Nash County Schools transportation staff outline pay scale conversion, benefits thresholds and staffing challenges

Nash County Public Schools staff told the board’s committee that the district has converted classified employee pay from the old grade-step system to the State Board of Education’s new grade-and-range salary schedule and reviewed pay ranges, experience-credit rules and how the conversion affected individual drivers.

Brittany Barnes, identified in the presentation as an HR specialist, walked the committee through the rules the district uses to award experience credit from prior public-sector work: state/city/county jobs are counted year-for-year; federal full-time work gives one year of credit for every two years; and most other experience counts at one year of credit for every three years — all subject to verification from previous employers. The presentation repeatedly cited guidance from the State Board of Education and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI).

Ms. Barnes and a colleague (Miss Wallace) presented current pay figures for drivers and monitors. For the district’s drivers they listed a top pay rate of $23.82 per hour and a starting rate of $16.79 per hour; the reported average driver hourly rate was $18.09.…