Tuition fees for before school, after-school, summer, and intersession programs will increase by 50% in the 2026-27 school year at Durham Public Schools. According to administrators, this is the minimum increase required for the community education programs to avoid going into the red.
“Without a tuition adjustment, the remaining fund balance will be depleted, placing the program at financial risk,” said Tracey Super, director of community education, at a school board meeting on Thursday. The program will face a $2.26 million loss if tuition is not increased, she added.
With the 50% increase, fees for elementary and middle school afterschool programming will rise from $205 to $307.5 per month and from $100 to $150 per month, respectively. Financial assistance remains available for lower-income households through the district. These fees have not changed since 2016.
“We’re in this position because we had a pandemic and…some other budget challenges and that fund balance got so low…,” Superintendent Anthony Lewis said. He recommended more frequent reviews of the programs’ fund balance going forward.
At a previous meeting, administrators proposed two alternatives: a 35% or 50% flat tuition increase for community education programs. School board members requested more information about a possible sliding scale that tiers tuition increases by family income.
The sliding fee scale proved unfeasible and unpopular, administrators said Thursday.
The district received over 700 responses to a survey of families enrolled in elementary afterschool programming. Of those respondents, 58% said that any tuition increase based on income would be difficult for them and would impact their decision to re-enroll their children in the programs.
Yet the prospect of a flat tuition increase is also unpopular with families. Given the tuition increase, just over a fifth of respondents indicated that they would continue enrolling their children in the district’s community education programs.
Board member Natalie Beyer expressed discomfort with the steep increase. “Could we do a 40% across the board [instead]?” she asked.
Dietrich Danner, senior executive director of federal programs and community engagement, was unequivocal in his response. “No,” he said. “And I don’t mean to say it emphatically, but I am uncomfortable with the uncertainty of these times and where we might end up.”
The school board ultimately voted 5-2 to approve the 50% tuition fee increase for before school, after-school, summer, and intersession programs. Board member Emily Chávez urged her colleagues to reconsider sliding fee scales, among other options, later in the year.
The afterschool programming lottery opens March 9 and closes April 10.
Tanya Wan
