The Durham Public Schools Board unanimously approved a recommendation to raise pay for staff who drive buses as part of a substitute pool. The motion directs certified or exempt employees who operate buses outside their regular duties to be paid $25 per hour and classified or nonexempt employees to be paid time-and-a-half for hours over 40; the increases were authorized to be paid retroactively to Jan. 22, 2025.

Administration presentation: Kenneth Barnes, who presented the item for operations/transportation, described the change as affecting roughly 40 staff members. "This retroactive pay affects approximately 40 staff members," Mr. Barnes said. He summarized the proposal: "We have 14 certified drivers who will be compensated at $25 per hour and 25 classified staff members who will be compensated at time and half their regular hourly rate over 40 hours. We are requesting that this compensation be paid back to January 2025." Administration said the change was verified to be within the current transportation budget for 2024-25 and that retroactive payment would be determined and confirmed with finance and payroll.

Board discussion: Board members asked about timing and scope: when staff should expect payment and whether the overtime calculation uses the employee's regular pay rate or the bus-driving rate. Mr. Barnes explained the district's goal was for the May payroll to reflect the new rates with retroactive payments completed by June, and that classified overtime would be calculated at employees' regular pay rate (their regular pay basis) when computing time-and-a-half for hours over 40.

Motion and vote: Board Member Chavez moved the resolution to approve the higher hourly rate for certified/exempt bus-driving duties and time-and-a-half for classified/nonexempt drivers, retroactive to Jan. 22, 2025; the motion was seconded by Board Member Natalie Beyer and passed unanimously.

Why it matters: Transportation staffing shortages have affected many districts; the board and administration framed the increase as a targeted recruitment and retention step for substitute drivers and staff who take on bus-driving duties in addition to their regular assignments. Administration said changes to routing and regional driver assignment for 2025-26 are expected to reduce overall driver needs, but the pay change is intended to retain current personnel while routing improvements are implemented.

Next steps: Administration will confirm the total cost with finance and payroll and proceed with implementation to ensure appropriate payroll timing and retroactive payments.