Durham Arts School Closer to Relocation

The curtain is slowly coming down on the current downtown site of Durham School of the Arts.

During the Aug. 8 work session, members of the Durham Public Schools Board of Education did everything except vote on a final decision. Instead, they opted to punt the vote until their Aug. 22 meeting, so they could allow another public comment opportunity before they officially give the ultimate go-ahead to the plan to relocate to a new campus more than two miles away on the old Duke Homestead site off Stadium Drive.

The decision to hold off on a final vote may have been the best option, given the fact that Tropical Storm Debby forced the board to hold Thursday’s meeting virtually, pre-empting in-person comments by opponents and supporters of the new DSA construction project. However, the board’s chair, Millicent Rogers, asked members to at least indicate where they stand on the plan. Despite some misgivings about communication with stakeholders and concerns about maintaining ties with downtown Durham, the board overall seemed keen to move forward with a relocation rather than trying to renovate around students for the better part of a decade.

Said Board Member Natalie Beyer: “On behalf of nearly 2,000 students at DSA and in respect for the will of the voters of this community, I continue to be enthusiastic about supporting the new Durham School of the Arts as a fiscally responsible way to plan for students today and into the future.”

Board Member Bettina Umstead agreed, saying she wants to move forward but looks forward to hearing from the public during the Aug. 22 comment period.

Vice-Chair Jessica Carda-Auten said that DSA’s new campus was a top priority when voters approved bond projects several years ago and should move forward. “Yes, we need to find the resources to renovate and make all our learning spaces ideal,” she said, “but that doesn’t mean current and future DSA students don’t deserve a premiere arts school space. They don’t deserve a subpar learning environment.”

Board Member Emily Chavez described this as an “uncomfortable decision” because some community members want to stay in the current building. But she feels compelled by the length of time it would take to renovate, the reduced capacity caused by such an endeavor in a school that’s already oversubscribed, and safety concerns about exposing students to a construction site while the renovations are completed. She leaned toward moving to the new space, but said that she hopes people can “celebrate or mourn and move forward” after the Aug. 22 meeting.

The board’s two newcomers, Wendell Tabb and Joy Harrell Goff, weren’t part of the original decision-making process about building the new DSA campus, but they too seemed tilted toward relocation.

“Personally, as an artist, I would want to be downtown,” Tabb said. “But as a board member looking at all things … I would not stop that process.” He does want to hear from the community, including Durham for DSA, before making a final decision.

“The thing most compelling to me is that the programming and educational benefits of the new space could not be replicated in the old space,” Harrell Goff said. “I firmly believe if we have found a way to give our students the best, we should give them the best.”

Rogers offered no further comment except to say, “I look forward to us moving this forward.”

The board then voted unanimously to put the DSA decision on the consent agenda for Aug. 22. Public comment will come ahead of the board deciding whether to vote to pass the consent agenda or to pull the DSA item for further discussion as an action item.