Durham Public Schools Earns Public Health Award

Durham Public Schools has received the 2024 Public Health Partners Award from the North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors (NCALHD). This award recognizes the school system’s efforts in promoting health and protecting the environment, aligning with NCALHD’s mission to ensure public health across North Carolina through leadership and advocacy.

The nomination for this award was submitted by the Durham County Department of Public Health, highlighting the contributions of Durham Public Schools towards public health within the state. This acknowledgment serves as a testament to the collaborative efforts in enhancing health and environmental safety in the community.

“Our partnership remains strong and vibrant. It is the greatest honor to have Durham Public Schools join me in accepting this award. This is a major accomplishment for Durham, as we are known to lead the way,” said Rod Jenkins, public health director and president-elect of NCALHD. 

Dr. Laverne Mattocks-Perry, senior executive director of student support services at DPS, shared that the award validates the collaborative work between the two organizations.

“We humbly and excitedly accept this award as a true measure of our unwavering commitment to the health of the citizens of Durham County,” Perry said. “The 31,000 students and 5,200 staff members of Durham Public Schools deserve the protection and principled leadership that NCALHD espouses and this partnership is most certainly representative of that philosophy.”

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