Durham Public Schools unanimously approved a $222 million request for county funding for the upcoming school year on Thursday. The request to the county is nearly $16 million over last year’s request, which featured a historic funding increase.
The total budget will be at least $708 million — last year’s total — but the final figure will depend on state and federal allocations.
The new budget seeks to resolve concerns over ongoing district issues such as transportation and staff salaries. The budget includes $377,436 to supplement bus drivers’ pay and $2.3 million to increase the local pay supplement for teachers. Further, the budget allocates $1.4 million for master’s pay for teachers, counting in staff who were left out in a previous budget last summer.
The budget also includes nearly $1.7 million in positions for “Growing Together,” the district’s redistricting plan.
Jeremy Teetor, DPS’ chief finance officer, said that his team has created a “clean base budget” for the upcoming year, resolving last year’s budget shortfall. At its worst point last year, DPS was $33.4 million in the red.
“The budget book that was developed for Durham last year had some gaping holes that we had to solve and address,” Teetor said.
Teetor also stressed that the district does not have full clarity on how much funding it will receive from the state, and thus has had to make some informed guesses on some budget items.
“Across the 115 school systems in North Carolina, none of us know what we’re going to make next year…we forecast a 3% raise from the state of North Carolina,” Teetor added.
The 3% forecast, Teetor explained, is a middle ground between the governor’s and the state Senate’s proposals. Governor Josh Stein’s budget included a 10.6% average raise for teachers over a two-year period, whereas the Senate proposes an average increase of 3.3% over the biennium.
Members of the public and the Durham Association of Educators voiced qualms about the new budget.
“I do want to ask, what is DPS’ commitment to classified employees…?,” asked DPS physical therapist Christie Clem. “Current salary schedules have increased the compression and lowered the max pay for different positions.”
Former school board member Fredrick Davis came forward to urge the board to prioritize students.
“As you prepare to vote on the budget before you, remember that there are citizens of more than one organization that you represent,” Davis said. “And there are more funding needs that must be a priority. And if we are to maintain a school system of excellence, where children are first, children are first, and parents who must trust this system to send their children to you.” While a big step, the board’s budget is not the final word on the district’s spending for next year. The budget book will now be sent to the county manager, Claudia Hager, who will put together her own recommended budget by May 12. Hager’s budget will then be voted on by the Board of County Commissioners in July.
Above: Photo by Kulsoom Rizavi — The 9th Street Journal
