Welcome to the weekend, readers.
To say Durham Public Schools has had a challenging few months would be an understatement. Between the potential relocation of Durham School of the Arts causing an uproar among parents, and employee pay issues leading to teachers’ and staff sickouts in the early spring, the school district has been scrambling to find answers and rebuild trust in the community.
But another shake-up is frustrating residents as the spring semester comes to an end and parents look to the future–redistricting.
This fall, Durham Public Schools will begin its “Growing Together” student redistricting plan starting with the system’s elementary schools. It’s the first time in over three decades that students will be reassigned to new schools based on where they live. DPS administrators say the plan is in an effort to level out student populations. Growing Together also includes changes to curriculum and the school calendar.
Parents complain about fragmented information, confusing applications, and a lack of information-sharing between central administrators and schools. Some—particularly those who have requested transfers from their assigned schools—say they don’t know where their elementary school children will attend school in the fall, and they don’t understand the process for getting those answers.
Girija Mahajan, a parent of two E.K. Powe Elementary students with a background in public education, has paid close attention to Growing Together from the start. She says the simultaneous reassignment plan and classified pay issues have created a “condition of chaos” that she worries will strain the district’s search for a new superintendent.
It seems as though summer break couldn’t come soon enough for everyone involved. DPS administrators have more than enough to consider in the next couple of months and will need to find a way to right the ship and chart a new course for its staff, teachers, and student community.
Enjoy the holiday weekend, readers. We’ll be back in your inboxes on Tuesday.
—Justin
Durham
The City of Durham’s cemetery maintenance policy is raising questions after a grieving family says flowers and mementos were removed from their granddaughter’s gravesite without warning.
The City of Durham paid a booking agent $37,000 to bring the singer Monica to the Bimbé festival.
Wake
ICYMI: Raleigh’s city manager presented her $1.4 billion budget proposal this week.
Orange
The Orange County/Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools bond referendum was on the Orange County Board of Commissioners agenda this week.
The UNC Board of Governors voted to repeal the UNC System’s DEI policy.
North Carolina
Gov. Cooper is in Europe on a weeklong economic development trip.
Today’s weather
Cloudy with a high of 85 degrees, a chance of showers and storms.
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