Durham schools employees say they'll take pay cut after district stops honoring years worked elsewhere

Durham Public Schools employees have reached out to WRAL News about another issue with their pay.

On Friday, DPS suspended Chief Financial Officer Paul LeSieur with pay after discovering that some employees received overpayments in their July 2023 through December 2023 paychecks due to an error in implementing salary changes for classified staff.

After that news broke, other employees reached out to WRAL News to report another change that will cost them money.

Some DPS employees say they’re now pushed into a different step on a salary schedule that does not honor years of service in other places.

Barbara Tapper, who has worked as a physical therapist with DPS for most of her career, said the district’s employees are either classified or certified. She said teachers, speech pathologists and a few other groups are considered “certified” whereas occupational therapists, custodians and bus driers are considered “classified.”

Employees told WRAL News that those with experience in a different district or in the private sector would get credit for those years when hired at Durham Public Schools, and their salaries would reflect that experience. They said the district is changing that and some employees are making a lower salary because of it.

“A lot of people are discouraged, feel disrespected [and are] confused,” Tapper said.

Tapper also worked at Duke as a physical therapist contracted to the school system. She said the new pay scale takes her from Step 30 down to Step 11, which is $1,600 less per month.

“People have made life changes,” Tapper said. “They've taken that chunk of change that they got for their 'raise' and put it in their retirement, which now they don't have access to.

“They've bought cars. They've quit a second job.”

DPS occupational therapist Jessica Boyter joined the district in August 2019.

"Many therapists [and] nurses start their work in a clinic or a hospital," Boyter said. "They come to the school district with that expertise, which is a wonderful thing, in my opinion, but these people are the ones who got punished the most by this."

On Monday, the district sent WRAL News a statement.

"The approved HIL recommendations were for state years of service," the statement reads. "The updated schedules include increases based on a review of employees state years of service.

"Most employees had significant increases with the change in steps. Every employee experienced at least a 4% increase.”

DPS said HIL is the company that conducted the district's pay study.

WRAL News asked DPS about the claim of the 4% salary increase. DPS employees have told WRAL News the 4% increase isn't true.

Boyter said a separate letter sent to employees on Saturday means her pay gets reduced by about one step. She criticized the district's communication.

"It's really insulting and alarming," Boyter said.

Boyter said the news about overpayments is bad for morale and it makes her question if she wants to remain working with the district.

"I've had some dark thoughts," Boyter said. "Like, are they trying to push people out? Are they trying to push out people who bring so much to the table who are veteran-experienced therapists [and] staff?"

The school district says employees will be placed on the correct salary step with the next paycheck - and that schedule will be an increase in pay per step compared to 2022-2023.

In response to the complaints, School Board Chair Bettina Umstead wrote, “We are deeply concerned about the impact to our employees and seek to find a resolution that honors our dedicated educators and balances our budget. We are in consultation with the administration and our attorney about how to proceed, including a full investigation into how this error was made."

Tapper and others say the communication has been confusing.

“It just feels like a lot of discrepancies,” Tapper said.

In a statement sent to WRAL News on Friday, DPS says the issue of how the district will address overpayments is still under review.

That statement says affected employees will be placed on the correct step beginning with the next paycheck.

In that statement, the Superintendent Dr. Pascal Mubenga apologized for the issue.

“We are deeply sorry for this inconvenience and want our employees to know that this error was unintended and unprecedented,” Mubenga wrote. “We are committed to working with our employees during this transition.”

The district is planning to host two meetings for staff to attend and get answers. The first one is set from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, and the second one is from 9 a.m. to noon Thursday.