Category Archives: Budget

DeKalb Bus Driver Sick Out

Posted on April 18, 2018 by | 70 comments

Might be a walk to school day tomorrow. DeKalb Schools bus drivers may be sick Thursday and Friday, April 19-20.

Last week this memo was circulated among the bus drivers and monitors. It is rumored that the date was pushed back to April 19 & 20.
DeKalb Schools Board of Education will shortly review a Compensation and Class study of all employees in the school district. Included in that will be a bus driver pay comparison with the other Metro Atlanta school districts.
Since early March, Chief Operating Officer Joshua Williams and Superintendent Green have been meeting with driver representatives.
Dr. Green met with the bus drivers yesterday, April 17, at 10:00 AM in the AIC Auditorium to hear their concerns. The meeting was full – standing room only. The bus drivers were very passionate about their dedication to the job and how much they care about the children.
They requested that the Superintendent and his administration, along with the Board, address their long-standing and ongoing concerns. Various individuals spoke at the microphone representing the overall concerns of the bus driver community.

Categorization of Bus Driver Concerns:
1. Salary increases/COLA
2. Better retirement plan
3. Fair pay for sick leave days
4. Timely correction for pay stub errors
5. Timely response once they present concerns at board meetings
6. Pro-rated interest on salaries – where does it go?
7. Better insurance plan to cover surgeries, etc.
8. Incentive bonuses
9. Attendance incentives
10. Discipline committee for driver infractions
11. Bring back bus driver/bus monitor of the year program
12. Better parent compliance for the student rider agreement
13. Clean-up Transportation Department top to bottom
14. Restore step increases
15. Salary for bus trainers and not an hourly rate
16. Restore higher pay for transient bus drivers
17. Restore 8 hour pay for backup drivers
18. Confirm Dispatch receive more personnel
19. Inquire about $10M former Superintendent stated could be used for bus driver retirement
20. Request for Board presence at meetings and board members to take ride on bus routes
21. Time response when calling for school administrators to buses during student incidents
22. Reclassify bus driver position from part-time to full-time to resolve pay, benefits, and retirement concerns
23. Need working lights at Panthersville Stadium
24. Fix potholes at Panthersville Stadium
25. Need restrooms at Coralwood & North Decatur bus parking lot
26. Need more restrooms for females at AIC parking lot (OSHA)
27. Need tracking for locating buses
28. Restore special needs bus monitors to field trips
29. Need PBIS program in transportation program
30. Need to educate bus drivers on political structure; who is responsible for what
31. Need knowledge on why protocols exist when no-fault accidents take place; why the need for testing
32. Increases for special needs bus drivers due to handling older/bigger students (e.g. 21 years of age)
33. Determine length of time it will take for resolutions to concerns
34. Need intercom and air conditioning on ALL buses but especially transient bus drivers
35. Want superintendent and board to attend annual bus driver meeting
36. Stop using transportation as dumping ground for failed school administrators
37. Too top heavy
38. Fair treatment for bus drivers
39. Address overcrowded buses
40. Need itemized pay stub
41. Written correspondence on any proposed salary and step increases
42. Allow bus drivers to participate in Open House each year to share bus rider agreement
43. Review hiring process of bus drivers
44. Pay bus drivers for training class and not a stipend at the end
45. Compare assistant field supervisor
46. Share when you will go to board with recommendations
47. Add bus drivers in publications
48. Share what you can commit to for bus drivers
49. Concerns with going to 7 Regions next school year and impact to special needs drivers
50. Review history of bus driver concerns
Dr. Green listened to each concern. Everyone that wanted to speak had an opportunity to speak. Dr. Green will continue to meet with driver representatives. The bus drivers selected their own representatives. The purpose of these meetings is to begin the collaborative work of setting priorities and the action plan for resolution of the aforementioned concerns.

This robo-call will be going out this evening …

This is an important message from the DeKalb County School District.
You may have heard talk about the possibility that some of our bus drivers may not report to work during the next three days.
DeKalb County Schools Superintendent Dr. R. Stephen Green has been meeting with the drivers and we are working in partnership to address their concerns. In the meantime, we have a contingency plan in place. Please note, some buses may arrive and pick up a little later than usual.
Some of you may be concerned about the impact this will have on testing. There will be NO consequences to students if they arrive as a result of a late bus. The district will work to find time for students to take the test.
If you have transportation questions pertaining to a late or missed bus, please call our hotline at 678-676-1200.
Please know that the district’s TOP priority is getting your children to and from school safely.
Thank you for your continued support of the DeKalb County School District.

70 Comments

Posted in Budget, Buses, DeKalb County School District

DeKalb Schools Convocation 2017

Posted on July 7, 2017 by | 85 comments

DeKalb Schools can’t balance a budget, but they can find money to rent out the World Congress Center for graduations and the Gwinnett Infinite Energy Arena for a Convocation.
What are your thoughts?

DeKalb Schools Convocation 2017
Friday, August 4, 2017
Infinite Energy Arena : 8:30 am – 11:30 am

We are excited about our Opening of Schools Convocation on Friday, August 4, 2017 at the Infinite Energy Arena at 8:30 a.m. It will be a time to celebrate, educate, motivate and dedicate ourselves to a new school year. This event is mandatory for all DCSD employees whose start date is prior to the first day of school, August 7.

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I received this email from a DeKalb Citizen yesterday that sums up the general consensus online about the convocation…
I felt compelled to share this article because I know enough teachers who will really be stressing out that someone is being paid a very generous amount, I am sure, from outside the district, to use up a half day of their time. Besides that, as a taxpayer, I am horrified that DCSS would rent space at Gwinnett Infinite Energy Arena for this event.
We do not want to see this system falling back into the business of outside consultants, specially-purchased programs and high-salaried personnel to oversee more high-salaried personnel. This system needs to focus on support for teachers and the operations of our schools with ALL the reasons for their being to support teachers, students and principals and those people involved with feeding, teaching, caring for and transporting students.
How much did you spend per teacher on this inspirational meeting? Don’t you think that every teacher would have rather had that amount to buy supplies for their classrooms or students who come to school with nothing? You might be shocked at how much teachers spend out of pocket for their classrooms and they only do it for their students—to inspire them to learn and succeed.

Maureen Downey with the AJC talked to Superintendent Green today and wrote this article. Note: I don’t ever recall discussing this with anybody or this item coming before the board.

maureen downey

DeKalb superintendent promotes systemwide convocation as powerful and unifying

In a 45-minute phone conversation today, DeKalb Superintendent Steve Green defended the convocation, which he said grew out of discussions with school board members who wanted an event to unify the “DeKalb family” and highlight the progress and the work yet to come.
The school board was committed enough to approve $50,000 to stage the event at the climate-controlled Infinite arena and pay for buses to transport 12,000 employees from their schools to Duluth, he said. DeKalb does not know the bus cost as it will depend on how employees drive themselves.
“The sentiment was there needs to be a chance for the entire DeKalb family to hear the charge from the superintendent, to come together as one DeKalb in a collegial way and to see each other across boundaries, regions, geographic areas, north, south, east, west,” said Green. “So, there was a commitment early on to create that kind of synergy, knowing there would be opposition to it. But there was also a thirst and clamoring for it. There are tradeoffs for doing it and for not doing it.”
As a classroom teacher himself for 14 years and a former athlete, Green said he benefited from convocations that provide the same bonding and spirit building as a team huddle. “It is a way of pulling the team together for a well-planned, powerful kickoff. It is about getting the juices flowing and getting pumped up.”
Other educators reported their districts, including Bibb and Newton, have held similar gala events to kick off the new year. (Those teachers, too, would rather be spared the group affirmations and remain in their classrooms. As a teacher explained, “Personally, my strength and support always comes from my colleagues in my schoolhouse; they are all I need.”)
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Posted in Budget

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