Durham Public Schools board aims for greater worker input in decision-making

The Durham Public School board is taking steps to give workers a greater voice in future decision making.

At a special meeting Thursday evening, DPS voted to create an ad hoc group that will iron out details of a possible future Meet and Confer policy, which would form a board advisory council partially made up of Durham school employees.

"This is a historic moment that we're sitting around this table and having this conversation," DPS board chair Bettina Umstead said.

The work group formed to discuss this policy will be made up of two board members and one alternate, two administrators, four members of the Durham Association of Educators, and four members who aren't represented by the DAE.

As part of Thursday's discussion, the board pressed the DAE on their sick-outs over classified staff pay, leading to multiple days of school closure.

"I just want to make sure we're moving with good faith effort," board member Jovonia Lewis said.

This past Friday and Monday, transportation support staff like mechanics and fleet maintenance supervisors called out, leading to school closures. DAE said they did not coordinate the most recent protests.

Transportation support staff were originally supposed to speak at the special meeting Thursday but walked out midway through, claiming that the DAE does not support their interests.

The misalignment between DAE and some other workers in the district motivated the board to propose adding employees beyond DAE to the newly formed ad hoc group.

Umstead will appoint members to the work group at the board meeting on Feb. 22.