Durham Public School Board meets with educators as pay dispute continues

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- Hours of discussion led to very little progress at the board of education meeting in Durham.

The meeting comes amid the ongoing pay dispute among Durham Public Schools staff. Several people walked out of Thursday night's meeting with the new interim superintendent and the board as they tried to figure out the next steps.

After several callouts, protests, and demands for fair pay, district leaders now believe they are headed in a better direction.

They say they are hoping a deal could be reached by as early as next week.

On Wednesday new interim Superintendent Catty Moore spoke with the media for the first time and said this is definitely a temporary role but is ready to get DPS back on track.

She says the larger pay issue isn't something other districts haven't seen and hopes they can reach a longer-term solution so the district doesn't hit a breaking point again.

There are also a lot of questions about the $300,000 payout to former Superintendent Mubenga and the almost equivalent $25,000 a month she is making and how this will impact the budget and outcome.

"And so I think the dollars are there, that's a discussion with the board, and you know we arrived at something that was doable and commensurate with what the previous superintendent was doing, and so I think that would be expected.," Moore said.

DPS Board Chair Bettina Umstead was hoping for a breakthrough insisting they're moving as quickly as possible.

"It's about our students, it's about our families, it's about the whole Durham community counting on all of us and all of us have to come together to make that real, so I'm just asking for that two-way street," she said.

Much of the meeting Thursday devolved into who would be on the other end of that two-way street, with the Durham Association of Educators (DAE) leading the charge.

Another group of transportation staff, who led the callouts that led to school closures, walked out of the meeting saying DAE doesn't represent them.

"There's a lot of issues that are going on in our department and as a whole as well, but we felt like we were unheard and we were disrespected we didn't have a seat at the table and we were promised a seat at the table," said Assistant Area Manager, Transportation Kitora Mason.

After watching staff members walk out, and the DAE's refusal to disclose how many members they actually have, the board voted to create a compromise. A new work group will be named starting at next week's board meeting, made up of two board members, two administrators, and eight DPS staff members that will be split. Four will be selected by the DAE and 4 others.

Union leaders told ABC11 that despite the walkouts, they're hoping this new group can move things forward.

"We have and will continue to reach out to every sector of DPS cafeteria workers, classroom teachers, transportation, counselors, the whole gamut," said Durham Association of Educators President Symone Kiddoo.

The next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 22 where the board will decide who will serve on the new working group that will meet every week.