be the highest in the.

State including taking care of our classified staff and we need to have these conversations together some of the asks that have already been in the Dae wish list would probably cost 60 to 70 million dollars when we were blessed for our commissioners to give us 10 last year we we need to be clear about the the physical reality and the state is not coming to help us so we will do the the most that we can for the DPS family as we plan and budget forward but I have unreadiness about making a decision Beyond February.

Tonight but or sorry chair I'm stad I did just want to make a comment about school closures we know many of you received that notification this afternoon and it or Excuse me while we were in this meeting today it will be a teacher workday that decision was made that. This we're going to respect the speakers up. Here so that decision was made because we were told that majority of our transportation support staff would not be here and so without having transportation for our students We Know by law many of our students require that transportation and we know many of our families rely on that Transportation we know that buses have to be inspected by those support Personnel every day before they're allowed to drive and so we felt like it was the right decision to close schools to ensure that we could have students safe tomorrow so I just want to make sure I make that announcement that was talked about with our our senior leadership team today and also communicated with us as well.

Miss Lewis I've done a lot of research and studying over these past few weeks and even more after the last presentation that we had and more conversations listening to all the public comments from last week to this week thank you for being here thank you for fighting for what's right and understanding we need to make a decision someone said earlier this is anxiety provoking this is not good for my mental health it's not good for mine either to be in limbo and not have a decision of where we're going is anxiety provoking and I said as I'm listening to the different options and what does it cost to to keep whole the the okay let me finish the keep hold to keep whole through February allows people to know what to expect to have changed it to 15% still allows people to know the problem with both solutions for February were in February and it shouldn't be a blanket answer because different situations are in the numbers if we look across the scale.

For keeping things whole we knew that some had 40 50% increases some had barely the four so to have a blanket and that's what's been asked for but we know 700,000 this is where it will come from there are answers there this gives relief is a Band-Aid I've worked and read my emails the it had questions answered and look how do we make this whole that everyone gets an increase from where they were and honor their years of experience we don't want to have to keep coming in month after month after month making looking at charts and numbers I mean we have someone coming and saying knows a whole budget and what it would look like if we did this this or that seven million for a scale that we know was not implemented the way we had been told it would be 15% is two million what we see what I see in a fund balance is one to two million that gets added from unused funds from the previous year as simply.

Put from the last four years you see one to two million if this reoccurring expenses 2 million we can cover what we need for this year and we can make a request and be creative we can't commit the Commissioners to fund any part of it but if there's conversation and dialogue and collaboration we can come up with a plan to say if you do this portion over a twoe span then we can do this next portion so it doesn't behoove us or lose anything we know what our fund balance is we know we have Mackenzie Scott funding we know we're going to get another solution to graduate entries of getting to the the money market value that we need I've read a lot this week I think I might have earned another degree what I've learned in Pay payrolling HR but I feel confident that the money is there we can find the money and everyone would get an increase over where they were 22 23 this is the option.

That gets people closer to where they were is not perfect but we have to make a decision and move. Forward all right I'm also going to share some thoughts before we vote on the motion my desire would be to to wait and to see what our finances look like we do need to know where our money is going to come from before we spend it that is fiscal responsibility we've asked Miz oo to to offer some proposals for what it might look like if we were to try and maintain the salaries for the rest of the year and I don't know what that will that will surface that will look like we need to get information from our comproller and we expect to get information from him next week after he has had time to do an assessment and we need that information I believe to move forward I maintain that I am concerned about the implications of changing salaries that were already told to our employees but particularly for our employees.

Who are on the lower end for whom finances may be more tight and and a change a sudden change or even a 30-day change makes a difference but we do need to figure out responsibly what we're going to do we can't spend money that we don't have or that is not allowable for for that kind of expense so my desire would be to to wait I I'm glad that we passed the February pay because I think that is fair but we will we will have more information soon and I also want to just mention that we did we voted on this last week but we we set up a meeting with Dae to discuss a meeting confer policy that is just the beginning of a conversation and that will be next Thursday February 15th I believe at 5:30 p.m. I want to mention that because these conversations are ongoing with members of our community organizations in our community many everybody up here is in touch with with people constantly parents employees and.

And some students who have who have you know thoughts and experiences that are relevant to this conversation but I I do I would like us to to get a little bit more input before we make a decision for the rest of the Academic Year we also need to be very thoughtful about next year and as Miss berer mentioned we do have Esser funds that are that are going to expire soon I think chair Umstead brings this up every time we have a presentation on Esser funds what happens next and so I want us to keep saying that because I want the community to hear that we do have positions that are supported by Sr funds and we need to think creatively about what we will do going forward but we are we need to we need to get our ducks in a row and I'd like to see us do that okay Miss Cara Auten I'm on the same page as board member Chavez and here's why I have I do.

Feel strongly as we'd already voted for that we need to maintain the elevated discussed in October. Salaries my concerns are that we still don't have a good understanding and we are working in the next hopefully couple of weeks on having a clear P picture of our not only our Financial Health but what we like and don't like about Hill currently just over 2third so the majority of classified employees are getting less than a 15% raise with many of them just getting 4% requiring a hold harmless so that's the majority of classified employees under the October letters while the remaining third received raises as we've discussed many times that may top 40% or as high as a $30,000 a year annual increase that may be justified we just need to look at it more more closely before we make a final decision because whatever we decide now we've got to deal with come the next fiscal year and we don't want to decrease anybody's salary in July that would be a nightmare I think.

We can all agree right so I just I want us to I want you to know again as my colleagues have said tonight we are we are kneed deep in these spread sheets right now and it I know as we should be we're spending a lot of time thinking about this and trying to honor these shared values of honoring and respecting and giving you credit and compensation for your years of experience we're looking at what all of the surrounding counties are doing all the surrounding School District to see how they're doing this and how they're being creative about it how we can restore steps and maintain steps for y'all making sure you get when possible annual salary increases provide differential for ecas IDE we'd love to be able to I'd love to be able to provide differential for our Spanish speaking employees you're doing an extra job with an extra skill so you should be getting paid for that I want transparency with our salary information clearly outlined publicly available on the website for each.

Position this exists this exists in other school districts there's no reason that it can't exist here in DPS and ideally in addition to having clearly outlined procedures for classified salaries we have a policy in place I know people have been talking about policy a lot and how we've changed policy there's actually not currently a policy in place about this and so that's something that we could look at doing as we move forward so that there aren't shifts that are unexpected that it takes a board vote to be able to change what's going on so all that said I say we stick with what you all are expecting or hoping for as we've already voted we spend the next couple of weeks really working hard with the comproller to better understand the hill study and what needs to be modified from that and what our Financial Health looks like and we make the best decision possible for the rest of the fiscal year while also preparing our budget ask to the county for the next.

Year there's yeah there's there's already a motion would you like to say.

Anything just adding to what my colleague Jessica Carda-Auten just said right now I'm in I'm in contact with people that are all weighing in there's a lot of folks weighing in right now and I just want to be attentive to what's coming through questions that just came through because we also we understand we we don't do this work alone I know that this humbling situation just showed we don't do this alone we cannot do this alone and we don't want to one of the questions coming in to me and I'm going to read it is no one going to ask Administration to walk us through what these options look like for workers how does this change things versus the October letter so some so somebody's asking for examples to visualize this and this is more work but this is what is needed to be able to conceptualize the best option and so I I listen to that and I just wanted to offer and put put this out.

That we cannot do this alone in the sense that we make the decision on behalf of all the employees that are affected and if you can't see what we're trying to do we're probably going to continue to face this tension that is affecting a lot of families that is affecting a lot of you it's it's like hurt people hurt people this is happening right now a lot of hurt people you know unintentionally whether intentionally or unintentionally I don't think any has intentions to hurt anybody but I'm letting you know there is hurt and if you want examples and you want numbers and you want people's faces they will tell you their stories some of them are paying Uber some of them are having you know children that are not progressing as intended because they're teachers are working hard to lift you know to lift up a lot of kids and so families who have been concerned and at this point I second with Jessica Carda-Auten I said in.

Terms of like being able to get this data and I think we have this month that we're going to keep at the same level and this question about walking us through what does it look like an example we have actually received a lot of emails with examples of folks who have told us what has happened and so being able to walk through those options and then the other thing that came in is when it comes to the Esser funds and losing some of those positions we want you to know that everything has an like a consequence everything we do even if we're trying to listen to the request today it has an impact Downstream and I'm I'm not saying Downstream as in leveling like this I'm talking about sequentially like for the next year and so there are erer funds that we will not have anymore that means positions that are going away and that is also a consideration do we win in the long term if we spend a.

Lot of money right now and then when those funds that were temporary because of covid because of hurt that was happening through the covid pandemic and a recognition that a lot of people were affected by covid we got those funds but they're going away they they're temporary and that forecasting of what that's going to look like how many positions we will lose I think is important in this conversation as well so we can all be on the same page and have the information on another note I I understand that many folks have wanted to see what consequences look like and this has not been an easy week it has not been and neither have all these weeks in terms of consequences and impacts and being that a lot of people are suffering right now I do want to say this we as a district decided years ago and some of my colleagues who have been on the board for longer can tell you when this was talked about what does it mean to.

Have access to unrestricted funds that can provide a Lifeline to people who are experiencing hurt right now what does it look like to look out for community and to be able to provide for whatever is happening or coulden happen when the the shift is made when whatever decision is made and people need some kind of support that is what a foundation is for and DPS Foundation does have a community crisis fund they have a fund DPS Foundation has a unique ability to fund raise on behalf of Durham Public Schools DPS Foundation this week I don't can I don't know if somebody can tell me what they decided to make a statement binding them M elves to this situation acknowledging that they are in the situation and they are with you which means DPS Foundation has access to fundraising capabilities they hired a previous board member from this board who now works for DPS foundation in Partnerships and they have more staff than many foundations across the United States I mean for that for that size.

For for the kind of thing that they do so for the money that they have they have staff that can help fund raise I say if you have a dire need there is a crisis fund it's called a community and I can tell you because I translated this for DPS Foundation when they were doing the website and I I actually translated it and sent it and I will tell you what this fund does this fund and The Way It Was Written it says that families can get $2,500 sometimes and these funds are emergency funds It also says let me just look through my phone that this is for DPS staff DPS family so it is the DPS community that can access these crisis funds I don't want anybody to be hurting in ways that some of you have shared some of the some of the situations you're going through and so we need to build our capabilities with our foundation to fundraise on behalf of things that DPS needs and it's wonderful that they take.

Initiative and they fund their own projects and initiatives and they kind of generate their own things but right now we need our foundation to help us out fundrais on behalf of our staff that is hurting and our children that are hurting moms who've had to pay Uber rides and they don't have money to cover those Uber rides families that have hurt so bad and so our foundation can help us with that fund and I'd like to add that as an as as something to the package it needs to be a full package February stays the same and we are working towards giving scenarios and examples of what this looks like with real like examples of wages like how does it wage change we want to be able to help you visualize that you can see it we can see it we can all be on the same page when we vote the other thing is that along with that that salary option that we choose DPS Foundation we are binding.

You to this you you you made a statement and you said you care about this and you stand with classified stuff so DPS Foundation you're on the table now too and what we want is that Community crisis fund that you created for crisis like the one that we're experiencing today continues to serve our families in whatever ways if there is a dire situation we want to be able to have our our DPS Family Access that fund and and fundraise for more funds and we can all help fundraise because I know you get the Flyers that say you know please donate to DPS Foundation they are a foundation that work Works to support Durham Public Schools and this is a very opportune time to have their support thank you all right before we vote is there on the motion on the floor is there any other discussion Miss Lewis who yeah I just again from here my colleagues and having done this research I jumped into the conversation.

As though you had been with me the whole time and and moving because motions were moving fast up here you know so I I hear the concerns and the needs and I just I just want to back up for a second where we are this is my last ple and appeal to this board for this motion that's on the floor the board receives reports presentations and as you saw today the staff was working on a presentation 4:30 making changes for a 5:00 meeting I am an empath and I feel energy and I know the heaviness that this community has been carrying and the heaviness of this Administration and this board we ask questions when we get these reports we ask the staff rep places of clarity we watched the presentation we also asked for questions for the good of the public questions we may have already asked during the week but to slow down and make sure we're bringing the public with us we all have different expertise and special interests on this board different.

Specialties which is why it's important to have a diverse board with experience in the education system with these different departments to bring a balance with this board that was elected and one appointed we trusted the administration ation to give us clear language honest and accurate analysis of the Hill study that didn't happen there could be no conversation that the board did not ask enough questions we could have asked more questions and then it was said these are recommendations and we needed to adopt a policy it needed to get back on the agenda in April and it didn't everyone was assured by Finance who does calculations and Outsourcing of calculations as you've learned that we would have longevity and years of experience based on the numbers that was submitted when in reality those numbers could not support or could only support longevity which is what we approved we have to take responsibility for that we have to fix what's been given to us so when I was making decisions last week with the information shared option.

One option two what was the best thing I really had to reflect and say let's go deeper why did you run for school board what is it about being in a place. To have public will to move for the working class my Beginnings where I come from sharing power and hearing from those voices you need leadership in this District that gives you stability and moves us forward a 15% increase gives everybody an increase Beyond where they were before the hill study it gives back the years of experience while we take time to see how do we really make people whole and get to the market value that's needed we've asked for the numbers $2 million you know we have it you see it in a fund balance if we didn't have to be creative in any other way that's there and we'll work to get it to be reoccurring there are places where it can happen so when I'm appealing to this board to say yes we're going to have a com controller.

Yes we're going to have a budget request for next year yes we're going to have a a board approved salary study and ask him more questions and we'll roll out the plan as it should have been done in stages and not all at once but in this moment moving beyond the demands that have been given to us we need to make a decision is why I stand on this 15% with making February whole with that option you can vote it up or down we've done the work $2 million is what's being asked to be found and we already see where it is thank you thank you chair yeah I just I have a question for you sier I'm going to switch gears a little bit we had a couple of requests we've heard from some Educators around January checks around that second paycheck didn't look exactly what they would like and I would love if you could just highlight a little bit from conversations we had earlier it doesn't.

Seem as if there's an error on payroll side but every because there's so many folks with so many different tax brackets and all kinds of different things that that might be where that is but let me let you can you highlight Mr so g a little bit more about that January check for the January paychecks it's important for employees to look at their gross pay we made sure that they were paid at the same rate as they were in October November and December however because of the holidays many took 07 days or days without pay or their deductions may have changed but we have fielded a lot of questions and we've done a lot of in-depth analysis and we often find that the employee has either had a days without pay they have missed the whole harmless line and not added it in or they just had a different expectation for taxation or a deduction but it's about looking at your gross pay and making sure that your gross pay.

Which may be a single number and it may be what you see on the hill scale plus a whole harmless but that is the exact same rate as it was the prior months but you you clarify roughly how many we have been talking about this a lot how roughly how many are legitimate this was an error payroll needs to fix this that you've seen so far recognizing there might be more I have not seen some thus far the ones that I have seen have all been misreading or not reading the payub and I get the same report from the text and Vicky Goff as well so Mr O Jo if people still have concerns who should they reach out to to sit down with and look at their pay stuff I think there's a district payroll email address it's d. payroll that they can always email they can always Reach Out directly to Vicky go their payroll Tech or myself if they need additional assistance also thank you Mr oo we do have a.

Motion on the floor for option four and I do think it's important that we make a decision so that our district can figure out path forward we've done different steps to get there and this de making a decision around pay feels like another step that's vital and important for us to make what I can commit to is we know that we have like Miss Carter often set a budget ask coming up as we develop our budget with our to present to our Board of County Commissioners and spending the time to look back at those SE salary schedules make sure they are what we believe we can sustain financially that we believe is the work we wanted to do to help bring Folks up to market rate putting that in a budget ask is a way forward so that we can advocate for our staff ensure that they have the salaries that we want to see we know that the hill study has some more questions for us I think we mentioned in.

The last meeting more questions and things that need to be studied and so if we make a decision about pay today it also gives us time to do that study do the work submit put it in our budget requests and have that conversation ation with our funding Partners like that's our work right that's our work as a school board in the district and I think it's important for us to make a step we know we have more questions and we will continue to do more study it's not if or it's both ends we'll continue to do the study continue to look at our budget continue to understand Esser funding and where that's going to go in the next couple of years we know we have to do that work and I also think it's vital that we make a step forward today all right all right if there is no more discussion then we will vote and I think it might.

Make sense to do a roll call vote so I'm gonna start with Miss Millicent Rogers no Miss bis no Miss berer I and I oh let me start that Miss cardan no Jovonia Lewis I Bettina Umstead I and I vote I vote no the motion does not.

Pass we need Madam chair could we table this conversation until our March work session Fe we need to feary Fe even our February board meeting febrary. Board February 22nd is yeah okay I would make that motion which was to TP she said something different postpone can can you can you all state it so or Miss can you use the microphone there you go a motion to postpone consideration of the Next Step until February 22nd moved second it's been moved and properly seconded is there any other discussion Miss Millicent Rogers can I ask that we get clear understanding and clear presentation of the numbers and the impact that each option will have on the 2200 students I'm sorry educators and the that are being impacted by this change yes thank Miss Cardon to add to that like one thing that has been of interest is how specifically how different groups of employees and different salary ranges will be impacted so I think it's a value of mine at least to lift up our employees that are.

Getting paid the lowest we don't want anybody to we want everybody to be paid well but we don't want anybody to not be able to afford their rent or food or clothes for their children so I want to see in that outline and again clearly clearly so that we can understand it easily who's being most impacted by each of these different choices J said oh go ahead I'm sorry a question I was just curious if the controller would be able to weigh in on those analyses that would be great that would only be fair yes did you have Miss Miss Lewis okay miss that is yes Sierra you've sent emails to us at 11 o'clock at night or close to 11 o'clock and I know Vicki Goff is also you know engage us thank you for letting us kind of see some of these things the way that we see it like sometimes I it's helped me to understand what are some of the tax considerations or some of the things especially January.

Paychecks so I think when it comes to examples that we can add to the presentation that would be just you know that that really helped me to kind of see some some of the the situations the other thing is sorry there was a question about how exactly and where are we paying this money from so you know if we're going to use our fund balance for it to to say you know and I know that you you included you know the the amounts that the option was would require but for us to even put in if we intend to engage the county in any way and I know we have an upcoming County meeting and folks have asked that we move that meeting up closer and I know that that's logistically something we'll have to figure out but I guess the question is what are our options for funding where would we where we get the is funding from and especially with Esser funds going away and positions being cut.

Even if there's just something about that that folks can access because not everybody's going to track the entire meeting that we have but if they can have at least that slide to keep that in mind that we will be cutting positions not because we want to but because our funds are running low in that way so that's also a consideration I think that that would help us give time to the community to engage us more we're accessible for meetings early in the morning late at night just let us know we've met with da a couple of times we have meet and confer coming up with Dae I also know that there's so many other folks who want to continue to think about these options and get some clarity on what it is and you know even if I've engaged some folks sometimes I have to go a second time and a third time and that's the nature of what we have to do so engage us as much as.

You need and want and that we can actually try to try to become available for it yeah so just the funds where they coming from okay like to go first yeah I just also want to make a comment Miss Valladares you talked about the foundation a little bit earlier and I just want to clarify for everyone the foundation is a separate entity right they are have their own board they have their own Ed and so we can't dictate what their funds do just want to make sure we make that really clear the DPS Foundation has their own has their own structure and how they spend their funds I I just have a followup do you know who started the DPS Foundation it was actually superintendent mubenga who resigned yesterday in conversations with many of the folks who started and Megan Gonzalez Smith was chosen as as the first director and there was a whole lot in terms of DPS investing in the foundation foundations help whatever institution they have our name.

DPS and they have to be our partner in as many ways so I do compel a foundation that was started by a superintendent who resigned yesterday to to Really you know use those funds to help our our DPS staff that that fund already exists I remember when it was created and that is a fund to help so that there if you you've been telling me many folks have been telling me what about these people who are experiencing hardship that fund is there and money from DPS has gone there for that reason and money from many constituents across Durham go there for that reason and I understand they have their own board and their own programming but there's a moment of Crisis right now when we need our foundation on our side to actually pitch in as much as possible with this thank you Miss Lewis so just appealing to our board if we are postponing this again let's let's get our research in early these requests that are being made.

For grassp to be shown when I'm looking at the salary analysis I knew at 11% increase it'll be 1,165 increase and 7 decrease and I said well what would it be at 15% that's 547 decrease of that 547 that's decreased how many is it the the lowest wages is 300 well why is that well AI are across IAS I'm sorry are across the different salaries what are some options for that well we could move up two steps we could think about doing a stip and when I said we're doing a blanket it's because they're not it's not a blanket solutions for this when we're looking for Equity but that's the research that's the work being done beforehand and I jump into the conversation because I want us to get and move move somewhere right I said all those numbers because I remember them I know them I I've some people need to see them but I just ask that we make sure that what we're trying to see we're.

Giving them plenty of time and not an hour before the meeting we got two weeks so that the presentation can be visually seen which is increasing transparency as well but just give them time please thank you Miss berer and then we'll probably start to wrap it up so I just wanted to thank Miss Beyer for all the work and and all the ways that you have stepped up and and led and our questions and putting this decision off I know only make more work for you I appreciate just everything that you're doing to kind of accommodate where we ourselves with trying to maximize what we can do for our current employees trying to deescalate where emotions are justifiably high and I think we've heard loud and clear that steps matter in Durham and so I hope that future scenarios will continue just to bring ones that respect that value in this community and I don't think there's a reason and to bring one that ones that have us doing away with steps I think.

What I struggle with is are there parts of the hills study that are useful are there parts that are not are there parts of the the 2019 comp study classified study that we did that are actually better if we if we give everybody significant Rises so that you know if there's pieces and parts of both that we can meld together or or things that we can use I know that our comproller indicated previous experience with doing some of this work and so I look forward to just ways that we can do what is best for the majority of our staff and is sustainable going forward as we will go across and and Advocate we just need to know what we have first and and plan accordingly but thank you morning members if if I might at at risk of voer overstepping let me state that it is February 8th one of the things that's been particularly challenged for us in the administration has been having an appropriate amount of time to develop.

And consider and then backfill proposals with the appropriate amount of information I would like to ask Bo members if you would if you have ideas about how we might structure a response if we can get those ideas from you by perhaps Tuesday February 13th that would give us more time in the administration to to do a number of things number one all of the things that you've asked us to do tonight I identify The Source for those funds develop a robust set of slides perhaps even some sample salary solutions for individuals but also it would provide us with some opportunities to share some of these ideas with staff members so that we can begin to try to build some consensus around what what the community of workers in our community would be willing where there are opportunities to compromise we certainly want to be able to bring you a robust set of options but we will we do need time to do that so if.

I can ask if we can if I can ask on behalf of the administration for your proposals by February 13th and and I do want to suggest that doesn't mean that we won't continue to develop proposals as well but if we could ask that that would give us a a good amount of time to put together a a robust a robust presentation for you so that hopefully we'll be able to preempt some of the questions that that I know the community has about some of these proposals and have all the information in front of you for your consideration when we take this issue up again on the 22nd thank you Dr King we that's awesome deadlines are good for all of us sometimes and in this case certainly so we we appreciate that we will send our our questions and our our proposals and our ask questions about proposals by Tuesday I thank you for your leadership do we need a.

Motion to poone action until February 22nd I got distracted okay I I just want to say one last thing myself which is I also want to say thank you so much m o Jo you have taken on this Challenge and we thank you for it it's not easy to come you know into this enroll at this time when we're now going very deep ourselves into the numbers I also just want to I also want to mention one thing which is that I have to think about the larger context here we're in a post-pandemic moment and during the the pandemic Sal wages income net worth the Gap widened considerably housing prices in Durham doubled or more that's what we're sitting in and so I think I'm just aware of that as we make our decisions that this is not things do not affect us all equally and and so we have have to be attentive to access to resources and even if we cannot meet the you you know pay everyone what they were.

Told they would receive we need to think about ways that we can make our scale more Equitable and and consider how we can how we can support the needs of our community in a fair way this is attentive to the larger context so I just wanted to offer that M ch Dr King asked for a friendly Amendment and I think I made the motion and I welcome it just that we go ahead and hold ourselves to submitting things by February 13 you need a second just it's a friendly Amendment whoever seconded before if you'll accept the friendly Amendment Dr King would be so appreciative I believe that was Miss R I'll second it because yeah it's been moved and and second did I think we've covered the discussion part so we will go ahead and all those in favor say I I I all those opposed I I and the motion carries 52 all right we are going to move on to our next topic which is our consent.

Items we have four consent items which the board has had a chance to. Review happy to receive a motion move approval of the consent items second this has been moved and properly seconded is there any further discussion all those in favor say I I any oppose use the same sign and and it passes unanimously Now we move on to academic services and there is one item here the 2024 CTE month Proclamation and I pass it here to Dr Dr pack and Dr.

Pitman there we go good evening board members we are pleased to bring before you tonight the CTE month Proclamation for the year 2024 Dr Julie pack is here with us this evening our senior executive director of Career and Technical education and magnet programs to present the request of the board around the proclamation and we certainly have always appreciated your support of this work Dr pack thank you Dr Pitman good evening board members today's Cutting Edge rigorous and relevant Career and Technical education programs prepare our youth for jobs in high wage high skill and high demand Industries Career and Technical Education Month is a public awareness campaign sponsored by the Association of Career and Technical education or act that takes place each February to celebrate the value of CTE and the achievements and accomplishments of CTE programs across the country throughout the month of February our CTE program will be celebrating and promoting CTE programs in our schools as well as the potential careers that are right here in Durham County and across North.

Carolina we have done some exciting work this year in CTE we welcome Dr P I'm sorry to interrupt you I just want to say we'd like to just respect our speaker and so if you do want to have conversation if you would just step outside thank you so much go ahead thank you we have done some exciting work this year in CTE we welcomed all of our eighth grade students over a thousand eighth graders to our inaugural accelerate event where middle school students engaged with employers to see what career options are available here in Durham County we increase the number of students participating in work-based learning opportunities throughout our different programs and we've increased the number of students St walking out of Durham Public Schools with industry approved credentials in their in their toolbox finally we partnered with the Bloomberg philanthropies bot health and Durham Tech to plan a health science focused High School to help build the talent pipeline for health science jobs we are very excited about all the things we've.

Done each year internally Al we select a theme for the CTE program and this year's theme is CTE rocks so I'd like to take a moment give a shout out to our CTE Educators our support staff and our employers for the tremendous work they're doing to provide career opportunities to the students that during public schools and let them know that they Rock tonight the CT CT department is excited to put before you a proclamation declaring February 1st 1 through the 29th 2024 CTE month in Durham Public Schools I want to personally thank each of you on behalf of our CTE teachers and students and staff for your continued support of Career and Technical education in our schools you rock at this time I invite you to read the pro Proclamation aloud thank you Dr pack we just celebrate all of those awesome wins for this year and thank you for all the work that you do for our CTE students and expanding opportunities for our students to participate in CTE so we.

Will read the proclamation and start with M Millicent Rogers Proclamation Career and Technical Education Month where is February 1st through 29th 2024 has been designated Career and Technical Education Month by the Association for career and techn technical education and whereas Career and Technical education offer students the opportunity to gain the academic Technical and employability skills necessary for True career Readiness and whereas students and Career and Technical education programs participate in authentic meaningful experiences that improve the quality of their education and increase their engagement and achievement and and whereas Career and Technical education provides students with career exploration exploration opportunities earlier in their educational experience which enables them to make informed and beneficial decisions about their academic cours work and pursue established programs of study and career Pathways and whereas leaders from business and industry Nationwide report increasing challenges related to addressing the skills Gap and connecting qualified professionals with re with available careers and critical and growing CTE Fields including Health Care energy skills trades Advanced manufacturing cyber security and information technology.

And whereas Career and Technical education prepar students for these and other fulfilling careers by offering integrated programs of study that link secondary and postsecondary education and lead to the attainment of Industry recognized credentials and whereas Career and Technical education programs ensure that employers have access to a qualified and thriving Workforce ensuring America is a strong and competitive economy therefore be it resolved that the Duram Public Schools board of education does hereby Proclaim February 1st through 29th 20124 as Career and Technical Education Month and urge all students and Families to become familiar with the services and benefits offered by the Career and Technical education programs in Durham Public Schools and to support and participate in these programs to enhance their individual skills and productivity signed the 8th day of February 20124 thank you so much thank you awesome you rock I wanted to use it use it as well oh we need to I will take a motion move approval the proclamation for Career and Technical education second okay it's been moved by Miss.

Millicent Rogers seconded by Jovonia Lewis and missis and all those is there any other other discussion all those in favor say I I any oppos use the same sign it it approve it is approved unanimously thank you thank you passes unanimously okay now I will take a motion to go into session yes might we have a few words of gratitude for Dr King I think he has stepped up and we just want to appreciate that and see if he has anything he wants to share with the Durham Community great I would just take a moment to say first of all thank you to the board for this opportunity but then I'd just like to thank the staff at Duran Public Schools who have been working extremely hard to maintain and and that that is to include folks in in our schools and at central office who have been working diligently to maintain a focus on the education of our students through this difficult time I appreciate being here I'm continue.

To be excited about being a part of this team and just thankful to be here and look forward to continue efforts to work towards improving public education in DM so thank you again board members thank you I had a comment that's why ADV that I also want to thank you Dr King you have you know hit the ground running since getting here are you 90 days over now around that time right this has been a really rough week for all of us really rough week and we also I just want you to know something that when Dr mubenga brought you here he recommended you highly right and he set the groundwork for you to do the work that you do he picked you and I I think we all yesterday just had a really intense day today there's the opportunity that somebody Dr mubenga picked you know to come and help us with this district and you've been you've been throwing down with the administration I've seen you we've been in subcommittee meetings.

With you you have really taken time and tonight you did you did everything that was needed tonight stepping in and saying I hear you Bor give me all the suggestions details Community feedback that you're getting real time every moment every day of every hour and send it to me by this date by this time and that is going to consider the hard work that the administration is doing and Sierra and Vicky Goff and everybody working till 11 o'clock at night that's not sustainable we don't want to burn you to the ground but we want to be able to to understand a little bit more we just want the community we just have to learn how to like visualize it how to put it in in in ways that people can see the vision and run with it right and and and see it and so I just want to commend you because many times on this board another colleague of mine jaavan Lewis has said for such a time as this and we are.

Understanding what that means and I just want you to know you sitting there with something Dr mubenga may maybe didn't know was going to happen but he set you up to sit there right he set you up to be there and you have hit the ground running and we're going to continue to do what we have to do as a board but just know we appreciate you being there tonight and sitting there tonight it made a whole world of difference to hear your voice and for you to say I hear you board but this Administration needs to know that you know you're not going to come with last minute things thank you board member jaavan Lewis for calling us and holding us to that that there's a lot coming at us every single day every single moment every single hour of every single minute in terms of feedback but we also have to make sure our Administration has time to do this so thank you for your leadership.

Tonight yes and with that before we go to close session to handle some of the Personnel business I want to make move approval of the interim superintendent and contract second was there a is there a name that you wanted to bring forth yes yes with your motion Cy can you say yes we would like to bring thank you Jovonia Lewis for that motion it's also been exed we would like to bring Katy Moore as our interim superintendent thank you Dr King so much for the work that you're doing for to yes today and continuing to have those duties assigned to you she will begin on Monday pending this vote she is a retired educator but has been known throughout for being a teacher first even as she served as a superintendent in Wake County and we're excited to have her leadership in this transition so thank you Jovonia Lewis for that motion it's been seconded I think by is that you miss Chavez all right to clarify it's a motion to.

Approve the contract yes for Dr M yes the motion was to approve the contract for Dr Moore or I'm sorry for Miss Moore Miss Moore all right is there any other discussion all those in favor please say I I any opposed please use the same sign passes unanimously great I move that we go into close session for the reason stated on the agenda second all right that's been moved and properly seconded is there any other discussion all right follow followup items followup items all.

Right thank you Mr Johnson we have five follow-up items the first was what is the status of project that are being implemented supported through the Mackenzie Scott Grant second is to provide feedback from the com controller on our financial status the third would be to provide examples of what the increases would look like for all of the options staff would show how the 11 12 and 15% change salaries from 2223 and include examples in the presentation for February 22nd as well as funding source for those options there was a request to clearly see which employees are being impacted by the options or by those choices and who would be who looks to be impacted the most and we would assign that to the com controller to assist and then board members have agreed to submit their any additional items or questions or requests for information to the administration by Tuesday to prepare amply for the February 22nd board regular meeting with flexibility thank you so much all right and with that we are.

Anyone to vote we are moving into Clos session all right thank you so much did we I don't think we voted okay all right we have to vote there's been a motion to move into close session it has been properly seconded by Miss btis and all those in favor say I hi I and any post use the same sign it passes unanimously we are now in close.

Session.

We are now back in Open Session Dr King thank you chair stated this time board members we would ask for your approval of the Personnel report amended Personnel report dated February 8th 2024 move approval of the amended Personnel report dated February 8 second it's been moved by Miss p and seconded by Miss Chavez is there any other discussion all those in favor please say I I any oppose please use the same sign all right it passes 60 thank you all with that we are. Journe.