Durham Public Schools Changes Course on Bus Plan

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Good morning, readers.

Durham Public Schools’ experiment with rotational bus service will soon come to an end.

Approved in November in response to a shortage of bus drivers, the rotational bus service sorted each of the district’s 800 routes into one of five groups that wouldn’t receive bus service on one day each week. The board also planned to implement “express stops,” after rotational service ended, for students at three magnet schools, where students would gather at a nearby elementary or middle school where a bus would pick them up and transport them. That idea has been tabled, for now, school officials announced last week. 

Larry Webb. the district’s chief operating officer, said the move comes as the district has been successful recruiting new bus drivers. But the rotational bus service and proposed express stops had been the subject of community backlash.

Still, express stops are set to be implemented for families attending magnet schools next academic year, and next week the district will also introduce family responsibility zones—areas within 1.5 miles of schools that won’t receive bus service. 

It’s a tradeoff that still leaves some dissatisfied. 

“We’re trading—in my head—one set of eggs that are rotting for another set of eggs that are rotting,” said school board member Joy Harrell Goff at last week’s meeting. “I feel like we got one bandaid that’s not quite working yet. Do we switch one for the other? I don’t know.” 

Have a good Monday. 

—Jane

Clarification: After Orange County rejected it, convenience store juggernaut Buc-ee’s will open in Mebane this year (in Alamance County).

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