Durham superintendent owed $297K in severance pay after resignation

The superintendent of Durham Public Schools has resigned.

According to School Board Chairwoman Bettina Umstead, Pascal Mubenga submitted his resignation to the school board Wednesday night during a closed special meeting with the School Board.

"Dr. Mubenga has done good work here in Durham," Umstead said. "It's extremely difficult to accept his resignation this evening."

On Thursday, WRAL News obtained a copy of Mubenga's resignation agreement. He is owed $297,759 in severance pay.

"[The] board will not initiate any charge, claim, complaint, or any other legal action of any type of variety arising from Dr. Mubenga‘s employment with the school district," the agreement reads.

The agreement also states that board members will not make "disparaging statements or comments" about Mubenga, his actions or performance while he was the superintendent and vice versa.

Mubenga said Wednesday the decision to resign was mutual.

"Whatever decision that came out, it was pretty much a mutual [decision] between the board and myself," Mubenga said. "So, [it's] just the right time for me to retire."

Deputy Superintendent Nicholas King has been assigned the duties of superintendent until an interim is named.

"We have great leaders in our district," Mubenga said. "These folks are really well-equipped to be able to continue the work that I started with them.

"So, [there is] no regret on my end, and I know the district is going to be in good hands."

Board says CFO knew about pay problems since last February

The board said it requested an internal review of the issues surrounding the timeline and implementation of changes to the salary schedule for approximately 2,000 classified employees.

The review, according to the board, shined a light on several issues surrounding the pay raises. The concerns included a "lack of clarity and failure of communication from the finance officer about the true cost of the proposed changes."

The review said the CFO knew in February 2023 that the cost of the pay raises could range from $10 million to $20 million based on how employees' years of service were calculated.

The board said Mubenga first became aware of the problem on Nov. 8, 2023, and hired a consulting firm to look into it. Mubenga’s most recent contract extension was signed on the same day.

On Dec. 18, 2023, Mubenga notified two school board members of the salary issue: Board Chair Bettina Umstead and Board Member Natalie Beyer. Mubenga said they would take care of the salary issue after the holiday season. The review said Mubenga didn't inform the remaining members of the board until Jan. 11, 2024.

On Jan. 12, 2024, DPS announced in a statement that some employees had gotten paid more than they should in their July 2023 through December 2023 paychecks due to an error implementing salary changes for classified staff.

DPS said the district secured funds so employees would be able to keep the full payments they received through Dec. 31 and be paid at the same rate for January's paychecks.

DPS employees told WRAL News they received emails explaining that only state years of service would be taken into account in salary calculations. In the past, employees said experience elsewhere would have been considered in calculating years of experience. The change meant smaller paychecks.

Educators and employees been protesting for weeks, holding "sickouts" and walk-ins in the wake of the salary-step decision. On Wednesday, the Durham Association of Educators held walk-ins at more than 30 schools in the morning and rallies in the afternoon.

WRAL News asked Mubenga if he felt like he was taking the fall for the salary issue.

"I'm not saying that I'm taking a fall," he responded. "Once the board attorney does their investigation, they're going to release the report... So I'm not going to call it a fall."

Durham mayor says superintendent's resignation won't solve the problem

Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams does not think people resigning will solve the issue.

"You may want to solve the issue before you jump ship or before you get rid of people," he said. "So, I honestly think this is an unfortunate situation."

Mubenga apologized for the chaos DPS employees have been dealing with as the district sorts out the pay issue.

"I'll say this, my apologies to the Durham community," he said. "Our kids, our families, they deserve better. It's very unfortunate that we got to this point.

"But, there are a lot of great things that we have in Durham Public Schools, and we have qualified folks with good intent and great folks that will be able to continue this work."

Durham church leaders don't want to see Superintendent Mubenga go

Church leaders with the Durham Interdenominational Minister's Alliance, which represents more than 50 congregations, held a news conference on Wednesday.

Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance President Michael Page expressed his support for Mubenga.

"Dr. Mubenga has not only been good for students, but also for the staff and the overall community," Page said.

Page listed off Mubegna’s accomplishments:

• Guiding the school system through the COVID crisis
• Had an unmodified financial audit for the last six years
• Generated excess funds to increase the district’s fund balance
• Claims Mubenga has fought to increase educators’ salaries
• DPS recognized with Blue Ribbon Schools twice during Mubenga’s tenure
• DPS featured in The New York Times as one of the districts that recovered quickly from COVID
• DPS received an $18 million grant from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott

"This is not the time to remove a trusted leader," Page said.

St. Mark African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church Rev. Julian Pridgen echoed Page’s sentiments about Mubenga.

"We are here today to express a concern that we’ve heard that the school board is considering terminating Superintendent Mubegna, and this, too, troubles us," Pridgen said. "Firing a superintendent who has a solid record at improving the school system does not address, nor does it fix, the current problem."

Page called on DPS employees to make competitive salaries.

First and foremost, Durham Public Schools was right initially to increase salaries for long underpaid staff,” Page said. “There are huge number of employment options here in the Durham community and the Research Triangle, and we are grateful that these employees have chosen to work in our system.

"Therefore, they need to be offered competitive salaries."

Both Page and Pridgen said they wanted to see DPS resolve its salary issues.

"It is our prayer and hope that the Durham Public School System would set aside any political agendas and other agendas for the purpose of working together as leaders to fix the problem immediately,” Pridgen said.