{"id":15966,"date":"2025-03-05T21:24:30","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T21:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=15966"},"modified":"2025-03-05T21:24:30","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T21:24:30","slug":"durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/","title":{"rendered":"Durham school leaders eye potential federal funding cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Already facing a $7 million budget shortfall, the Durham school system is now grappling with the potential of federal funding cuts.<\/span><\/p>\n

At a meeting on Feb. 21, district officials discussed their 2025-2026 budget priorities ahead of the release of the superintendent\u2019s recommended budget on March 27.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cChanges at the national level have the potential to impact public education in our district,\u201d Superintendent Anthony Lewis said at the start of the meeting. \u201cAnd please know that we are closely monitoring these shifts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeremy Teetor, DPS\u2019 chief financial officer said he and his team calculated that the district spends five to six million dollars in federal funding every month. The estimate includes funding for the Community Eligibility Provision, a federal program DPS joined this year that provides free breakfast and lunch to all students regardless of income.<\/span><\/p>\n

While uncertainty loomed at the Feb. 21 meeting, Teetor said DPS is working to be prepared.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re monitoring very carefully as a senior leadership team what are the threats to various forms of federal funding and how we might need to react,\u201d Teetor said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus far, federal cuts to education spending have not affected the district directly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Under President Trump, the U.S. Department of Education has been axing what it characterizes as \u201cwoke spending.\u201d That includes ending diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and enforcing President Trump\u2019s executive order that bans transgender athletes from competing in women\u2019s sports.<\/span><\/p>\n

The department <\/span>cut<\/span><\/a> over $600 million in grants for teacher training on concepts such as Critical Race Theory, DEI, social justice, anti-racism, white privilege, and white supremacy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Further, the federal government has implemented $562 million in <\/span>cuts<\/span><\/a> for programs that provide technical assistance and training services in centers across the country. In North Carolina, those cuts are landing primarily at the SERVE Center at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, which runs both the Comprehensive Centers Program and the Regional Educational Laboratory for the Southeast.<\/span><\/p>\n

Likewise, the Department of Education <\/span>cut<\/span><\/a> $33 million in grants to support the Equity Assistance Centers Program. In the South, the program is run out of Atlanta and provides technical assistance and training in areas such as race, sex, national origin, and religion to school systems, among other work.<\/span><\/p>\n

While those cuts won\u2019t affect the district directly, they will affect DPS employees, said Nicholas King, the school system\u2019s deputy superintendent.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThose organizations do not provide direct services or funding to Durham Public Schools but our employees do sometimes access and take advantage of programming provided by these agencies,\u201d King said in an email response to The 9th Street Journal on Friday. \u201cEnding funding for these programs would therefore reduce access to a number of outside professional development programs that would help our educators to hone their skills.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

DPS officials are also warily eyeing potential state funding reductions. North Carolina\u2019s new State Treasurer, Brad Briner, has proposed changes to the State Health Plan, including\u00a0 increasing premiums to keep up with inflation. At the meeting, Teetor said his team is \u201ca little bit nervous\u201d about the state health plan changes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All in all, with an unbalanced budget and potential funding reductions at the federal and state level, the DPS finance team has its work cut out for it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo just a lot of things that we\u2019ve had to take under review as we think about developing the budget,\u201d Teetor said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The district will be rescheduling a public hearing about the budget, which was cancelled due to snow.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Above: Durham Superintendent Anthony Lewis, speaking at a groundbreaking ceremony in the fall. Photo by Abigail Bromberger \u2014 The 9th Street Journal\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Already facing a $7 million budget shortfall, the Durham school system is now grappling with the potential of federal funding cuts. At a meeting on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":15969,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[269],"class_list":["post-15966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-schools","tag-the-9th-street-journal","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nDurham school leaders eye potential federal funding cuts - 9th Street Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Durham school leaders eye potential federal funding cuts - 9th Street Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Already facing a $7 million budget shortfall, the Durham school system is now grappling with the potential of federal funding cuts. At a meeting on…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"9th Street Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-05T21:24:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/03\/DSA-Groundbreaking-27.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"751\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"535\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lily Kempczinski\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lily Kempczinski\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lily Kempczinski\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/person\/8e87c6c87252ee31c36dc1903ee36b42\"},\"headline\":\"Durham school leaders eye potential federal funding cuts\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-05T21:24:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/\"},\"wordCount\":604,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/03\/DSA-Groundbreaking-27.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The 9th Street Journal\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Schools\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/\",\"name\":\"Durham school leaders eye potential federal funding cuts - 9th Street Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/03\/DSA-Groundbreaking-27.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-05T21:24:30+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/03\/DSA-Groundbreaking-27.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/03\/DSA-Groundbreaking-27.jpg\",\"width\":751,\"height\":535,\"caption\":\"Superintendent Anthony Lewis\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Durham school leaders eye potential federal funding cuts\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/\",\"name\":\"9th Street Journal\",\"description\":\"We cover Durham (and North Carolina politics)\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"9th Street Journal\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/09\/9th-Street-Journal-Logo-cropped.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/09\/9th-Street-Journal-Logo-cropped.jpeg\",\"width\":869,\"height\":104,\"caption\":\"9th Street Journal\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/person\/8e87c6c87252ee31c36dc1903ee36b42\",\"name\":\"Lily Kempczinski\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c200f93196c8b1e744f28f499547bd23?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c200f93196c8b1e744f28f499547bd23?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lily Kempczinski\"},\"url\":\"#molongui-disabled-link\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Durham school leaders eye potential federal funding cuts - 9th Street Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Durham school leaders eye potential federal funding cuts - 9th Street Journal","og_description":"Already facing a $7 million budget shortfall, the Durham school system is now grappling with the potential of federal funding cuts. At a meeting on…","og_url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/","og_site_name":"9th Street Journal","article_published_time":"2025-03-05T21:24:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":751,"height":535,"url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/03\/DSA-Groundbreaking-27.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lily Kempczinski","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lily Kempczinski","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/"},"author":{"name":"Lily Kempczinski","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/person\/8e87c6c87252ee31c36dc1903ee36b42"},"headline":"Durham school leaders eye potential federal funding cuts","datePublished":"2025-03-05T21:24:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/"},"wordCount":604,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/03\/DSA-Groundbreaking-27.jpg","keywords":["The 9th Street Journal"],"articleSection":["Schools"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/","url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/","name":"Durham school leaders eye potential federal funding cuts - 9th Street Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/03\/DSA-Groundbreaking-27.jpg","datePublished":"2025-03-05T21:24:30+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/03\/DSA-Groundbreaking-27.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/03\/DSA-Groundbreaking-27.jpg","width":751,"height":535,"caption":"Superintendent Anthony Lewis"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2025\/03\/05\/durham-school-leaders-eye-potential-federal-funding-cuts\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Durham school leaders eye potential federal funding cuts"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/","name":"9th Street Journal","description":"We cover Durham (and North Carolina politics)","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#organization","name":"9th Street Journal","url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/09\/9th-Street-Journal-Logo-cropped.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/09\/9th-Street-Journal-Logo-cropped.jpeg","width":869,"height":104,"caption":"9th Street Journal"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/person\/8e87c6c87252ee31c36dc1903ee36b42","name":"Lily Kempczinski","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c200f93196c8b1e744f28f499547bd23?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c200f93196c8b1e744f28f499547bd23?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lily Kempczinski"},"url":"#molongui-disabled-link"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15966"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15966\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15981,"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15966\/revisions\/15981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}