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. For monitors they reported a highest pay of $17.00 and a starting pay of $15.63, with an average of $16.19 per hour. Transportation staff also said the district has paid $45,700 in attendance bonuses to drivers so far this school year.

Staff explained the conversion steps taken last summer to ensure no employee’s pay decreased during the change to the grade-and-range schedule and described how the 2024–25 state-approved percentage increases (including a 3% classified increase cited in the presentation) were applied to determine current rates. "Our intent was to ensure no one's salary decreased," a presenter said while describing the conversion process.

The presentation covered benefit-eligibility thresholds and administrative enrollment. Staff said employees accrue sick and annual leave when they work at least 20 hours per week for a sustained period (three months), and that employees become eligible for health benefits and retirement after working 30 hours per week consistently for three months. Transportation staff explained that enrollment and benefit activation require personnel action from the transportation office and human resources; the district said it will monitor drivers’ hours every three months to ensure eligible employees are enrolled.

Training opportunities and makeup-pay options were described as ways to increase drivers’ paid hours. Presenters listed three courses available to make up time: a roughly 12-hour NHTSA online training, an eight-hour North Carolina de-escalation/intervention (NCDI) course, and a five-hour CPR/first-aid session. Completing those trainings can generate roughly 25 hours of paid time in total across the opportunities, presenters said.

Transportation staff described a persistent driver shortage and the operational impacts. Budget slides showed that salaries consumed roughly 73%–79% of the transportation budget in recent years; staff calculated that a hypothetical $3-per-hour across-the-board raise would increase salary costs to approximately 91% of the transportation budget and estimated a $3 increase would cost the department just over a half-million dollars. The presenters noted a $1-per-hour increase would cost roughly $200,000 and a $2-per-hour increase roughly $381,000 based on current-year estimates.

On staffing counts, transportation staff said a recent list showed 13 drivers and monitors currently receiving retirement benefits and about 40 drivers and monitors who work at least six hours per day but were not receiving retirement (staff said they are reviewing records to correct inconsistent enrollments). The district also said it is tracking CDLs and medical certifications more closely and that recruitment continues; staff reported adding one or two licensed drivers per month and holding bus classes to license new drivers.

The transportation presentation was informational; staff said they would hold additional driver-facing meetings to share individual grade-and-range assignments and to clear up misinformation. Board members asked questions about hours required for benefits, CDL tracking, and how route changes affect benefit eligibility; staff said they would continue quarterly reviews of driver hours and improve communications through district emails, Thrillshare notifications and direct phone contact to drivers.

No committee action or vote on salary increases occurred in this meeting; presenters asked only that the committee accept the informational update.