Durham Public Schools employees air grievances to school board over pay issue

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- For a second day, parents were forced to find another way to get their children to Durham Public Schools because of another staffing shortage problem. That issue will extend to a third day.

DPS said late Thursday that it anticipates "some delays in bus service tomorrow, Friday."

This all comes from fallout over a dispute about paychecks.

At a school board meeting on Thursday, several board members and the superintendent listened to an hour and a half of people airing their grievances about the issue.

The prevailing sentiment at the heated meeting was confusion: employees still don't know whether they'll need to pay back money that the district says they overpaid them in error - and district officials couldn't provide a direct answer about how this happened or where things go from here.

Mechanics, cafeteria workers, instructional and occupational therapists, and physical therapists all questioned the pay discrepancy.

They clarified that it was mostly supervisors and mechanics who affected the ability to get buses out yesterday and this morning, not just a lack of bus drivers.

The payroll discrepancy, according to Durham Public Schools was found during a recent audit and the result of a compensation study.

Anger, confusion, and pay cuts

Cassandra Cobb, a 33-year DPS veteran, was one of the frustrated employees who wants more from district leadership.

"We didn't hear anything. We didn't hear anything that made sense. We didn't hear anything that justified what's going on. It starts at the top," Cobb said.

Cobb said she has already seen a pay cut as a result of DPS' recent compensation study, which re-evaluates an employee's experience.

"My years of service were counted. But now they have taken my years of service away," Cobb said.

She wasn't the only one with that complaint.

On Thursday morning, ABC11 spoke with a physical therapist who has 27 years of experience.

In October, she had her pay adjusted to reflect that, but this weekend was told she would now only be getting paid for three years of experience -- a $2,000 difference in her monthly paycheck.

"There are employees who quit their second jobs, there are employees that made adjustments to the retirement based on these numbers for this calendar year," said Courtney Keller.

In an email obtained by ABC11, Superintendent Pascal Mubenga said that certain employees have been getting overpaid since October of last year.

A money mess and homelessness

ABC11 asked DPS school board chair, Bettina Umstead, what it all means moving forward - and if it was possible that DPS employees might be forced into reimbursements.

"We are, again, looking working with our attorney. I want to be clear, though, that there is general statute as well as policy that gives instructions around what happens when an employee is overpaid," Umstead said.

Umstead could not rule out the possibility that reimbursements will take place, though she said she understands the frustrations of DPS employees and vowed to launch an investigation into how this situation unfolded.

Few people may have felt the effects of the pay dispute more than Valerie McNeil. She's worked for DPS for 14 years and says recent underpayments - and late penalties for rent and auto payments she attributes to changes in her check - have left her homeless.

"It's an embarrassment," McNeil said. "No one should be treated this way. And for you not to care about your employees, especially when one comes to you and says, look, I've lost my home because of a mistake that you all made."

McNeil said she has been sleeping in her car, on and off, since November as she uses the little money she has to put her daughter and three young grandkids in a hotel room.

"It's a lot," McNeil said. "But because of the type of person I am, I just continue because I'm like, I love my job. I love the kids I work with. But something has got to give. It's got to give because this makes no sense."

ABC11 reached out to DPS to ask about McNeil's situation but has not heard back from the district.