DPS introduces interim superintendent Catty Quiroz Moore amidst a difficult pay situation

     Moore retired from her position of superintendent for Wake County Schools in June of last year. She started at Wake as a teacher 35 years ago, and advanced her way up, ending as superintendent there for the last 5 years. Last October, she was appointed to the NC State Board of Education. She made it very clear that she is here short term to help out the board.

     “My role really here is to deal with the day to day issues that are important, that are necessary, guided by the board, as they prepare to hire the next superintendent,” Moore stated.

     Many are hoping that her wisdom and experience will be useful during this difficult time for the DPS Board of Education. They hope that she will be able to help successfully satisfy employee demands while being financially responsible.

     “There are immediate steps that can be taken across the state of North Carolina to ensure that all of our employees, at all levels, are being provided a competitive wage. But that is always going to be an iterative process, because markets change, living wages change, and so you’re always going to have to be doing that work and studying and keeping up to where things need to be,” Moore commented.

     One thing that Moore made very clear on Wednesday was that there is no silver bullet solution to these problems. As things change in the world, leaders have to be prepared to adapt. Additionally, Moore may be able to bring a little more transparency to DPS, something that protesting employees were demanding. During the press conference, she answered questions about recently missed school days succinctly.

     “We’ll need to look at days that are right now scheduled to be student holidays or staff holidays, and we will need to look to see whether or not those need to be student days,” Moore explained. 

     She also concisely explained the concept of ‘banked time’, which is built-in extra school hours that exceed the required minimum. One reporter asked exactly how many banked days DPS has left. 

     “Either one or less… because not all schools have had the same number of days out,” Moore answered.

     This is after students lost multiple days of school because transportation workers were striking. Many employees feel they are not being compensated enough, and most, if not all, want to know for sure that their salaries will remain steady. 

     “We know that the state has not funded public education in the way that it should… we have to take that energy to the state of North Carolina in this budget season,” Board Chair Bettina Umstead said in the same conference.

     She reiterated that to meet all employee’s demands would be financially unsustainable. She encouraged people to focus their protests at the state level, in order to obtain more funding for public schools.

     “We are a public entity that is funded through public dollars,” Moore stated.

     Moore will help DPS during the first phase of working to compensate their employees fairly, while being fiscally responsible under limited resources. Also during this time, they will be conducting a formal search for a permanent superintendent.

     “This is not a one-year or a one-moment solution: this is a journey,” Moore concluded.

PHOTO CREDIT: WRAL NEWS

Moore and Umstead face the panel during the press conference on February 14. They answer questions such as, “When will we see the comptroller’s report?”, and “Are there any flaws you’ve identified in the salary study itself?”