The Durham board of education postponed an expected vote on plans for a new Durham School of the Arts on Thursday. Still, board members appear committed to plans for the new school. While some board members raised questions regarding plans to build a new school rather than renovate the current site — including questions about costs — all said they favored proceeding with the new construction.
In light of Tropical Storm Debby, the school board moved the meeting online. As a result, the board decided to hold off on some action items. Instead, the board conducted a “round robin”-style discussion about DSA and moved the topic to the consent agenda for its August 22 meeting.
DSA, a magnet school currently located downtown near Brightleaf Square, has been the topic of significant board discussion since May 2021, when a third-party assessment determined that the current campus did not meet the needs for a school of the arts. A proposal was developed to relocate the school, which currently serves 1,850 students in grades 6 through 12, to a site away from downtown, about two miles north on Duke Homestead Road.
The decision has created considerable controversy among members of the community, with the group Durham for DSA forming to oppose the board’s position and advocate an alternative route.
At the meeting Thursday, community members weighing in online also offered pointed criticisms.
“I have not seen an honest estimate of improving DSA in its current location,” read a comment from Scott Harrington.
Board members and community members asked for clearer information about costs, asking questions of DPS staff members Fredrick Davis, senior executive director of building services; Todd LoFrese, interim chief operating officer; Mathew Palmer, senior executive director of school planning and operational services; and Rod Malone, the board attorney.
Board member and Vice Chair Jessica Carda-Auten asked for an estimate of the total cost if the board were to decide to renovate the current site rather than build a new school.
In response, Davis reiterated opposition to a renovation, saying it would not meet the programming and capacity needs that the new building would accommodate.
Interim Superintendent Moore echoed Davis’ response.
“Attempting to provide everything that’s in the new DSA at the renovated DSA would actually cost more than the new DSA…it really isn’t feasible in many cases,” Moore said.
On August 1, staff presented a School Closure Study to the board that includes an updated cost estimate for a new DSA. The study says constructing a new DSA will cost $213 million. At previous meetings, staff have cited the total cost of a new DSA as between $241 to $256 million.
The numbers have drawn attention in part because some DPS parents criticized spending a large amount on a new school in lieu of other pressing maintenance projects. In November 2022, Durham residents voted to approve a bond referendum that included $423 million for a host of projects — new construction, renovations and improvements — at several schools, including DSA. With the DSA project now consuming over half of the bond amount, renovations have been postponed at four Durham elementary schools, and some DPS parents have expressed frustration over the use of the funds.
Asked to clarify, Davis said the figures refer to different aspects of the new DSA building project.
“Construction budget vs Project Budget are different,” Davis said in an email to The 9th Street Journal. “Construction is estimated at $213 million at this time. The total Project Budget, which includes design, furniture fixtures and equipment is estimated at $241-$256 million. To note, the design contract of $12 million is included in the $241-$256 million number.”
The study also compares the costs of new construction with renovation costs. In estimating renovation costs for the current DSA campus, the study uses the figure of $213 million — the staff’s estimate of the cost of building a new school — as the baseline. It then adds costs of new improvements, such as adding a new baseball field, to reach a total renovation cost estimate of $269 million.
John Hodges-Copple, former planning director at Triangle J Council of Governments and a member of the group Durham for DSA, says the comparison is misleading.
“They say ‘apples to apples’ means you have to drop the new school on the current site, which, of course, is physically impossible and isn’t necessary, right?” Hodges-Copple said in an interview with The 9th Street Journal. “Why would you drop a gym on a gym? Why would you drop a cafeteria on a cafeteria? Who even thinks this is reasonable?”
Hodges-Copple advocates for a community option, a plan developed by a group of architects, engineers, planners and developers, that lays out a strategy to renovate the current DSA site for approximately $180 million — versus the school system’s estimate of $269 million.
Moore discussed the community option Thursday.
“I want to acknowledge that the plan that community members have brought forward does have a lower price tag than the new DSA,” she said. “That lower price tag comes with not meeting the programming requirements that have been established for the performing arts school.”
Board member Emily Chávez asked Davis to explain why the community option’s cost estimate for renovating DSA is so much lower than the school system’s.
“What do you see as the differences in why the numbers don’t match up between what your assessment of what the renovation, potential renovation, would cost, versus what people may be thinking…in the community, and have shared with us?” Chávez asked.
Davis defended the administration’s numbers at the meeting, saying, “I am not sure of any discrepancies in the numbers if they disagree with those numbers.”
Chávez’s question amplified confusion expressed by community members on the exact cost estimate of the renovation. While the meeting did not include a formal public comment section, individuals could submit comments through a Google Form that was made available on the DPS website.
Alongside questions regarding costs, members of the public expressed frustration with how the board has communicated about DSA, notably regarding a public hearing about the project on August 1. Public notice of the hearing went out on July 30.
“So to have a hastily scheduled public hearing last Thursday that was not advertised to the public just felt like an insult, like a total lack of care,” Matt Kopac said on the public comment form.
Kopac, alongside Hodges-Copple, noted that the submission link for August 8 comments was broken until two hours before the submission deadline.
In an email to The 9th Street Journal, Crystal Kimpson Roberts, director of strategic communications at DPS, said, “The correct link was added and the community was able to submit their comments in the time allotted.”
During the meeting, board member Carda-Auten acknowledged residents’ frustration.
“What feels clear to me is that, despite all of the work that was put into this, there are a significant number of people in our community who don’t have the confidence in what we are proposing to do…I think we as a board, as a district, should think about how we communicate moving forward…,” Carda-Auten said.
Board member Bettina Umstead added, “I want to just acknowledge that we can do better with engagement.”
Despite the concerns raised, all board members said they were leaning towards building the new school. Members cited the long time frame for renovating the old site and the inability to provide all programs that the new site could accommodate, among other concerns, as reasons for favoring new construction.
However, board members acknowledged the difficulty of resolving the question.
“It feels like an uncomfortable decision to make because there are a lot of reasons why some community members want to stay in the current building,” Chávez said.
