SoDu We Like Local News Episode 6: Slowing the Zone?

It’s time for the rubber to meet the road with Durham Public Schools’ new “family responsibility zones,” which take effect on Jan. 21 for year-round schools and Jan. 22 for traditional-calendar schools.

But for at least one South Durham school, there’s a reprieve.

Hello again. I’m Wes Platt, neighborhood news guy for South Durham, and you’re listening to SoDu We Like Local News, a podcast about what’s happening right here in our backyard around Southpoint, Hope Valley, Parkwood, Fairfield, and more! It’s freely available to readers of Southpoint Access – your source for ultra-local news in SoDu.

I confirmed Monday with DPS officials that walkers in the northern family responsibility zone at Hope Valley Elementary School will continue getting school bus service while construction work limits access to a sidewalk on Chapel Hill Road leading to University Drive.

Kenneth Barnes, DPS interim executive director of auxiliary services, said he met with city officials on Jan. 8 and learned that the water department could take as much as two more weeks to finish work – depending on the weather. Buses will continue to run for those families until the city work is done.

But 20 other schools – Pearsontown, Parkwood, and Southwest among them - can expect the plan to move forward for the end of bus service and the kickoff of responsibility zones, in which families must provide their own transportation. The new transportation approach is supposed to alleviate demand on the school district’s short-staffed bus drivers, but it’s affecting 750 elementary school students – many of whom don’t speak English as their first language and whose parent (or parents) may not have the ability to get their kids to school in the morning or pick them up in the middle of the afternoon.

The North Carolina PTA organization on Sunday held the first of two emergency meetings about the new no-bus zones in Durham. The big takeaway really seemed to be caution from leaders like Dr. Shaneeka Moore-Lawrence about PTAs actively promoting and participating as chaperones for walk groups around Durham schools, due to liability concerns. But Moore-Lawrence encouraged PTA leaders to advocate for students by attending government meetings and sending emails to leaders in the school district, Durham County, and on the city council. She wants to eliminate any barriers created by the new system.

“The situation has created pretty big barriers for our community,” said Jocelyn Dawson, president of the Hope Valley PTA during Sunday’s virtual meeting. She said the condensed rollout time hasn’t allowed for enough effective communication. So, I guess it’s lucky that Hope Valley gets a little extra time to prepare thanks to the utility work.

I’m wishing the best for all the other schools getting ready to adjust to the new “new normal” as rotational bus coverage takes a back seat to no-bus zones.

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