Board of Education · Work Session · September 12, 2024

Moment of silence.

Thank you we now the point of our agenda for the agenda review and approval Millicent Rogers I would like to make an amendment to our agenda to add a close CL session before the consent items that would be a Clos session to consider confidential personnel as well as to consult with the attorney second it's been moved by Miss Umstead secondary B Inspire to add to the agenda Clos session prior to consent to consult with the attorney and address Personnel matters all those in favor say I I I I'll oppose say nay it passes unanimously missis I also wanted to make a motion to add a superintendent update the agenda so can we add that additionally second sure where would y'all like that on the agenda before consent I'm not sure if it should go before after the Clos session perhaps after okay there's a motion for Emily Chávez seconded by Miss Carter auton to add a superintendent update after close.

Session and before consent agenda all in favor say I I I I all oppos say nay it passes unanimously now we need to approve the agenda I would move that we approve the amenda agenda for September 12th 2024 second it's been moved by Miss Umstead seconded by Miss bu to approve the amended agenda all those in favor say I I all opposed say nay passes unanimously sorry y'all we couldn't have no discussion because I didn't ask for it but I will in the future there a motion to okay we approve the agenda the next item on our agenda are the meeting minutes from August 8th.

2024 move of approval of the minutes from August 8th second been moved by Natalie Beyer seconded by Emily Chávez to approve the work session agenda from August work session minutes from August 8th 2024 is there any discussion all those in favor say I I hi I I'll oppos say n the work session minutes pass unanimously the next item on our agenda is general public comment tonight we have one two five speakers so we're going to have three minutes but let's read the rules into record quick review of the rules first please state your name if speaking for an organization please state your name and the name of the organization second speakers are asked to present their comments in 3 minutes when the yellow light comes on you will have is it one minute left or is it one and a half minutes is that are is it did you give people three minutes three minutes so one minute when the yellow light comes on you'll have one minute the red light comes on your.

Time is in okay you'll have one minute left to start winding up your remarks when the red light comes on it will beep which indicates your time is up complaints about Nam 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 of students or the operation of school system finally the board members will listen carefully and consider the comments but we do not engage in discussion with speakers our first speaker is Jane doraman followed by G.

Mahajan my name is Jane doraman I'm the parent of a sixth grader at DSA and I'm here tonight because I am joined by hundreds of parents who are absolutely desperate for Reliable and consistent bus transportation to and from school consistently kids are not getting to school on time time or at all and it can there continued to be put in unsafe situations which I've already emailed the Boe about Beyond complaining I want to propose some ideas first replace edog immediately it is not reliable and multiple school districts across the country have dropped it for this reason and even taken edog to court and won additionally consider purchasing AI routing software for bus fleets this would solve the complications of adding or removing new students throughout the year and make could simpler to find the best fruits third communicate with parents on a weekly basis on what progress is being made more than we apologize for the inconvenience thank you for your patience we're going to do something every other month next have a.

Better Recruitment and Retention strategy for drivers we're competing with Amazon for drivers $20 an hour is not enough the good news is that all of these options are less expensive than the millions of dollars that went in inexplicably missing last year thank you.

My name is G mahaj and I have two kids at DPS if DPS is having Central Transportation staff and even principes leaving their offices to drive buses in this emergency shortage then call it an emergency and ask the governor whom you are bestowing ceremonial but meeting meaningless flowers on later on in this meeting ask the governor to send you some National Guard members to drive by buses because it is an emergency when a kid can't make it to school it is an emergency when a kid is being dropped off miles from their stop it is an emergency when no parents can contact Transportation offices because they can't find the child whom you have lost it is an emergency when you have District drivers quit un masked because of unsustainable working conditions when reviewing the agenda for this meeting I was shocked to see no scheduled update on Transportation despite the fact that hundreds of students parents and staff are impacted by the lack of service poor communication and even more poorly.

Poorly coordinated response to driver departures and increased R route requests this board is not demanding transparency of information and accountability on behalf of the impacted individuals but perhaps you will believe a consultant who gives you that advice more than your. Constituents Micah tweet Meer Chris Clen Jennifer geish good evening Micah Hunter tweet Meer Durham Association of Educators and I seed my time to Christy Clen hello Christy Clen physical therapist I'm here as part of the large group of frustrated classified staff didn't write anything out part of me wonders what's the point since January I've been emailing I've been sending spreadsheets that I make to the board to Administration asking questions face-to-face conversations with board members with superintendence I get that's a good question I don't know I'll find that out those are all things I've been told since January and how many more answers do I have now none I am a member of Dae what I'm saying they didn't tell me to say so I don't know if I can say I.

Speak on behalf of them or not but employees are smart we work hard we have valuable information meaning confer is important because what's happened for almost a full year now is embarrassing it's embarrassing to the district it's disrespectful to us it harms the children the community right that's what that's our number one concern what can we do for the kids when I spend hours looking at spreadsheets because this is this is this this is the salary that's best for y'all this is Market rates some quotes that I've been told have been almost every position Step Zero is going to start exactly like what he'll did in October and then I put two columns together and exactly must mean within $900 because the last proposal in August Step Zero for multiple classified was up to 900 plus different less for this new proposal when I look at what was presented in August and I hear oh DPS we're going to pay above State what the state says we should do for different.

Categories that's an elevated arbitrary number for only the most experienced now because when you look at that here's what we're going to pay at top and then you look at the step it's $12 $1,300 less so if you're not already at step 30 by the time I continue to work my butt off for y'all and for the kids here I'm never going to reach that so one classified pay grade may show oh look this person could top out at 7,400 a month nope step 30 it says 6,200 so are we pretending that this is what we're going to pay above the state when in fact when you really look at the chart that's not it and then to get an email response that said where did you get this information where did these numbers come from it's the numbers y'all are posting we're in the weeds yes I look at the money of what I'm going to make what the custodian what the cafeteria person what the bus driver these are all people.

I talk to and work with on a daily basis I'm up here for every one of those folks they have two or three jobs I also have two jobs I worked I worked at the hospital three of the last five weekends both days why because the salary that I thought I was going to get last October to get me close to Market pay which would still be less if I went to the hospital full-time was taken away but yet I'm told oh you're back there no I'm not not even close so I'll continue to have a second job that I've had every year I started in the school system so I can come back tired and work 12 14 days in a row to try to make ends meet to hear people sitting above me who aren't who don't seem to be listening maybe you are but my perception is you're.

Not I know you can't comment now but my true gut feeling is even if you could nobody would say anything I would get the same stare and look of we don't know what. Morale morale is no better now at school than it was last year since this has started and it's going to continue to snowball and when I read the agenda and realized classified schedules aren't even posted for us to look at how can I make some kind of informed comment when it's not even there and it was supposed to be voted on last month so to work on it for four extra weeks and we still have nothing to see.

So I read the agenda on Wednesday Tuesday whatever day it got posted my mistake for reading it in the middle of the work day because let me tell you what happened after that supposed to write a few evaluation reports did those get written nope did I stay at my desk did I try to write them yes could I put any legible thought down on paper something that I want to say here's my report as a professional no have I had great quality of life since January no because this is a constant this is a constant what can I do maybe they're missing a piece you know what if I read a little more and I make a new chart and I send it and I ask a question maybe that will be.

Helpful but it feels like it's done nothing an occasional email thank you for your thoughts like that that means nothing you want me to answer emails professionally within 48 hours if I get them or 24 you want me to take the time to write report I'm out of time thank.

You geis followed by.

Waa not quite sure how I can follow that that was very impassioned I see you I hear you and I thank you I really do I really really do thank you hi I'm no stranger to many of you on this board my name is Dr Jennifer geish I'm a behavioral scientist and a Health Systems researcher but and but I'm here in neither of those capacities I'm here as the mother of three students with disabilities that are served through DPS I want to just start with some numbers that I think we've sent to you all in the past students with disabilities oh I should say I am also here in my capacity as co-chair of the suspension taskforce for Duram advocates for exceptional children Eliza Strickland is my other co-chair let me get back to my comments sorry about that students with disabilities are twice as likely to get suspended as a student without disabilities twice more than twice actually and all those students with disabilities only account.

For about 13 to 14% of DPS students they made up about 26% of all out of school suspensions 26% of all out of school suspensions that's horrific suspension in students with disabilities went up more than any other category by the best data that I can get my hands on and I've asked for better data four and 4.3% I'd like to think that this is an old issue an issue that is is just coming to light but no we've seen these bad numbers for students with disabilities since I see you shaking your head over there you know what I'm talking about since what 2016 201 17 there was a a lawsuit and some other stuff going on at the time this is a longstanding issue I want to also say in gratitude I'm so delighted to see the change in the Strategic plan tonight thank you thank you thank you thank you for honoring loving remembering my three children with with disabilities and all the other families in DPS that have students with disabilities it is.

Heartening to see that you have embraced my children and other children with disabilities and putting them in the Strategic plan around suspension data they need that attention it is a step in the right direction thank you thank you thank you we also need Swift action with better data better supports better education to make sure that we can hit that very lofty goal of reducing those suspension rates among students with disabilities but mostly I'm just here to say thank you for listening thank you for following the data thank you for changing the Strategic plan to embrace students with.

Disabilities waa I apologize I cannot read your handwriting so if you'll State your first and last name for the record please thank you wow it's a pleasure to be here really greeting everyone it has been a while I didn't come for something more educational and I hear your pain can I ask you to adjust the mic down a little bit just pull it closer to you there you go thank you my name is wafa Kil a science educator solar energy specialist and dedicated Volunteers in DPS schools I'm here on behalf of the solar schools team the Dr chapter of the climate reality project first I'd like to thank Dr Lewis for your inspiring and hopeful message to the Durham Community which I got and I appreciate the Board of Education that is that's steadfast commitment in to improving our education system and you know I've been really I've been in contact with the educator for a long time at at least 10 years since my retirement I'm here to express.

Strong support to the DPS energy conservation program the effort of our co- energy managers are not only critical for the environmental and saving money for the environment and saving money but also it has an impact on our students learning our schools are among the largest energy consumers creating substantial environmental footprint energy conservation presents a unique opportunity to reduce this impact while offering handson Real World Learning experiences for our students such as a students monitor energy use track savings and analyze data enhancing critical thinking and problem solving skills while applying science and math concept directly environmental responsibility energy conservation Pro projects Foster environmental stewardship showing students how their action can reduce carbon Footprints and promote sustainable practices and be part of the solutions interdisciplinary learning integrating stem with social studies and econ economics this project teach teamwork leadership and project management skills preparing our students for the future career exploration energy conservation exposes students to Growing field like green or renewable energy and sustainability turning schools into living Laboratories giving students invaluable exposure to potential.

Careers can I finish my last sentence in short improving energy conservation in schools not only reduces cost but unres education empowering students to contribute and be part of sustainable future DPS has the power to lead by example showing students that sustainability begins in their own community and empow empowering them to be active contributors to a Greener and hopeful future thank you sen thank you thank you. All colleagues the next item on our agenda is Clos session I move that we are going to close session to consult with the attorney and discuss Personnel issues second we moove by Miss buer second dat by Emily Chávez to go into the close session and consult with the attorney and discuss personnel any discussion all in favor say I the motion carries unanimously we're now in close.

Session.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E e.

We're now back in Open Session the next item on our agenda is the superintendent's update thank you so much board chair good evening everyone I wanted to provide a couple of updates this evening and and one is really dealing with the recent Surge and threats at our schools as it relates to incidents on our school property this is something that we've been seeing across the state and and across the nation and so we want our doing Public Schools families our first of all our student staff and families and communities to know that Safety and Security is our top priority and is very critical critically important to us and because of this we do mandate protocols that are reviewed regularly with our students and our staff our students and staff do practice drills we do have secured entrances where our visitors have to be buzzed in to enter the building using cameras and they must show identification additionally we do work closely with our Durham Police Department and our Durham County.

Sheriff's Department to ensure that we are maintaining safe learning environments through although there's been some recent threats and in our buildings I do appreciate the Swift action of our Safety and Security Department as well as our SRO that are in our buildings and our partners both at dpd and the county sheriff department I want to encourage all of our students first of all thank those students that have saw something and said something and encourage additional students if you see something please say something and not not just talking about see something at school on the way to school yes that's important if you're seeing something on social media as well please tell someone there's no such thing as a snitch right we want all of our schools to be safe we know that you have caring adults in those buildings please make sure you're reporting this to your your caring adults and so we want to Foster that sense of belonging at all of our schools and ensure that all of our.

Students feel seen that they're safe and they're they're heard and we think about yes the threats have been either threats as relates to schools or happening at schools this is also a community issue and so the more that our families and community members can talk to our students and encourage them to not take these as jokes because we do hear that sometimes oh I was just playing this is very serious and we will take it extremely serious and so thank you so much to all of you for your ongoing support in in ensuring that all of our Scholars are are safe the next update I wanted to provide also as it relates to our transportation we do have Dr tler freeze as well as Matthew Palmer here today and let me be clear these are not excuses I do think it's hugely important for everyone in this community to know the current real reality and it's hugely important for everyone in this community to know what we're doing about some of these.

Challenges frankly there has been an increase in ridership this year and you couple the increase in ridership with a decrease in in work Workforce you're going to have some challenges and those are some challenges that we are actively working through and to give you some perspective some numbers around that since our August Board of Education work session our writer request has increased by nearly 5,000 Scholars and so that's going from about 177,000 to 2,455 Total writer requests and this is this has been happening between open houses and the first weeks of work first weeks of school so to put those numbers in context 21455 we had 18,000 students request wirers ships during the 23 24 school year in addition to that School Bus assignments bus routes planning staff have assigned more than 3,000 bus riders in the past two weeks and they continue to assign bus riders assigning new bus drivers with existing routes and and stops will have also have implications to the current bus and stop assignments please know our trans.

Transportation staff are working to activate ridership updates over the weekend rather than daily so that families and parents do not not experience ongoing changes so students remaining to be routed is around a little over a, students 1,224 to be exact in addition as we think about our own site customer service and and Technology support while historically DPS Transportation has operated out of three lots Transportation now operates out of two bus Lots one on Hamlin Road which is the services the Northern Division and one at Hill Side High that Services the Southwest Division and so this change to ensure adequate admin support staff levels at the bus lots to provide leadership and customer service has definitely had an impact on this as well however to address the bus driver shortages T administrative staff that work in those facilities have been driving our school buses along with our bus drivers and so quite you can imagine this has led to a staff that has been less available to reply to calls.

And reply to emails again these are not excuses I'm just sharing the the reality of what we're dealing with a DPS is Contracting to deploy nine administrative staff professionals to assist with phone calls and Communications we continue to recruit bus drivers we continue to train and hire bus drivers 32 driver candidates are in the First Co cohort of DPS love the bus 100 training program so this means that they have identified as candidates wanting to drive with DPS and are in the queue for training with DPS and DMB testing if you recall in the past this this traditionally has been like a six month process because we are approved site to train that reduces it down to about maybe two two months and then again it was mentioned this evening the tablet usage and parent information referring to edog some of our parents have have not been able to consistently see the buses in the parent portal act I'm one of those parents that have not been able to see that consistently.

There are there are times when I see the bus coming in the neighborhood and I can get the kids out and there are sometimes that that's that's not the case and so this is attributed to the attribute attributed to the need for DPS Transportation staff to continue improvements of in the use for location and communication updates bus drivers do receive an update on tablet use or did rather receive an update on tablet use this week and there is focused ongoing training for bus drivers with correct usage procedures leadership staff also conduct onsite employee meetings as well as support staff to ensure the proper usage of those tablets daily so please know that we take this extremely serious as you know we have a mission to work towards improving the academic and social emotional outcome of our Scholars that is difficult if we can't get them to school and get them to school on on time and obviously safety is a huge issue for us as well so ensuring that we are.

Just as a student gets on the bus in the morning at a stop we want to put them off at that same stop safety so in terms of safety efficiency and effectiveness of our transportation that is something that we will continue to work on I want to pause and see if there's anything that I missed from Matthew or Todd no okay that's all I have for the updates this evening thank you Dr Lewis colleagues during the week of 9:23 the superintendent Mr tab Miss Carter members of senior Administration are traveling on the Chambers inner city visit to Minneapolis to learn best practices around public private Partnerships and to build relationships with the Durham chamber Board of County Commissioners city councils the foundation and other local partners are traveling together to learn best practices and what's happening in Minneapolis due to their travel I'm asking the board to adjust our September 26 board meeting from 6:30 to 7:30 pm.

So that the superintendent and Miss Carter Aton can arrive in time for our board meeting you need a motion I do yes well thank you all for going and representing the district so well in Minneapolis look forward to hearing back from you and I would make a motion that we move our September 26 meeting start time to 7:30 pm. second been moved by Natalie Beyer second day by Miss Cara Aton to move the September 26th board meeting start time from 6:30 to 7:30 is there any discussion all those in favor please say I I all those opposed please say no the motion carries unanimously thank you all okay the next item on our agenda is the consent items move of approval of consent items a through.

F second a g it's been moved by Emily Chávez and seconded by Miss buer to move approval of the consent agenda items a through G is there any discussion awesome all those in favor say I I I all opposed say no the consent agenda passes unanimously thanks everybody the next item on our agenda is a request for proposal for board training firm Miss carteron thank you Millicent Rogers so board members we agreed at our August 8th work session that we would move forward the development of a request for proposals to hire an individual or firm to provide training and consultation to the board and as such I had the pleasure of working with colleagues Miss instead and Miss Herold gof to develop the RFP that's on the agenda today just a reminder about the process that we used so we after discussing this during our August 8th work session we then met with the attorney the three of us to provide guidance based on what was shared by fellow board members in the.

August 8th work session attorney then created an initial draft of the RFP and we work to further tailor it to our board specific needs this was shared with all board members to review and provide feedback on that feedback was reviewed and then where possible integrated and discussed the attorney reviewed again and then we ended up with the version that's available to you today so the one that is posted publicly and that's in front of us for discussion and action is one that we've all reviewed and worked on and and looked at thank you so much colleagues is there any.

Discussion okay I'll accept a. Motion I move that we accept this proposal for request for proposal for board training cons consult ation second it's been moved by Miss Harold gof seconded by Miss Chavez to approve the RFP for board training with the consultant is there any discussion okay I I see Miss buer has a comment Miss Herold goof you made the motion did you want to speak to it at all okay you don't have to not yet no okay Miss buer yeah first I wanted to Express gratitude to you all for working on this I appreciate the time and energy that you all worked on it and and also to Mr Malone for bringing this forward I had some edits that I proposed that I see didn't make the cut that I will just speak into this space that are important to me as we reflect on what firm we choose and I don't think they made it in here but one was whether a consultant has existing relationships with any.

Specific board members I think that's important to disclose when we consider who we will work with and then I had concerns about folks backgrounds with privatization and I just think it's something that we need to kind of keep an eye on as we work together as a public entity and know about our commitment to to the public service so those are two things that didn't make it and I'm not going to add them that's fine but I just wanted to speak them into this space as something that I thought was important as we consider who we'll work with going forward and appreciate y'all's work thank you thanks Natalie Beyer can I ask a clarifying question we all have a relationship with North Carolina Schoolboard associations would you like to exclude them no I don't think it's a a reason for exclusion on its own but I do think it's important to to bring into the space and existing relationships that specific board members have with Consultants with anyone that applies so.

No I wouldn't exclude anyone I just would have us disclose to each other that's all yeah okay thank. You anybody else have a comment okay with the motion on the floor to approve the RFP as presented and no further discussion all those in favor say I I all those opposed say nay the motion passes unanimously thank you all so are we going to appoint somebody to post this and to receive the offers the proposals I can speak to that that has been named in the RFP and the point person for this is our very own Dr Giovani as she shakes her head okay I saw it there but I wasn't sure she was where or Dr Lewis okay okay thank you the next item on our agenda is what everybody's been waiting for tonight Dr Lewis salary what do we have it called compensation compensation schedules 2024 2025 Dr Dr yes yes thank you so much Bo Millicent Rogers we are excited to bring to the board and to the community discussion around our compensation.

Schedules and I will just tell you personally as a new superintendent that has been here 20 days now today actually actually one full month that I've I've been here here in Duran public schools and really learning a lot however as it as it relates to this comp these compensation schedules and considering where this community this school district and the community has been this past nine months this is something that is very critical in terms of ensuring that it's right and so we have with us tonight Dr Lin and I know Sierra is here as as well to begin those conversations and share from the standpoint of our teacher compensation to include include conversations around U Master's pay supplementals but also we want to talk about our classified schedules as as well and and and some of the challenges there and so just began those conversations again with the ultimate goal of of getting this right and not only getting the salary schedules right but as we think about it from the.

Long-term standpoint and really setting the system up for future success the work that still needs to take place in that regard so with that I'll turn it over to Dr lassain good even evening thank you Dr Lewis Millicent Rogers and members of the board as well as our general audience tonight we are slated to discuss the 20242 compensation schedules but as a point of privilege I do think that it is very important that we begin I would like to just review some of the recent challenges that have centered around our ler updates and teacher compensation some of our recent pay challenges related to our unlicensed teachers they fit in three primary categories and ultimately this impacts some of the discussion we have here so I think that this is a awesome Forum to be able to have some of that our number one c for the August payroll our number one area for these individuals dealt with ler renewals okay so we have experienced teachers who renew that their license on.

A cycle and so I want to personally number one for those individuals impacted in this area apologize and take responsibility for my T my team's delayed processing for some of those ler renewals for experienced teachers who PID their fee and they meet all of their other requirements for licensed or renewal when the window is open all we have to do is review those items and click in the license is active we missed about 55 of those individuals now we process hundreds but we missed 55 of those individuals and therefore their license showed as expired and they were captured in our list of unlicensed teachers due to their expired license okay and so I want to acknowledge and thank those individuals for their patience while we work to get that Rec rectified the second group that were impacted in that August payroll were our Global teachers as you are aware we have increased significantly our number of international teachers as they have been essential to our implementation of growing together one of the complicating factors.

With that is you cannot apply and or or or obtain a social security number until you arrive in the United States and sometimes the processing of getting that social security number faces many of the same human capital challenges that we see even in our field of education and So based on their arrival to the United States where they were with that processing of their social security numbers and all of those factors some of them did not have a a check with that first payroll and we had to make some adjustments to ensure that they were paid as soon as possible especially being in a new country the third group of employees impacted this payroll were our large number of 300 plus unlicensed teachers that we started with at the beginning of this year we are talking about teachers with an expired emergency permit to teach or residency license and in some case even a limited license out of those 300 plus that we initially started with at the beginning.

Of this year we are down to 99 who are remaining we will continue to work diligently with those individuals who can meet their requirements to ensure that they can get back on our payroll and eligible for state pay by Meeting those requirements so again we thank our staff members for working with us through these challenges but I also want to extend thanks particularly to the payroll and HR staff members who had to work additional hours run additional pay Cycles we ran a record number of pay Cycles in an effort to try to get people their pay as soon as possible and so we'll continue to work on on those items but I did want to speak to that as it does have an impact on our budget and so with that we'll move on with the agenda and you can see on the next slide that we will move forth in the order that we're going to discuss the compensation schedules we'll talk about teacher compensation and then we'll talk about school-based administrator.

Compensation we'll take a little break for some questions there just to help organize the conversation and then we will move into our discussion of classified compensation along with our timeline in next steps we want to share the work of the team this far as well as finalize what we plan to bring back next week for approval regarding teacher compensation first if we go to the next slide we can see that for teachers the state approved compensation includes an average 3% increase that is built into the schedule and that we see the base pay for teachers on The Bachelor schedule starting now at $6,250 but locally the board approved as part of the budget resolution process an $80 per month which for our 10mon teachers is $800 a year addition to the local supplement in addition to that the 3% increase in the increase in the supplement these teachers would also those that qualify would Advance a step you will hear a theme for this there is a rule that says basically when you work.

Six or more months within a school year you get an experience credit for that year that is for numerous reasons in order to get you know the time for retirement or whatever so when you hear us talk about qualifying for a step because if someone worked eight months in a year versus someone who worked one month in a school year should both of those individuals get a year credit and so that establishment of this quote unquote six-month rule is related to that is where the bar is set to to determine when individuals receive a year credit on the next slide this is where a lot of the meat for our discussion around teacher compensation will be today also during the budget development process the board outlined several different employee differentials that Administration would like to provide you some additional information for consolidation of these things into the comp compensation schedules first we will discuss the 10% differential for classroom based teachers who possess a master's degree in a relevant area of teaching HR has.

Reviewed our employee credentials that have been submitted to ncdpi so we do currently just to be explicit we do currently have individuals they may have a master's reflected on their license but they're not compensated for that master's degree additionally I have to extend a huge thank you to those employees who completed our survey and submitted their additional credentials online that made this process a lot easier and we do extend our gratitude for you taking the time to do that and to do it by the deadline based on that review we have identified almost 250 teachers who could qualify for this supplement care currently we have also projected above that number due to lessons learned from our neighbor and so what we found with school systems who have already implemented Master's pay is in some cases they may have underestimated the impact of that on recruitment for classroom based teachers and so we have to very be very cognizant of that particularly when considering our turnover and different things like.

That and make sure that we have figured it into our budget these projections should ensure what you see with the $1.2 million for Master's pay it should ensure that we remain in the budget if this is finally approved it is important to note that our costing estimates are based on classroom teachers these are your qualifiers who are the teacher of record or co- teacher of record so we have power school data related to this for students in the relevant Associated area of the master so I want to give you a very clear example of that while we value our Math teachers I'll give you an example if you are assigned to math classes and your Master's is in religious studies that is an example of a non-qualifying masters and so that is very important the way we have approached this as a district based on the vote for classroom based teachers is to follow the ncdpi guidelines and so in order to even have a master's denoted on your license.

It has to be you know relevant or for you to be paid on your Masters it has to be relevant to the area that you are. Teaching and I think it is important for us to follow that process also because if we are successful in getting to the state to restore Master's pay it makes that transition much easier for us as a district the second differential is in the area of EC and ESL when we did our review of these areas HR has identified a approximately 473 qualifying positions for EC and ESL this $200 per month differential okay now let me notice I said qualifying position that that includes the current vacancies okay because anytime those vacancies are filled this differential would go along with that position as part of the qualification for this the dollar amount that you see there with the 1.5 million this includes all we're going to talk a minute about specialized programs But it includes all of the EC teachers and the ESL teachers in addition to that $200 per.

Month in our review We identified approximately 112 specialized program positions that would qualify for the additional $150 supplement the the easiest way though maybe not the current way we Des describe these classrooms but if you think of what we used to refer to as self-contained EC classrooms those are the classrooms that are identified as part of this additional $150 supplement any changes to to that interpretation would affect the numbers as well as the cost associated with providing this differential finally while these are not teacher positions and I I had some questions on this even from my staff as we're going through so I want to make sure it's clear for the public the final differential differential that is outlined here is for EC class classified staff serving in the area of sign language deaf and hard aering visually appared and our spoken spoken language facilitators okay we have identified 17 staff filling these roles and so that is well within the projected cost that was originally provided.

On the next. Slide I've included this often just as part of our education as we are all learning more about compensation this slide simply deal details other key points for instructional licensed instructional support staff and you can see this specifically relates to speech language pathologist psychologist and audiologist there are key Provisions that are outlined this is strictly by state policy and those relevant pieces are built into the compensation schedules the next area that we will discuss is school-based administrators and so if we could advance to the key Point slide regarding school-based administrators.

The state has approved for school-based administrators an average of 3% increase the current local supplement amounts for these groups will be maintained there are no increases but the local supplement structure will be maintained additionally just as we discussed the rule for gaining a step that is C included in the provisions for school-based administrator compensation so with the review of the compens compensation schedule details as well as those differentials at this point in time I would like to entertain any questions from the board before moving on to classified compensation you Dr was say colag any questions Miss berer thank you Dr L this is really important information and really important for us to continue to be clear for the both the teachers and the administrators you use the language an average 3% which is what the state did and if I'm not wrong that was not equally average depending on your years of experience so people shouldn't use that number there are tables online that they've seen right in correct both of those cases that and.

If it still Falls that the state is favoring newer teachers and kind of sliding veteran teachers is that where the the scales continue to be lopsided and the raises continue to be lopsided the reason it says average is exactly it you will see greater percentages for newer teachers lower on the scale than more experienced and and during during this week where the general assembly has come back and intentionally taken a massive massive hit to Public Schools Again by shifting public dollars to wealthy families in priv with children in private schools it is important I think for our staff to understand that we will continue to Advocate and fight for the state to raise pay for every Public School employee we will work with our delegation we will get out and vote that this this matters so much and my concern when we did these differential pay was that it I I never wanted to send the message that that not that everyone needs more everyone deserves more we will keep fighting for.

Everyone and so I think it's important that that you were clear with these definitions with Master's pay there's a neighboring District that is also doing Master's pay it is my hope that we will advocate for the restoration of Master's pay that was taken by the general assembly that that that will be something that shifts back back onto the state and that we will continue to lift up best practices so I don't have questions I just I just need our our staff to understand that the fact that these differentials are going to some categories I I don't want it to break other folks's Spirit or morale at a time when it is already low so you've yeah it's yeah I definitely receive that board member buyer I as as I've presented information to you I definitely understand the recommendations of the board and we know that we have our hardest to recruit area not just in DPS but across the state of North Carolina is e and we see more you.

Know we have a large number of of EC student with EC students with intensive needs and we need to be able to have staff and teachers to be able to support at work so we we definitely receive that and we'll continue to look for ways to make sure that all of our employees see their value and that these are not meant to fragment any area of employees yeah and and then this was all modeled in our budget ask to the Commissioners and can't let this moment pass without more gratitude to the Commissioners and to Durham County for stepping up to to meet this request but thank you for the work on this thank you Mr tab thank you thank you Dr Lin this is a question for teachers who are in the classroom that are working on their administrative degrees would they be eligible for Master's pay although principles may be asking them to do administrative work so again going back to the qualifiers do so there's a couple of.

Questions I have from that if they are serving in their actual internship as part of a school administrative program the answer would be no okay and without getting too technical there are some rules that go along with what their compensation is while they're doing their internship none of these differentials would be part of the figuring of that that salary I just think it's important to say that however if they are serving students and they're in a classroom and those students are assigned to them and they meet the qualifiers then yes they would be receiving the differential okay thank you because I want to encourage those teachers to still get those administrative degrees but if they get their masters you know they're going to want to be compensated for getting those Masters okay thank.

You anybody else Miss Umstead thank you Dr L for the presentation and for starting out kind of addressing I think some of the challenges that we've experienced so far this year here and I appreciate your team's kind of quick getting on it making sure folks got what they needed I think that's really helpful and I think the transparency and just telling what it was today is also really helpful as we're working to try to build back trust with our Community I had a couple of questions around the Master's pay and I'm wondering how are we going to communicate this like on our website in other places so that it is so clear what is relevant I know we're using DPI but how do we put that in how are we going to frame that for us for Durham so that I'm a teacher I can easily go to the website and see what cons what's considered relevant and so one piece that we have not finalized.

I want to make this clear but one of the best ways to do that that we we do just full transparency one of the best ways to do that is just to have the person appli to put it on their on their license just the example that I gave you earlier we have not officially said that that is a requirement in the district because there are still some discussion quite honestly that requires paying the fee to be able to have it added to your license but that is the best way to assure that alignment But to answer your question beyond that we follow the same process even when we have someone app apply to send their application to DPI we still have our internal review and when we submit that application to DPI we're saying that we think that this qualifies for Master's pay okay with the state now the state could deny it if we apply but we still have to go through we already ready is my point do that.

Rhythm of going through and reviewing individuals for Master's pay regarding communication that would be on the website and all of that it is difficult to cover every every area because you have to look at what the Masters is and you have to look at the area that the license is and determine whether or not it is. Relevant can you explain one more thing before I make this next comment you said that you all are already kind of working with a state around submitting licenses around Master's pay so if a candidate submits an application to the state to add Masters pay for their license our team our lenser analyst review that so on top of some of the things we talked about earlier with renewal of license and all of that another piece of the job of a lens your analyst is reviewing the applications that are sent for Master's pay and so when we as a district submit that application we review here's the Masters here's the license we're saying.

To DPI we believe this individual meets the requirements for Master's pay and so the only thing would be different that would be different in what we're already doing is that for this it would not have that 2013 requirement that said that says you had to have your first Master's course completed by 2013 that is the year that is the marker for State Master's pay that answers my I was like but the state does not Rin vers Master fa but you're talking about for folks who would have qualified who've been in from the past and even today if somebody comes to our district and they completed their first course for their master's degree prior to July 1st 2013 they could still qualify for Master's pay that makes that answers my question by the state by state by the state because I was one of the reasons why we were working on is because we know the state is not doing that but if you do still qualify so I I know we couldn't put.

Everything on the website but I just think under you know under our vacancy and compensation piece saying master's degree that are relevant maybe a few examples and I think to me it's all about just being as clear and as trans arent as possible we know and it might even say this will be determined by a case by case basis and da but I just want us to be really clearly communicating that I think it is a great marketing tool but I don't want people to come thinking well I'm gonna get paid for something that doesn't and it and it doesn't align I think as clear as we can get before even you get your kind of offer and you sign up hey this is what would be qualifying I think it would just be really helpful you want to jump in Miss I yeah because you made me think about if someone is in that Legacy status with Master's pay we are not paying a Durham Master supplement on top of that no we.

Need to be explicit about if they qualify for the state pay they qualify for the State play now for existing people we we are going through that process but to your point yes absolutely clear communication it could be on the website you know and shared out but I would also say in the new hire process when individuals are submitting their credentials we would be looking for Master's pay and as part of that ler review we would when we send them their salary we would be anticipating their qualification for the Master's pay as part of that process also for a new hire so miss said I know you have more questions and I want to come back to that but I see staff writing seriously about making sure there's a clear statement on the website around Master's pay and that it's a case by case basis I want to make sure that we have consensus from the whole board to move forward with that if everybody's good with that okay thank.

You you you I'm sure you all have much better words than I do so you don't have to quote me word by word on what you put on the website but I just think making sure it's really clear though is really important might get myself I know that we have some staff members that are paid on teacher schedules but don't have a classroom of record they also we need to be clear though that that would not qual you would not qualify for master's degree even though you might be paid on that schedule is that correct and so what I'm going to say to that is based on what was captured from the meeting with the board it said classroom based and so those individuals have not been figured into these numbers I don't know full numbers but that would require like a whole we have a lot of instructional support staff that I think it would significantly impact the budget but we would have to really do a whole other level of work.

In order to determine what that potential impact would be but I can tell you it would be significant and I think that's something for us board members to remember as we think about what the budget request might be for the upcoming year there are and I would love to know the number of individuals who are paid on that scale and the types of positions that they are so that we're also clear around what we are adding funding for or not and then my other question is when will the updated schedules for certified staff be posted online so folks can have an opportunity to look at where they land now with this additional money and so part of what we're going to talk about in the next section is really the timeline for all schedules so we already have a mockup of those and I would say that it would be early next week when we would be able to particularly post the certified schedules I think that is all my.

Questions for now but I might have some additional ones thank you you miss Chavez all right thank you for this presentation my first I have a few questions my first one was just about you were speaking to the groups and I appreciate you naming all the groups that are affected by the August payroll do we know about how many of the global teachers were affected by that you named numbers for the other group so I wanted to see if I had that number I don't want to speak incorrectly but I do have that number and I can definitely get that to you the thing that I want to make sure is we had individuals coming in in waves and I want to make sure that we have captured all of them but I will share that number out okay okay I think that would be great to know I know that we have more Global teachers this year as we initiate our dual language program as part of growing together so just want to.

Make sure their their experiences are you know we're taking into account their needs especially being in a new country and then I wanted to ask some of these questions are just coming to me now but the so you may not have all of this right in front of you but this is what I'm interested in knowing first who all receives Master's pay from the state at this point when you say who all do you mean a number or no sorry what positions are eligible for Masters pay from the and so that is part of the review and so to probably get to maybe what the Crux of your question may be is yes teachers and instructional support do have the ability to qualify for Master's pay okay okay and then of course because of what's I mean we could go through lots of other positions but that would be my my simple easy to understand answer okay some positions actually require a master's so you know you have some.

Nuances there too okay I think yeah that I I would be interested to know what all positions that includes because I think what we're learning along the lines of what Miss Umstead just just asked about with other instructional staff that aren't included in this in in our rubric thus far I think we're discovering that there are more positions that we did not think about in creating this budget and and so I think it'd be helpful to for us to better understand who already is receiving eligible or is eligible for Master's pay coming from the state and then who are the other what are the other categories of positions that are not included in those classroom based teachers and I do see looking back at our budget we estimated about 200 teachers with be eligible for for Master's pay so when it you know I'm sure we'll we'll get this information later but when we figure out who who is eligible for that Master's pay for classroom based teachers I wonder what.

That number will be if our 200 was you know was coming close to what we actually have or not I know you just said that in other districts they're discovering they have more who are eligible and we didn't know right so and then I'm also interested in in understanding which other types of positions we might want to consider moving forward should go in our budget and so we have received correspondence from people who are in other positions some on the teaching scale as missed said as well as social workers so we it would be great for the board to have a better understanding and I would I guess I'd like to request and in the future we do model that out and figure out what would it pay what would it cost us to to pay others on the Master's on a you know give them Master's pay who are instructional spe Specialists or curriculum Specialists or social workers can I can I respond to a piece there for you I provide some clarifying.

Information that may have been lost so just with classroom base when we first started kind of projecting out and we looked at just what was already in the ler system that was where the about 200 came from based on our review for this year right now as I I stated earlier we've already identified approximately 250 classroom based teachers and so just as a frame of reference keeping that that in mind and even when we kind of started with that 200 number before Gathering the that's why that information from our teachers was so important if they had not submitted it to ncdpi okay that's really that's very helpful and that's great that we have so many so many teachers who do have Masters relevant to their teaching area M sh can I yeah I think my question is is the board wanting to hear from Administration are they in agreement with you what other types of positions we we may want to include in the future like to get that number are we on.

Consensus for the future not for this budget but for the future not for this opportunity but to get what which when you said what number to get that number other types of positions we may want to include in the Master's pay like School level base and Educators that are paid on the teacher salary but may not be classroom teachers is the board is the full board or board as a collective interested in getting that information I I think like as we get towards budget season right but I think right now we're focused on implementing this with Fidelity would be my two cents.

Feel like it's a nuanced question because there are some positions that are requiring Masters to that you don't you don't get Masters pay for but requires a masters to be a school counselor right and so I feel like we might need to tease some more of that out before we direct Administration to do something because you would be pulling a lot of different places but I think the maybe starting with the answer around who else is paid on the instruction who else is paid on the teacher schedule might give us some more clarity around I just think there's a lot of different positions that we might can go in a lot of different ways for when it comes to Master's pay Jessica Carda-Auten I'd like to see to follow up on that from aumad the how many we're talking about are paid on the teacher salary schedule but I also I think to back up a minute I guess I'm interested in knowing like our neighbors it's still just one other District in North Carolina.

That there's more there how many districts are another District but I need to go back to my survey so I'm curious to know how the how the other districts in North Carolina are implementing Master's pay which like like was the are they following the same the same decisions that we've made around just applying it to classroom educators are they also following the what you had named as the DPI guidelines to use like relevant Masters so what are they doing and then to take it a step further what is what was the state I think that's been referenced already what do that involve and then also at a national level how do other districts around the country apply Master's pay so that we can learn from what's going on in other places to help inform the decisions that we're making moving forward so I would say I'mma start with your last part first if you're talking about across the country I just have to say North Carolina is a little more unique in not having State.

Paid Master's pay when you're so if we start comparing Beyond North Carolina that is just important to note from our colleagues in Wake County and I'm doing this absent having my notes in front of me but they do follow the DPI guidelines but they do have a few other positions that they compensate for based on their structure in Wake County schools and so it is not just classroom based employees but it is a limited number of employees beyond that and I have some more notes on that that I will be glad to share thank you that'd be great because I I am interested in exploring just what we when we're choosing to provide Master's pay to classroom teachers what other staff are we not doing that for and as Miss umid noted it's nuanced because some roles require Masters I think one of your slides noted that her DPI guidelines speech language Pathologists and audiologists with master's degrees receive a 10% so there's lots of different but it would.

Eventually be helpful to see that so that we make sure that we're making the best decision possible for our staff together as a board Miss said you had something relevant here and then we'll go back to miss Travis I just wanted Dr L could you clarify what the state covers when it comes to Master's pay you said it a little bit earlier but just want to clarify so for meeting the qualifications and I would even say so what I shared on the salary schedules that impacted speech language Pathologists audiologists and all of that part of what you saw in those in that bulleted list is how they have additional pay that is related to their position okay so I do think that that's important to note so there are some positions that the state covers the mass M's pay either because of the position and the requirements for a master's for the position or because the individual meets the qualifications for the Masters pay to be covered so those are two different.

Scenarios but and so in trying to address a request from the board those are nuances that that have to be considered and would be part of that information provided because the individual would have had to complete their degree before 20 their first class they had to have their first class before 2013 you said correct July. 1 Miss chavz did you want to finish your questions and then we'll go to Mr Chad yes yes I will but I also want to see if there's any if there is consensus to do at some point this is not the most urgent thing but I do think we should model it out sooner rather than later and I and I regret that I didn't I personally did not realize that we do have other individuals positions on the on the U teacher pay scale that we did not include or consider in the creation of this budget I think that what I would like to say is I would like us as a board to.

Be more mindful going into the next budget season of all the different positions and kind of where they're at and so that's why I'm trying to get a comprehensive understanding of who does get a pay Master's pay or like a bump in the scale or something like that for their masters from the state who have we included now classroom based teachers in in our in our budget now and then who else is doing may have a master's related to curriculum instruction social work or maybe there are even other areas that were not compensating at this level so I would still ask if we might if we want to ask for that down the road or or would you suggest Millicent Rogers that we bring it back up in a month okay Millicent Rogers you had something you wanted to say so I was just Googling because this Master's P didn't come just in the dark it it actually I mean has been in discussion in the general assembly the house had it in their.

Budget plan this year you know remember the House and Senate couldn't agree so this is why we're stuck where we are but the pressure that districts are putting on restoring Master's pay I think will have an impact and and will have have it felt across the state and will help you know teachers in rural districts if we continue you know urban districts continue to do this I do think that the the definition that the state uses is the where we should start and and the that's the reason we started there and I trust Administration to to carefully work with HR Finance as we get towards next budget season to address exactly the questions you're asking I I think Dr Lewis hears you loud and clear there's a lot of folks that we didn't cover and and there's a lot of folks we need to keep fighting for in every category of pay I just don't want us to overpromise and in in what we can do with this budget this year.

Because we already have 50 people more identified than we modeled for it sounded like well it we had projected up in the model and luckily those individuals are included within the 1.2 million and so we we're meeting that piece that is included in the presentation the question is where does the 1.2 million fit in the overall budget and that's what has to and so those numbers are solid even with the differences in the 200 and the. 250 Emily Chávez and then Mr tab just my last my last comment I just wanted to say out loud that I would like to see over time if the E EC and ESL supplements have any relationship to retention I realize that's hard to it's hard to determine that one you know outcome came from one change that was made but I wonder if we will see Trends and I hope that this is one of the outcomes that we achieve through this supplement I hope that that people know that their work is valued working.

With our EC and ESL students and that they will want to stay we want that consistency so I just want to mention that thank you Mr tab thank you thank you Dr lay just for a clarifying question teachers who were once in the classroom who were either promoted or took another position with within our district that the job required a master's degree are they no longer will they no longer be paid on a master's level even though the position required a master's.

Degree so I would have to know the position in order to answer that question Mr tab because some of that is related to the salary schedule for that position so I could not I I would not feel good just answering the question as stated but I would have to have some more information in order to be able to to answer that that might not be an across theboard answer if that makes sense it would be contingent upon the position okay so th those are some of the reasons why I am in favor of getting information about who needs who has master's degrees and what positions there in so that we could really across the board look and see how we can make sure that people are paid for the work that they're doing on the Master's level thank you Miss Carter Aton so I wanted to back up a minute because I meant to start by asking you thanking you for your what you opened with which was discussing the lure challenges and again.

Just noting the challenges that were in place and being candid about that I really appreciate that just had a couple of qu like clarifying questions about that and one is you had mentioned there were 300 plus teachers with emergency licenses and but we were now down to 99 remaining by that can you explain what you mean by that 99 remaining so this is what I would say to that for a long time we we've had discussions I remember when I first came in 2021 that August and some of the board members may actually remember this we talked about following trends that you generally see across the state for if someone's license expires changing their pay status but at that time we were returning from Co we had over 400 vacancies and so that is when we implemented a structure that you sometimes hear folks talk about a0 and so per of the correspondence that was sent to individuals who had expired licens we actually changed the employment term okay so they're temporary.

Fulltime individuals because they no longer POS possess a license and that impacts their pay and so teacher pay is already challenging and we understand that but the goal for that individual would be to get back to their full pay as quickly as possible and so that has generated payment of fees that may have been standing out that may have been outstanding standing for a long time that has helped ensure some of it is just if you're a residency one going to a residency 2 license you have to have a form from that EP if all you're missing is a form and a fee and you look at the difference in that pay that is part of what has helped generate and get that in and also makes those individuals it helps us be able to maximize using our funds because they can be paid out of the state and So currently we have so you see how quickly that came down with changing the status and we still.

Have more work to do but what we're hoping is that every one of those remaining 99 will pass their testing turn in their form pay their fee whatever it takes to to be able to restore them to full teacher pay thank you for clarifying that and one more question related to The Lure challenges I was curious to know this is somewhat specific to the global teachers but maybe related to The Lure renewals but what processes have you either discussed or put into place to prevent these from happening in the future especially with the global teachers we had to bring a bunch more on this year we're going to have to keep bringing them on as we keep expanding like classrooms in the DLI new DLI school so so we still have to talk as a team as a district but we did pilot a process that is used in other districts last year that helped some with that but it caused us issues on another side so I think that there is room to revisit.

That conversation and troubleshoot it more for processes is just to be able to smooth that transition for our International teachers even today I was able to speak with one of our vendors and so we also talked about what we obviously you can't apply for a social security number till you're here but we talked about what can we do as soon as these individuals arrive in the United States to expedite paperwork maybe instead of that leaving that as something one does on their own maybe we create actual inperson when you arrive let's let's do this paperwork right now and then you go ahead and go through your other process and let's do that together so that we can make sure that that is done so just those are just a couple of ideas that we have discussed among others but every single one of those situations has been troubleshooted that we hope to not experience that again as that is outlined I would also just add it is extremely important that when we.

Communicate deadlines like say for instance this is just an example we asked for the renewals to be complet it within a certain window so that we could go ahead and deal with those before we're bombarded with you know High recruitment season when other things are coming in and you're so focused on new hires that renewals may not be the top priority and those deadlines are associated with the fact that the state once April 15th handle arrives it is no there is no guarantee that anything submitted after April 15 will actually be handled you know within that timeline so we have an April 15th deadline of submitting items to lyser for that fiscal year and so the more we can not have things outside of that window the greater the likelihood is that we will not make mistakes when it's getting in the middle of other processes that we tend to be focused on in just that annual.

Cycle thank you Dr luain I appreciate that the updates you shared about the August payroll concerns. And I have to acknowledge the harm that was caused to those employees that were expecting full pay an apology today doesn't make up for that doesn't help them pay their bills on time we've got work to do and I appreciate you acknowledging that can you share when those employees were notified about from DPS about their renewals being needed yes those are sent out in the spring not only from DPS but also directly from DPI and so we did our part in that we did in notifying them and it didn't okay I just want to make sure they didn't go out over the summer when people weren't checking their emails no okay that helps thank you and then I had one other question and I know we have like asked all the questions about Master's pay and I want to make sure that we are clear we're saying classroom teachers that are assigned to the classroom not.

School-based there are School based people who have Masters that are not eligible for the Master's pay would you like for me to give you a concrete example yes please you can have in a school building a coach a teaching and learning support staff that do not have have students directly assigned to them based on the requirements here those individuals would not be eligible to receive the Master's pay that a teacher who has students assigned to them in power school so that's just a real clear example thank you that's helpful I agree with Emily Chávez Millicent Rogers as we're modeling for next year to have some more information around that would be helpful so that we can make a decision early on in our budget avoc can see about how we move forward colleagues do you have any other questions comments no pressure Miss Harold go I'm just just speaking to put my voice in this space because I haven't done so yet although I have other questions that I was waiting.

For the remainder of the slides before would bring those up but I just want to acknowledge that coming from this this this journey of getting to these new pay schedules from January moving forward we're stair stepping stair stepping our way back to or or to a place where we're where we're wanting to get to and so it's Rocky it's rough it's it's it's uncomfortable for to know that you know the the resources and the funding do not support the ideal of what we know our our schools need and our kids need and so I love the fact that we're thinking about this now for next year's budget and I'm so grateful that we were able to recover to get to this point to even be talking about Master's pay at this at this level so I'm hopeful that we'll be talking more about systems and systems change work that will allow us to be more proactive so that we're not always responding because we're not in a situation where we're always responding.

To crisis when you have to make decisions in crisis then you know to keep things moving you know you're going to miss things so I'm looking forward to how we're going to get ahead of the crisis and how we're going to be able to use our systems to to feel better about you know having to make decisions so but I acknowledge that you know when things happen and when we make mistakes and all these things happen that you know in crisis situations we have to we have to do something and so Grace to all of us and Grace from the community please we acknowledge that you can't make you can't have full scope of vision in crisis but we are moving through it moving through the crisis and so that's that's just what was on my heart thank you Dr little say okay if we could advance to the classified compensation schedule.

Section it it would be slide number.

12 next slide okay and the next slide thank you the board as you're well aware hired com controller Carrie Crutchfield Who provided some recommendations to you in the spring and so these recommendations we had lots of discussions and as we go into this section I just want to reiterate the words of Dr Lewis we have to get this right and at the time we had those recommendations they included maximums and minimums and we talked about the elimination of steps and I think that given the journey that we've been on I won't even say I think that I know that the journey that we've been on something about no steps just just did not set well and so there's been lots of work about how would we totally overhaul a system to focus on men minimums and maximums but still at the core of the work of the com troller he not only made recommendations that you will remember receiving in the spring but he also reviewed prior work and looked at.

Some CL reclassifications that he made and so there are some items there that you will see what if based on where the comp controller set the individual there are two different categories and I want to try to simplify those two different categories that you see there so that when you're looking at the individuals on the classified compensation schedules that are on those pay grades 50 through 78 you will simply get this whichever is higher the 3% increase from the state or or what the reclassified salary is plus the 3% now the easiest way I think to describe that is to be able to go in and look at some specific examples so I want to just keep it right there first and go to the next slide and be able to look at just a couple of examples that I would like to walk you through.

Okay I would like to start with the first piece which are the columns at the top so what does that mean whatever is greater so you see there March 20124 the increase of 11% was greater than or equal to your reclassification if you're on one of these salary grades and when we got the 11% whatever percent you were reclassified is that 11% was greater than or equal to you can see in that first example of a custodian that individual's final pay for 2023 24 was $3,092 62 and so because of that the 11% was greater so for 2024-25 that salary would still be set at $392 68 once the 3% from the state is applied the new salary for 2024-25 would be $3,185 46 but if you go on the right and you look at Braden Braden is in the situation that when the reclassification was done the 11% was actually less than that reclassification and so when Braden received the final where we ended up with 2324 this individual was at.

$3,227 however where they were reclassified was set at 3 $181 48 and so for 2024 25 that is where the salary is set and then the 3% is applied and so Braden's salary would be $3,276 192 per month so I want to stop right there and I want see if there's any questions before we go through another one Miss buer yeah I was gonna ask Miss umed but it's better to ask you so is the column 2425 all the way down on both of the blue and the green examples is that the amount that staff would have received from the comproller specialized individualized email is that what that the salary projection tool actually showed both columns the salary projection tool had a column that said 20242 which was the recommendation as far as the reclassification and the salary projection tool also had that plus 3% so you're saying every individual staff member that was employed at the time that we did that tool would have seen the the last two columns for.

Themselves already both columns both columns correct unless and and of course if they change roles you would have to right you know right okay thank you that's super helpful thank you okay so clarifying question in the green section if I'm braen and I got I logged into the tool and I saw that I was making 3,227 and the what I should have been making I also saw what I should have been making if the controller salary schedule had been applied at the 3,000 will be applied okay so that's how I know as an employee that I didn't get the full 11% correct no not that you didn't get the full 11% okay I was with you I was tracking with you to you said 11% let's say just for argument sake let's say your reclassification was 14% okay then you got 11 okay and and that other three would be in correct and then I'll get the additional State 3% correct got it that's helpful no if I remember this correctly everyone.

Got 11 yes when you got reclassified that might your range could have varied right so it wasn't 11 like your range varied and then whatever you got reclassified for you got an additional 3% from the state and so it wouldn't necessarily like everyone got 11 and everyone's got three but your reclassification could have given you right higher lower any of all those different not lower sorry lower not lower not lower higher in different increments right thank you all okay are we good would it be helpful to go through another example okay let's let's do one more let's look at at the data manager example for Carter as you can see the reclassification for this data manager position the 11% was greater than or equal to that reclassified amount so that's why you see the same thing for the final compensation for 2324 as well as the column displaying the compensation for 20 425 so Carter would get that amount plus the 3% from the state yielding the $3,955 193 okay however Dylan was.

Reclassified at a percentage increase that was greater than the 11% so at the end of the year Dylan received 3, 84071 that was the monthly salary and then with the reclassification applied that bumped the salary to $3,884 cents and with the 3% applied the 2425 salary is actually projected to be.

Understood okay and so there is a third example there that displays the the same Rhythm but if we've got it I want to go on to some key other points that are associated just in the interest of time so if we could go to the next slide and so with this I would like to be able to C cover just a few other key points related to this we have talked about salary grades and steps for a while now so it is important to know that salary grades will be realigned to the state naming protocol this assists with individuals understanding when they're trying to see what what's going on with DPS versus what's going on with the state it is helpful when they're aligned to that naming protocol as well as there's some other impact when we're looking at advancing we just talked about systems going to a new system advancing that work and just being aligned and so we are going to move from what was the old.

Salary grades 50 through 78 and the new naming protocol will change to nco1 through NC 19 there's some other there's a new naming protocol the two cannot be compared right so you can't say nco1 is what used to be salary grade 50 and nco2 would then translate to Sal would would have been an old salary grade 51 just just for an example purposes there's a totally different process when you're applying the new naming protocol for these salary grades so we are going to have to reset our minds to be aligned with the new salary grades salary steps let's talk about that a minute are set based on verified years of service at onboarding they are set at onboarding but they follow you through your life with DPS so I want to be very clear about this because we have had a number of inquiry from employees and I totally get it where we are with darm public schools for 2425 is a on toone awarding of those steps based on verified years of.

Experience so I want to talk about that just with there should be the submission of experience forms to to get the credit and sometimes the ex the submission of those forms you know it needs to come from the prior employer and we understand that sometimes there are some difficulties for that the same difficulties apply for individuals that have to submit information to the state and so we try to work with employees to the best of our ability but sometimes it can be difficult to verify prior employment contingent upon where that is we do our best to make sure that we can assist employees with obtaining that information maybe if the business is Clos but there's still a contact just giving you example with the supervisor we would accept that form from that supervisor just to give you a specific example of what I'm talking about future annual salary adjustments will be made based on the board of education adopting annual compensation schedules and so as part of that budget process the schedules should be.

Developed at that time and brought forth during that time previously and this is historical and this does contribute to some of the complications Dar public schools has used more more steps than than the state just traditionally that has been for a number of years the new compensation schedules will Max at 30 steps we may have to have future discussion because if you go out to DPI right now and look you will see that the state's schedules max out at 25 steps.

And the final piece on this slide is related to and and I know there's been lots of questions about this but is important to note that when it comes to classified salaries versus certified salaries the state leaves that as a local decision and so there's a whole assessment that has to be applied such that if appropriate s are adequate to cover the cost and using that six-month rule how do you apply the steps and bump that individual to the next level now I want to be clear that Carrie Crutchfield recommended experience increments of 1% as we continue to work on the classified salary schedules and actually build in steps so that employees can see where they fall as they enter the organization where they fall on that salary schedule there are some considerations that have to be made that that 1% may not be the increment we will know more but as we're developing that recommendation of 1% per step is a little problematic just AC just the way it's stated.

Currently okay and so I want to say that with regards to this we have engaged let's could we go back to the key Point slide in some of the nuances that are here and the work that is still being done regarding these compensation schedules I would like to take this as an opportunity to introduce a contractor that we have been working with to assist with this work as we stated earlier about this has to be right and when you're doing things like this it is truly in the details of the work and so we have been GA engaging with Rashana price who I would like to introduce and and see if if she's on the line just to confirm that Rashana price is the Chief Executive Officer of eerie success and her and her team have been working working in conjunction with HR and finance to really dig into the details the lessons we have learned over the past few months as difficult as it is to continue to ask.

Individuals to be patient when they have been patient for so long we want to make sure that their patience is worth the weight in the design of the salary schedules so I know that Millicent Rogers wanted to be here but she is traveling in New York and was going to join virtually and so I do want to take a moment for her to be able to introduce herself and to be able to talk about a little bit about the work that we have been engaged in in the development of the compensation schedules thank you Dr line good evening board members community members staff parents the DPS Community I wanted to make sure that I was here today I am Rashana price founder and CEO of Erie success and we have been working my team and I since right after Labor Day to get started on really understanding what's happened what needs to happen for what we're calling our now which is right now what needs to happen.

And then what is next in future for a systematic approach so that everyone can understand what am I getting paid how do I know and how can I ensure that what I'm making matches the contribution that I have and so we have worked to model several different approaches and we are also working to make sure that that is within what is currently within the budget understanding that moving forward forward there's other thought process and methodologies that we know we need to implement but for now we want to be sure that anything that we put forward we can stand behind this is how we got the numbers this is what this means and here here are the steps here are the the ways in which grades are looked at and that we are getting closer to aligning to DPI so that year over year there can be consistency thank you you so much Miss priceon thank you for joining us while you're traveling at this point in time I.

Just want to check and see if there are any questions or anything before we go on to the next I do have questions for the first slide if that's what you're asking for or for Miss price either colleagues do you all have have any questions on the first slide that you want to ask now or for Miss price okay my first question is the salary steps you say they're set at on boarding and they're one to one on verified employment is this based on the NC verifi like verified with North Carolina State this is not thank you for asking that because that is very important for us to clarify this is internal and external experience it's not the state experience that was part of the questions that we had last year okay I think if I'm not mistaken Mr Crutchfield recommended that we do away with the steps and you are not recommending that we Administration is not recommending that we do away with steps okay and annual compensation schedules is.

What you name on this salary on this slide that the board would adopt annually comp compensation schedules and so when you say that the board will adopt annual compensation schedules do you mean that we will look at the money that has been allotted to us from the state and from local funding and determine what the pay increase will be or that employees will be reclassified every year no it is looking at the funding it would not be an annual reclassification okay I just want to make sure those are my questions did anybody else have any questions right now no pressure Miss Travis I'll just ask a followup about steps then we are planning on keeping steps and so say I come in I have 15 years of experience verified experience and so I'm at step 15 next year after working in DPS for a year I can expect to be on step 16 is that what we're planning you said come in on step 15 yeah but it would be.

Voted on on an annual basis about the board from the board the awarding of the step but you could anticipate that progression through the scale okay I know we haven't vot if you meet the qualifications yeah for the year experience okay okay Miss berer so welcome Millicent Rogers and thank you for joining us in this important work and thank you for your precision and and attention to details I look forward to getting it right our folks deserve to know what is going on and I think this I still have significant confusion about some of the examples and and tables that were presented and so that's why they're not here for the public and I think we've tried to speak to what the comproller had done and Mr crutchfield's work and I look forward to ways to kind of add him back into the conversation so that we can be consistent with the work that has been done as foundational I actually understood men Max he wasn't going to put people on a.

Specific step but people would move every year so there are mathematically I think different ways to do that and what he wasn't encouraging us to do was publish a scale with year one year two year three right that that much like the state steps but it wasn't not to move people because I could see in some scenarios when we think that the Commissioners are extra friendly we could get 2% for folks like I think it's our job as a board to maximize what we can get for all of our staff and so I wouldn't want us to publish something that limited us in our ability to to Advocate on behalf of our staff so I look forward to to y'all continue to work on this in keeping with the foundational rebuilding work that is has gone on keeping consistent with the work that Mr Crutchfield aligned and communicated to staff and then advocating for for maximizing what we can get every single year in the future for our staff so thank you Miss.

Haral greetings I my question is I'm wondering if you can talk about the hurdles that we need to clear in order to clear up some of the confusion around our accurate public pay schedules that that are coming up like what are some of the hurdles that we need to clear we to make sure that we get it right okay before before it comes out to the public like what what are some of those hurdles and so we have talked about those particularly in conjunction we even had conversation today and so Millicent Rogers I would like for you to walk us through the talking about how the alignment a little more and a little more detail with DPI and how we could scale up from that piece absolutely so what is published on the Department of Public Instruction for DPI for classified staff is mens and Maxes can you all hear me not not very well not very well give me one second let me just check audio is this better can you hear me better.

Now little a little bit little bit okay I'll speak up it's okay so what's published on the Department of Public Instruction is mens and Maxes for classified staff and then the schedule that has that has previously been published with 50 60 70 grade scales and steps is a customized approach and so when we came in as a team and went through the math we could not find those percentages and fully understand what the calculations were so the reason that we are working to get precise is so that what we publish people can use their calculator and say this is why I'm getting this number this is what this looks like the complication is in for every step that you provide if there is a 1% increase what does that mean to the budget and so we're we're working with finance and with HR to make sure that the methodology and approach that we build can be sustained and aligned to the state because each year when the state puts out their schedule leas can.

Then add to it what they would like to or what they need to in order to make sure that their their staff members are paid based on what is fair what is living wage what is needed to be happening in their community and so that's what we're working towards but it it is a methodology and right now we've come in to try to understand what the methodology was before and what we need to do to move. Forward miss her go continue what will it look like for our for our staff if we do not clear those hurdles in the coming week in the coming week you asked yeah is that what you said yeah this is you know as we're we're trying to we're trying to put out the fire and create the system at the same time right happens if we don't put out the fire and we don't have these clear paay schedules in the coming week like what does that mean for for our for our.

Staff and for our teachers yeah that is it the short answer is it it creates more confusion and uncertainty and we don't want that which is why my team has been working around the clock since we got the call we've been working over the weekend the one weekend to publish something that we know can make sense we're checking all of the math we're also making sure that what is published can be funded so that there isn't a walk back because it's personal to me I used I I currently live in South Carolina outside of Charlotte but I used to live in the Raleigh Durham area and I have friends and family that are in the community and so as we're as we're calculating numbers it's about being certain that people can on a monthly basis when they get their paycheck know what's there and when they look at the schedules online they know how they got there one of the things that came up around mens and Maxes and.

Why mens and Maxes are good but they also create biases because if people don't know where they fall within the men and Max or how they how their percentage was given to and they're closer to one end or the other that creates confusion and so that's why we're trying to be really systematic in our approach now but also talk with and we're working with staff around what is going to be the methodology in the future because both matter and I would even add to that I think this is a little part of the statement that you were making board member buyer is just keeping in mind what the board's commitment to no reductions right and so even with the development of of schedules there are still going to be nuances that kind of tap into what you were saying because if you're a veteran in the organization you may be impacted by that because of that commitment.

Thank you Millicent Rogers you have a very challenging job and and and we are appreciative of the work that you are stepping in to do thank you for being a. Firefighter back to you Dr luang okay and so on the next slide if oh I'm Sorry Miss did you have a question yeah it's not really a question maybe a comment Millicent Rogers thank you for joining us this evening and Dr Lin for walking us through that I think I'm sitting with we need to make sure we revisit the spring and we are really clear on what the board's Direction was in the spring that the com troller information is connected and Millicent Rogers has that because I think what is currently on our website is what the board approved to get through the end of the year but we also have some recommendations around how do we get closer to where we want it to be and which is what our ask to the County Commission was modeled after and I want.

To make sure that that information is really clear Millicent Rogers to you and your team I don't want us to drop the ball we can't afford to we've done too much work on this and we've started and done a lot of work this summer to start moving this b or not this summer this spring to move this ball forward so I appreciate y'all I feel a little frustrated that we're still here and we don't have it done yet I just want to be honest and transparent about that I know that our community has been waiting for a long time for us to get here but I just want to make sure that we don't miss some of the conversations and different things that the board had and direction that the board wanted to go in as we're navigating this so because sometimes I'm hearing things and I'm like is that what we decided did we go back to steps is that going to be the recommendation so I.

Think we need to get clear on that and and for us as a board to be really clear on what the direction is as well so that staff know what we need to do moving forward more of a and the math has to work so that was more of a comment versus a question on that thank you Miss said Dr same okay on the next slide I just want to in look at a quick. Timeline where are we we are from here is we're looking to update our salary projection tool we want to be able to send information back out to employees as we move forward and are able to finalize the work it is extremely important that once schedules are approved employees are able to review that have a timeline for reviewing that salary information getting their questions and and concerns addressed and then being able to move forward from there specifically for payroll the September payroll now we would have to adjust to the approved pay schedules as.

Well as the retroactive pay that would be due any employee to July 1st and so keep in mind that following that timeline it would take a couple of months to totally it says reconciliation completed that could be a little M misleading let me make that clear we would be we would start that process but with the retroactive pay being in September it would take a couple of pay Cycles to really make sure that that reconciliation was complete and then with the next steps there would be a spark mail that we would send out and we are trying to use utilize our text message feature to be able to communicate to staff that may not be on email as frequently but we have limited information that we could put in that spark mail I mean in that text message but it would have to come back to being able to click in order because if you are a member for the salary projection tool you do have to be signed.

In with your DPS credentials we also have the ongoing development of the team that is doing the work on policy code 7502 salary Administration there is a template that we are utilizing to submit compensation concerns versus just sending an email really having a template that helps provide the re relevant information to number one know what the concern is be able to pull whatever data may be needed for review so that we actually have that to drive the conversation with employees instead of finding it out when you're having the conversation and then having to have another touch point we also this work started when interim superintendent Moore was here but the convening of an actual classified compensation Review Committee and what that Pro what we want that process to look like for Duram public school so that as we're moving forward and individuals want their comp ation reviewed how does that come forward what is the forum for that included in the discussion are things like extra Duty rates that are.

Being evaluated to return to a preco rhythm as well as hold harmless and other differentials that were already in existence and so with that I would entertain any you know final questions from the board Miss Spire so I'd like Miss Harold want to go want to say thank you Millicent Rogers for walking into this fire with us and joining us I want to lift up to you a policy that is really important to this board it's I think it predates me here and I've been here since 2010 so it is our living wage policy 7600 and one of the first things that stood out to me about some of the tables that were sent across is that wasn't reflected there and it is critical as we work and advocate for our living wage our starting wage and Durham a very expensive Community to live in that we are working and have been for years to match our starting salary to the County's starting salary we can't do it this year.

But next year and and the year after we are we are coming together on that because our folks County employees are already starting over $19 an hour we have to at least get our folks to 17 and a half we had gotten them to 17 I know the state says 15 an hour no that's not our living wage and that is critical as a floor but it is also not the ceiling right it is dealing with compression as Mr Crutchfield and Miss oo remind me we have to deal with everyone along the scale of experience and and and make sure there's not compression there and I just want to lift that up to to you and to our whole Community it is a shared value of of this board a long-standing shared value and I hope that I hope that one of the things that we can hold as a board is an assurance at least to every employee that is waiting on this information that you will not.

Make less than what was in that email that we communicated to you and I I think we have to have to have to at least honor that no matter what tables and things shift around these are this is what we promised our folks and so that at least I want to give hope that we can give Assurance to folks that that if there's if models let us do more we will do more but that's that's at least where we're starting with folks as we do this really urgent over the weekend work that has definitely been our discussion from the very beginning and stating this work and so that's why the reset to align to DPI and then moving forward from there based on all of these discussions there has been a wealth of information shared with Miss price and her team regarding those discussions those expectations Miss Chavez all right I just have a few things I want to share Dr Len thank you for this information and Millicent Rogers.

Thank you for all all of your work and and your team's work as well so I want to note that Dr Lewis's arrival here you're still new in your first 100 days and it it does Mark a new chapter and I I want to lift up what board member Harold goof said about systems change we we need that we need that right now and we are on a tight timeline and so I want to say that we need to have this compensation information for every employee within this next week and that the board is looking to hold a special meeting that Dr Lewis or board Millicent Rogers can speak to and I just want to say that I think I want to I think that communication is key in our work we have to communicate on all levels and treat our employees like so with care so that they don't have to be thinking about their pay they can focus on the students that we want them to focus on and their jobs and the.

Many thing other things that people have going on in life they have they should be able to do that and so we in the spirit of getting this right and having transparent communication about our our pay schedules do we want to I would do we want to share more about our our plans going forward or what the next steps are maybe I'll ask that is Millicent Rogers or Dr Lewis I would I would like it if we would share some next steps with our community thank you that's what I was going to speak on so thank you very much I do want us to continue to be as transparent as we could possibly be in these situations we have to be as a for former teacher educator I can only imagine what it would be like on the other side if I was still on the other side and so I want us to make sure that we could all work around in getting this right as an educator I would want.

Us to get this right and so not rushing it right now I know it's going to be tough on the Educators because I would be there but I also see the fact that having it wrong another time is not what we need in during Public Schools we need for it to be correct and be right and so I would love for Dr Lewis to speak on what that looks looks like in the next week or so thank you thank you so much for that those questions and I Echo the sentiments that were that were stated earlier in terms of true systems change and true systems work that sets the district up for Success not only from a system standpoint standard operating procedure structural standpoint but also a financial standpoint that we can definitely be a fiscally healthy District so that we can continue to invest in our in our staff and so I agree and I I definitely hear and I I understand and share the frustrations in.

Terms of wanting to get this right as soon as possible and I also understand the the need to make sure that we're taking our time in and being really diligent about getting it it right so I'm would would would love to ask the board chair to call us special meeting next week and we will bring everything back I eyes dotted te's crossed all the decimals in the in the right place so staff and I I think it's only fair that you know while this this should have been done I think it's only fair that it comes back right and so staff knows exactly what they're getting and then like I mentioned earlier that's just one piece of it the work will continue in terms of continu systems change and systems.

Work. Is I appreciate that Dr Lewis and just ask that the schedules be shared with plenty of time for not only the board but our community and our and our staff to review them and get their you know ass wrap our minds around them and share questions beforehand I would love to hear more I'm excited to have Millicent Rogers on board and I love to when we see the schedules hear more about how they were created whether the processes followed how they followed best practices for development how we considered practices in neighboring districts how it builds on the work of the comproller as been mentioned and how it aligns with the decisions the board has made in this spr and many years back as Miss Byer referenced that will all be helpful and then I hope that in the in the future no we need in the future to ensure that our salary schedules are super clear transparent on the district website available many districts do this and this should be a goal of ours.

Moving forward so we can continue to again provide the information that people need colleagues we all agree with that those requests okay I'm said Miss car Alon you took some of what I was going to say we're all making sure the schedules were up so that we can review them but also I think most importantly that our community can review them and I think there are so many different unique positions in our district we also need our Educators to say hey you didn't you missed this one what about this one like there's this is has to be somewhat a collaborative effort as we're working to make sure we get this right so I think that's really essential and I know we've got a lot of our schedules online currently but I think making sure that we have drafts up for the future is going to be really vital for what we do moving forward I and I think Clarity on the schedules as much as possible is also helpful like.

I know we've had conversations around how do we make sure each position might be listed right at the end so has a title the top of the schedule and then here are all the roles that fall into this category just to make that really clear for folks as they want to engage with what the proposed schedules might look like but I think that's all thank you Miss haral goof I'm just hoping that the schedules are intuitive when we look at them when Community looks at them so I I'm just putting that out there something that is easy to understand and to read and I'm wondering with this timeline that we're trying to meet coming from you know where we've come from is it realistic to expect this to be representative of the system do we want to say that or is this the stair step to get us to the better system I don't it feels feels the pressure like we have to yes we have to get it.

Right but we also we also have to produce the schedule for this this year so is is it fair to say this is you know in the week we're gonna see this right or is it fair to say that we're going to have something here for the community so that we can keep the system moving as we're stair stepping to this new system does that make any sense yeah absolutely does first I would say hope is not a strategy we have to be intentional about this work secondly I would say yes this will be a stair step but the most important piece is yes getting the schedules right but the the really critical piece is paying our staff and so we have to make sure that the schedule's right in order to pay our staff so yes this will be still a stair step to in more improved and robust system that that we create so we will be stepping a lot here.

Soon miss buer I just one of the things that I think is important to our community is to be able to show in ways besides spreadsheets not everybody is like Miss oo and and dreams and spreadsheets right but both to show but also to show how we are allocating the county money and rebuild trust that we are fully allocating the county allotment to our folks just as in the earlier part of the presentation with the supplements that we're increasing but also really directed towards these staff raises thank you Miss C Miss mid I'm sorry this is I and thinking about the steps Step One is the schedule I think the next step though is we need to create the policy on how people move from year to year and I don't want us to forget that part of this building as we're thinking about this systems change because that they feel like they go in Tangent in tandem hand in hand with each other so I just want to make sure we remember that.

That's also the next important vital step of this work thank you Miss Carter yes thank you for that reminder Miss Umstead and I'm going to do the thing and take and go back to Master's pay for a second apologies but I just wanted to verify Natalie Beyer indicated that it was our intent to do to align what we're doing with what the state with how the state applies Master's pay and I think you had mentioned that we are doing that when we're using relevant master's degrees but I don't remember if you spoke to whether we're doing that with regard to who we're who we including in this the classroom teachers or like the so we've had social workers for example examp Le come ask us about Master's pay we've had the coaches or others instructional leaders ask us are those people if they were covered before the 2013 shift would they be receiving Master's pay from the state level just so we know what we're doing here so that.

Goes back to what we were talking about earlier I know you mentioned social workers but it's not just that simple it depends on the positions and on in some cases it is an individual you have to look at the July 2013 role because that pay is not on a scale that is going to generate the Master's pay for other positions where a master's degree is retire is required the state does pay that Master's pay and it doesn't have the Jew the July 1st 2013 provision I think I understand so there so if for example a social worker receiving Master's pay it would be because it's required for their position it would not be because they fall into that and the state allows so they wouldn't they wouldn't be beholden to this 2013 shift from this correct.

Thank you I have some questions some comments I have questions about your next step slide okay the convening of classified compensation Review Committee you said that started under inter superintendent more the schedules that we have been sort of looking at were those shared with this compensation Review Committee the committee the development of the committee not the convening the convening I'm talking about the development of the process to convene we have not had a convening of the committee committee okay no who do you envision being a part of this committee so that is where some of the discussion that started when Katy Moore was here it centered around two we discussed two different schools of thought and that will be driven by our discussions and our decision with cabinet and we I'm trying to give Dr Lewis some time to get on board there are places where you have a classified review committee that is largely at the cabinet level there are other places where you might have a classified Review Committee that is composed of.

Individuals from the different class workers of classification and they come together and review and so those are some of the decisions that we have to make as a district thank you totally appreciate that explanation and you giv Dr Lewis time to get on board also seems like since we're trying to approve a classified schedule that that would have been a matter of urgency but I appreciate it look forward to seeing what comes of that. Hit my questions hang. On no I guess I'm good thank you colleagues oh I did want to thank you all Administration the slides tonight have been and the conversations we've had have been proved to provide a lot of clarity for us and for me personally a lot more clarity than we had in Fall of 2023 and I'm really appreciative of that I am disappointed that we don't have actual schedules in front of us right now I understand there are challenges that we're working through and so for me it is a continued step you know we've.

You've already taken a step from then to now and I appreciate that and I look forward to seeing the schedules sooner rather than later. Thank. You colleagues the pry says this is for action and what I'm hearing is we're not comfortable taking action we don't have schedules how do we want to acknowledge that we just want to bring it back at a special meeting yeah can we just look at doing the special meeting I think that's where I would be we have consensus for a special call meeting or youall want to make a motion for it can everybody we have folks availability for this meeting on the 30 person the 19th everybody avail.

Available yes yes I'm available Miss buer you're available Miss carteron and some said you're not I I am not I could join you virtually either because I need to be at another meeting we understand Miss heral go I can make it work I can be available on the 19 thank you I appreciate that and I'll be here it'll be after an employee hearing so it'll be posted for after the employee hearing next item on our agenda y'all move that we go into close session for the reasons stated on the agenda second been moved by Miss spy seconded by Mr tab that we go into close session for the reason stated on the agenda all those in FA is there any discussion all in favor I I I I I I'll opposed we're now in close.

Session.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E.

E e.

Dr Lewis yes we asking the board to take action on the motion Personnel report move approval of the Personnel report dated September 12th 2024 second been moved by missp seconded by Mr tab to approve the Personnel report dated September 12th 2024 is there any discussion all those in favor say I all oppos it passes unanimously and with that we are adjourn.