Durham School Board approves 11% raises

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- The Durham Public School board deliberated for hours Thursday before making a decision on salaries for the rest of the year for its classified staff.

Classified staff continued to make their voices heard at Thursday night's meeting, which lasted four hours.

The staff including bus mechanics, groundskeepers, and cafeteria workers showed up with the Durham Association of Educators as well as their allies.

"Both options take hundreds of dollars out of my monthly check. Hundreds of dollars that finally allowed me to afford medications that our health state plan doesn't cover, hundreds of dollars that made a difference for my retirement," Aimee Toney with the Office of Research and Accountability said.

The board chose an 11% raise for all classified staff which means everyone will be making more than their 2022-2023 pay scale. However many staff members will be getting a much lower paycheck than they had seen in the latter part of 2023 and the first two months of this year.

The board went back and forth, many expressing how they wanted to keep the checks where they were.

Staff members believed these were raises promised to them and many of them made life decisions as a result of this money.

The district was studying ways to bring all employees up to a livable wage and they said they have to continue doing that work.