Ongoing work at the new Durham School of the Arts site, preparations for Durham Public Schools reopening after summer break, discipline policies, and updates from the district’s LGBTQIA+ task force are among the agenda items up for consideration during the June 27 Board of Education meeting.
The board meets at 6:30 p.m. in the main office on Cleveland Street downtown. It’ll also be streamed online on the DPS YouTube channel.
Agenda topics include:
College and Career Ready Labs
The district is considering spending about $180,000 for College and Career Ready Labs for Carrington and Githens middle schools, including materials for computer graphics and game development, emergency and fire management services, and flight and drone technology. The materials come from Paxton/Patterson. Funds are budgeted from a career accelerator federal ESSER grant.
GoDurham Bus Stops at Holton PLC and Riverside High School
The City of Durham wants a temporary construction easement to install upgrades to the existing GoDurham bus stop at Holton Career and Resource Center/Performance Learning Center and a permanent transit easement for a new bus stop at Riverside High. The stop at Riverside will include two shelters on a paved pad with a trash receptacle and a solar-powered light. Construction of both projects should be completed this year.
School Nutrition Service Bids
The district’s School Nutrition Services team recommends that DPS award contracts for food supplies in 2024-2025 to:
- SYSCO Raleigh ($1.7 million) for broadline food supplies, including bread.
- Riverside Paper ($542,000) for non-food supplies.
- R. & H. Produce of Raleigh ($281,000) for produce.
- MDVA Milk Producers Cooperative Association ($841,000) for milk.
- SFSPac ($104,000) for sanitation and safety training services and materials.
- Local bid awards of more than $90,000 are recommended for: Farmer Foodshare ($584,000), Firsthand Food ($247,000), Happy Dirt ($180,000), and Glow House Agriculture ($150,000).
2024-2025 Interim Budget Resolution and Budget Amendment
The Board of Education is set to approve a budget resolution that “authorizes the disbursements of such amounts as may be necessary to pay salaries and wages of employees of Durham Public Schools, principal and interest of indebtedness, and all other usual ordinary expenses that may become due and payable during the interval between the beginning of the 2024-25 fiscal year and the adoption of the budget resolution for that year.”
It would give the board and superintendent authority to operate using revenue projections for the current fiscal year pending final action by the General Assembly in Raleigh. The board also would approve the budget amendment that allocates up to $5 million from the local fund balance to help cover salary increases for classified workers in the district.
Early College Naming Update
Board members will receive an update from DPS administrators about the process for renaming Middle College High School at Durham Technical Community College now that it’s expanding to an early college focused on health science pathways. The new project is a collaboration between DPS, Duke Health, and Durham Tech, with funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
LGBTQIA+ Task Force Update
This DPS task force will review its activities during the past year, including reviewing and providing feedback on the DPS LGBTQIA+ and Gender Supports Policy, exploring LGBTQ resources from L.A. Unified and Long Beach Unified school districts in California, and the impact of N.C. Senate Bill 49, also known as the Parents’ Bill of Rights, which requires that public schools notify parents before any changes can be made to a student’s name or pronouns used in school records or by school personnel. SB 49 also outlaws instruction on gender identity, sexuality, and sexual activity before fifth grade.
Discipline Practice Review and Revision Update
District leaders will get an update about the work started by staff around the review and revision of DPS discipline policies, which are focusing on restorative practices to reduce out-of-school suspensions.
Change Order Update
The board will hear a report on change orders for several DPS projects, including:
- $29,000 for modifications to roof support steel in the HVAC and controls upgrade at Jordan High School.
- $80,000 for, among other things, bathroom tile leveling, floor changes, and slab remediation at Murray Massenburg Elementary School.
- About $1.5 million for earthwork and site preparation, asphalt paving of parking and drives, and other services provided by Terracon at the new Durham School of the Arts site at Duke Homestead. The DSA project also saw change orders of $10 million with Montieth Construction/Balfour Beatty (establishing the guaranteed maximum price and construction schedule for early sitework) and $34,000 from O’Brien Atkins for design services for the offsite roadway improvement.
2024-2025 School Opening Update
Board members will hear about preparations for the coming school year, with a focus on fiscal changes, such as the district budget, school-based teacher and professional allotments, school-based clerical support allotments, and upcoming budget training for staff.
Southpoint Access is a free community news website run as a service to our neighbors in South Durham. Please consider supporting us as a subscriber on Patreon or donate to underwrite the cost of covering the news that matters to you in neighborhoods like Woodcroft, Parkwood, Fairfield, and Hope Valley Farms.