Durham Public Schools' Board of Education voted unanimously on January 19 to approve the Growing Together redistricting plan, which will realign elementary school boundaries and transform magnet programs starting in the 2024-25 school year. Despite the 7-0 vote, three board members—Natalie Beyer, Millicent Rogers, and Emily Chávez—expressed serious reservations about the rushed timeline and requested delays to answer community questions before voting. Rogers said she remained "unready" and wanted FAQ sheets addressed first.
The plan creates five geographic regions, increases Pre-K seats, reduces special education transportation times, and guarantees current magnet students comparable program seats within their region. But it also dismantles award-winning programs and displaces hundreds of students. Club Boulevard's nationally recognized Humanities magnet, which serves 400 students, will be replaced with a 24-seat Dual Language Immersion track, displacing 50-75 percent of the student body and eliminating enrichment programs like Friday Clubs and cultural studies. At Little River K-8, the transition to a K-5 Montessori school will require 96 of 127 staff members to either retrain or seek employment elsewhere, with training happening during the school day and unpaid.
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