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Teacher-hours and HR practices criticized during public comment; speaker urges policy to credit out-of-hours work for school closures
Summary
A district employee, Doug Patton, told the board that recent HR decisions around inclement-weather closures have harmed morale and asked the board and superintendent to develop a policy allowing principals to validate hours worked outside the regular schedule to count toward makeup-day obligations.
During the public comment period Mr. Doug Patton addressed the Onslow County Board of Education to criticize recent actions by the district human resources office and to urge a change in policy for counting work hours when inclement weather forces school closures.
Patton said HR has applied “arcane and draconian practices” and that those practices have created division between employees who were paid for work during weather-related operational shifts and those who were required to take leave or were not paid. He said the issue is not a demand for overtime pay but a request that hours worked outside the standard workday be recognized so employees can meet work obligations established in policy when makeup days are required.
“No one is asking for those additional work hours to be compensated by overtime,” Patton told the board. He said the district should allow principals to collect and validate hours worked outside of established hours and permit those hours to be used to fulfill work obligations when inclement weather causes closure for certified and classified staff.
Patton also argued that HR has, in his view, usurped principals’ authority to determine how staff should be used in a virtual learning environment, and that these HR decisions have lowered morale across the district. He urged the board and Superintendent Barnes to develop an equitable policy recognizing extra work and to use the opportunity to improve morale in the district.
Chairman Garvey read the board’s public-comment rules before Patton spoke and did not respond substantively during the comment period; board members reserve questions for the board comment period later in the meeting.
