By Richard Sullins | richard@rantnc.com

The front parking lot at Lee County High School was nearly overflowing Tuesday night as more than 100 staff members from the 17 schools across the district attended November’s school board meeting, many of them wearing t-shirts bearing the names of their schools and their mascots.

Board meetings are often attended by principals, teachers, and counselors. What made this such a rare occasion was that the group most prominently in attendance, and whose issues were those being brought before the board Tuesday, were not the district’s employees the board is most accustomed to hearing from.

It was the biggest crowd to turn out for a school board meeting in two years. With several teachers in the audience to support them, most of this group consisted of “classified” school employees, meaning they are not required to be certified in order to be employed, a category that includes instructional assistants, library and office staff, maintenance and custodial workers, and others.

Many of them are also dually employed by serving also as bus drivers, for which they earn $17.31 per hour. And this assemblage of critical support employees came to ask the school board to act on their grievances quickly – within the next 30 days.

April Stone, a Lee County Schools employee, spoke first on the group’s behalf, saying, “we ask for your prompt attention to the matters we are bringing to your attention this evening. We come to you today as a unified group of classified employees to formally ask for an increase in pay, as well as to bring some questions and concerns we have to your attention.”

Stone began by noting that classified staff had received no raise in pay since the 2022-23 school year. No increase in pay for the last two and a half years has meant families whose income is supported by a Lee County Schools classified employee have seen their buying power diminished by as much as nine percent in a single year during that same period because of inflation.

Stone pointed out that while a great deal of attention has been given to finding ways to increase teacher salaries and supplements, classified staff seem to be getting the short end of the stick.

She earned incredulous looks from a couple board members when she pointed out “there is not even a pay scale for classified staff. A new employee who starts today will make the same as a veteran staff member who has worked for 25 years or more,” a circumstance she said gives veteran employees no incentive to continue employment year after year.

The group’s request is for salaries to be increased to a minimum of $20 per hour for instructional assistants and classified employees, and to at least $25 per hour for all those who also serve as bus drivers while they are behind the wheel.

The crowd clapped and cheered each time Stone made a point. She asked that classified staff be allowed to earn and use holiday and sick leave and that the district begin to participate in the TA to Teachers program, providing the opportunity for employees to work toward a bachelor’s degree that could one day qualify them to become teachers in their own right.

“We understand the challenges of the budget that you are facing, and we ask you to really take a look at the financial burden that all of us are facing, along with the frustration of our school district not making things open and accessible to us so we can all be on the same page and know exactly what we are making and what to look forward to in years to come as dedicated Lee County Schools employees,” she continued.

Stone pre-empted what was certain to be a suggestion from board members – to talk with Lee County commissioners, who have the final say in how county tax dollars are allocated.

“We feel that it is a blame game between you all, and we know that the funds are not being appropriately spent by our county commissioners. We will continue to ask and attend those meetings,” she said. “But the fact of the matter comes down to asking our school board, along with (Superintendent Chris) Dossenbach, to use what we have and figure out a way to fit this in. We hope that this information brings to light how we can work together and make Lee County Schools the best district in the state to work for.”

The board’s response

On behalf of the group, Stone requested the board respond to their concerns by the date of their next regular meeting, December 10, and Republican Vice Chair Sherry Lynn Womack noted that such a timeline might be too short for an adequate response.

Others spoke more directly to the concerns that had been given voice.

Board member Chris Gaster, also a Republican, paid tribute to the group for having the courage to come forward and make their concerns known. He encouraged them to continue their efforts and to make this a beginning of their advocacy instead of the end of that road.

“Thank you for coming out in strength and numbers,” he said. “Don’t let tonight stop you. Keep fighting. That’s the only way we can make change.”

This was the final meeting for three members of the school board. Democrats Patrick Kelly and Jamey Laudate will leave office next month following a Republican wave that claimed all four of the seats that were up for grabs in the November 5 election and giving the GOP a 7-0 majority. Unaffiliated member Sandra Bowen chose to make this her last term on the board.

As Republican Chairman Eric Davidson began to acknowledge the service of those departing members, Kelly interrupted him by saying he wanted the attention of the board on Tuesday not to be on the departing members, but instead on the classified staff members who had come to the meeting to voice their concerns, as well as the principals and teachers who show up every day to give of themselves to the 9,200 students that make up the Lee County Schools district.

“I want to bypass this (recognition of service),” he said. “The attention needs to be on them. I don’t want to be recognized for eight years of service. I did it for them out there. I’m not getting a plaque tonight because I couldn’t finish what I started, so I don’t want to be recognized. No way.”

Laudate said data indicates the greatest weakness in any school district is the status of its classified staff. Bowen said she had fought hard during her eight years on the board to see that all employees are treated fairly and receive the compensation they deserve and that everything she had done was for those employees and the students they serve, instead of those she termed “the political elites.”

Dr. Dossenbach said his office has begun exploring options for ways to increase compensation for all of the district’s 1,200 employees. With the holidays quickly approaching and the start of preparation work for the district’s budget request for the 2025-26 school year, it’s certain these issues will continue to require the school board’s attention in the coming weeks and months.

But as strong as the case made by the classified staff representatives was, it will continue to be an uphill struggle to get the rewards they believe they deserve. The school board has been turned down by the county commissioners for the past four years in a row when it has asked for local support for compensation adjustments for the salaries and supplements of its educational staff.

Most recently, the commissioners declined to fund a new salary plan the school board believes would make employment with the district attractive.

The budget process begins in earnest just after the New Year’s holiday and the school board is hoping that in 2025, the fifth time will be the charm.