Durham Schools May Hire a Firm to Win Families Back from Charters. Would It Pay Off?
A Memphis-based company offers one model: get paid for each student who returns. For Durham Public Schools, the appeal is obvious. So are the questions.
DID YOU KNOW? There's a subscription deal celebrating Durham Public Schools? Get 50% off your Southpoint Access subscription!
Durham Public Schools officials are talking about a strategy that would have seemed unusual not long ago: hiring an outside firm to help bring families back from charter schools.
At this week’s joint meeting with county commissioners, Board of Education Member Emily Chávez called for more aggressive marketing. Chief Finance Officer Jeremy Teetor said DPS plans to issue a request for proposals for a vendor “used in other states” to help attract charter-school students back to district schools.
The model they may have in mind is not hard to identify.
In Florida, Orange County Public Schools hired Caissa Public Strategies, also known publicly as Caissa K-12, under a contract that pays the company $935 for each formerly enrolled student who returns to a district-run school and stays 30 days.
That makes Caissa a clear example of the kind of firm Durham officials appear to be discussing, if not the likely candidate itself.
Wes Platt
