It’s Friday, May 10.
The INDY’s Best of Durham’s Reader’s poll is open for nominations on May 8th! Take 5 minutes and nominate your favorite restaurant, home service, or local activity. Spread the word, anyone may vote and nominate a business.
Happy Friday, readers.
It’s budget season.
On May 28, the Durham County Board of Commissioners will host its final budget public hearing. This comes on the heels of the Durham school board submitting its most ambitious budget request to-date: an additional $26 million in local funding.
Much of the funding request, about $20 million, covers salary and benefits increases for teachers and classified staff. Over the last six months, the district has faced upheaval as employees went on strike in response to financial mismanagement. The Durham Association of Educators (DAE) led the charge to organize workers and the fallout included the district chief financial officer and superintendent both resigning.
Scoring a win on the budget is only part of the DAE’s efforts this spring. Since April, four members of the teacher’s union, including DAE President Symone Kiddoo, have participated in an ad-hoc committee alongside four other non-union workers and two school board members to negotiate terms for a formal process called “meet and confer.”
The process would give DAE representatives the opportunity to engage with district staff on a regular basis to negotiate issues like improved working conditions. The committee is scheduled to meet one more time before a decision could be made about whether the school district will accept DAE’s request for meet and confer.
For now, all eyes are on the county commissioners, who will make their final decision on next year’s budget on June 10. The budget will be the last major vote for outgoing members Brenda Howerton, Heidi Carter, and Nimasheena Burns. School funding has been a contentious topic over the years, but advocates of public education hope this ambitious request for funding will be met with enthusiasm.
Enjoy your weekend, readers.
—Justin
Durham
Plans for the $200 million redevelopment of Durham’s Coca Cola Bottling facility include hundreds of new apartments, townhomes, and a retail component. [Paywalled]
Wake
ICYMI: The Raleigh City Council approved $5 million for a new pilot program to address homelessness.
Orange
The Orange County Health Department published its Community Health Assessment, providing data on health trends in the county every four years.
North Carolina
NC Treasurer Dale Folwell says NC hospitals overcharged cancer patients.
Today’s weather
Sunny with a high of 81 degrees, a chance of showers and storms.
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