Families grapple as Durham schools report 60 bus drivers absent Friday while staff protests pay cut (2024)

DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) – Chaos continues for students and staff members in Durham Public Schools. This comes as district workers protest pay cuts.

Families are grappling with long bus delays without transportation staff, and cafeteria workers are missing. DPS reports that 60 drivers didn’t make it out on their routes on Friday.

Those issues impact Carla Lopez Hardiman’s son at a Durham middle school.

“He goes to the cafeteria and the principals are the ones serving them lunch yesterday,” the DPS parent said.

Hardiman said teachers are telling students to prepare for remote learning without busing options.

And that transportation issue is even affecting after-school programs. Another DPS mother also said her seventh grader had to find a ride home when a program got canceled unexpectedly.

“When you got working parents or parents that work at night and they’re sleeping during the day, they expect this to be in place and get a message that says, ‘This is what’s happening,'” Andrea Morelos said. “They didn’t even send an announcement on the change. The children who happened to have phones called us.”

Another parent said her five-year-old receives special education services from DPS. She’s worried her son might lose his therapists.

“It almost makes me emotional to think about what it would be to lose them in his life,” Rebekah Fergusson said. “We’ve also learned so much from them as parents.”

Hundreds of employees flooded a heated meeting Thursday to speak with district leaders after their pay was cut unexpectedly. DPS also mistakenly overpaid 1,300 employees and is not ruling out the possibility of forcing them to pay it back.

Many staff members are staying home in protest.

“I love our custodial staff… and I miss them,” Lakewood Elementary Media Coordinator Turquoise LeJeune Parker said. “[I miss] our bookkeepers. It’s heartbreaking. It really is.”

Nearly 50 Durham school bus drivers didn’t make it out on their routes Wednesday without transportation mechanics and supervisors to help them out. And that issue continues.

“I’m not sending my son into that right now and that’s my decision as a parent,” Hardiman said after her son stayed home from school on Friday.

The school board chair said DPS is committed to doing a thorough investigation. As of now, the district only said the error began with the implementation of a classified salary study.

“Durham Public Schools is engaged in an active investigation regarding the implementation of the salary study,” a district spokesperson told CBS 17 in a statement on Friday. “Due to the sensitive and critical nature of this matter, we are not able to provide any further public statements to the media… We had 60 drivers who were absent today.”

This comes less than a week after officials said those employees got extra money from October to December. Workers also received back pay for the start of the school year, starting in July.

“Shame on you DPS,” one employee told district leaders at Thursday’s meeting. “Shame on you for doing all these people in here like this.”

“DPS is on fire,” another woman said. “It is burning.”

Some of those workers said the district told them they’re now assigned to a lower pay step and that they’re no longer honored for years of service with private employers, even though it’s something they were promised.

“It’s unacceptable to have, overnight, those years of experience stripped away,” DPS Occupational Therapist, Anna Benfield said.

“These folks have been underpaid for years,” Durham Association of Educators President, Symone Kiddoo said. “This is not an overpayment issue. This is a change in wages.”

One physical therapist said she’s now recognized for seven years of experience instead of 40. She defended the others impacted.

“They care about our kids,” DPS Lead Physical Therapist, Cheryl Broadright said. “They go the extra mile.”

“You’re going to tell me what I’ve done in my life doesn’t matter to you anymore,” DPS Grounds Supervisor, Jarmaal Lawson said.

Some classified district employees say they’re losing over $1,000 a month with the latest pay cut.

“What we heard today is what I know: these employees are some of the heartbeat of what we do here in Durham Public Schools,” Board of Education Chair Bettina Umstead said. “And they deserve some good wages for their work.”

DPS is not ruling out the possibility of employees paying back the money.

“Yall say y’all for the kids?” one worker said. “Y’all are not for the kids. Y’all [are] only for y’all kids.”

The district asked parents to take their kids to and from school again on Friday.

Those impacted by the situation include support staff like therapists, grounds workers, cafeteria staff and others.