![[Junction 54] Pearsontown Bus Scare - Editor's Column/Audio Note](/content/images/size/w600/wordpress/2024/01/wesplatt.jpg)
Columns
You’ve probably heard by now, Pearsontown Elementary School students on their way home from school on the bus got a scare today. One of the children took a toy gun from his backpack in front of other passengers. Principal Asia Cunningham called families about the incident, saying that the
![[SoDuWe Poll Results] DPS Magnet Lottery Outcome](/content/images/size/w600/wordpress/2024/03/magnet-lottery-poll.png)
SoDu We Poll Results
On March 2, 2024, Southpoint Access encouraged readers to participate in a flash poll about their experiences with the Durham Public Schools magnet lottery. Of those responding, 60% indicated that they didn’t secure a spot in their top choice, while 40% indicated that they made it into their first-choice
News
Should Durham Public Schools join an effort to sue major social media companies like Meta, Google, ByteDance, and Snap over harmful impacts on students? Board of Education members on Thursday are expected to hear from attorneys leading litigation against the owners of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat, and could
![[Flash Poll] DPS Magnet Lottery 2024](/content/images/size/w600/wordpress/2024/02/IMG_7119.jpg)
Schools
The results came in Friday from the latest Durham Public Schools magnet and CTE pathways lottery, the first since the district kicked off the new “Growing Together” realignment of schools. I’m curious how the process worked out for Southpoint Access readers who participated. Get the poll results here. Loading…
Milestones
Are you a Southpoint Access subscriber? Support our ultra-local news at this link! Hillside High School Senior Scarlett Bermudez was selected as the only Morehead-Cain Scholar in Durham Public Schools this year. The award gives Bermudez a four-year, fully-funded academic experience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
News
Durham Public Schools parents may have wanted assurances that their child would make it easily into an afterschool program in elementary school in the 2024-25 academic year. What we’re getting instead? Another lottery, similar to what parents use for magnet school applications. Previously, afterschool program access was first-come, first-served.
News
School districts and public charter schools across North Carolina, including Durham Public Schools, are expected to share $1.3 million in grants to expand access to breakfast for students. “Our public schools not only provide safe places for children to learn, but also healthy meals for students who sometimes face
Columns
If you hadn’t been paying attention for the past six weeks, you’d be forgiven for breathing a sigh of relief after reading this line in a statement issued Friday by Durham Public Schools: “This vote ends a period of uncertainty and anxiety for our classified employees, but it
News
Bettina Umstead, chair of the Durham Public Schools Board of Education, on Thursday appointed 11 people to serve on the new ad hoc committee to develop a “meet-and-confer” policy within the school district. The policy, expected to give staff and teachers a louder voice in the budgeting process, is coming
News
Starting in March, classified Durham Public Schools workers who saw their pay increased based on a 2022-23 salary study can expect their checks to shrink – some by more than $1,000 – until the end of the school year. The DPS Board of Education voted Thursday night to pay those workers
Columns
I’ve heard some folks say Durham Public Schools should’ve insisted that Dr. Pascal Mubenga stick around to help clean up the mess his administration caused with the classified worker pay crisis. I get it. I do. If one of my kids spills food on the floor, I want
Schools
The comptroller hired to guide Durham Public Schools out of its classified worker pay quagmire recommends that the district – for now – approve an 11% increase for employees. That’s according to a presentation containing an update from veteran school finance leader Kerry Crutchfield, submitted ahead of the Board of Education’