DPS presents year‑one progress on Strategic Plan Priority 5: facilities, safety, transportation and system modernization

Durham Public Schools staff reported progress and next steps on Priority 5 of the district strategic plan — facilities, operations, safety and business modernization — at the board’s June meeting, giving trustees a multi‑topic briefing that ranged from HVAC capital work to transportation routing to an upcoming payroll conversion.

“Goal 5 is to conduct business administration and operation functions responsibly and equitably,” presenter Jeremy Teeter said as the district team outlined subgoals 5a through 5d. The presentation brought together operations, safety, transportation and technology leaders to report accomplishments, ongoing work and near‑term actions.

Safety and anonymous tips: Eva Howard, executive director of safety and security, told trustees the district’s two anonymous tip systems received 258 tips during the current school year through “last week,” a sample period the district provided to the board. The tips came from elementary (18), middle (41), high and specialty schools (176) and non‑DPS or administrative sites (22). The top concerns reported through those systems were threats of violence, substance abuse, bullying, self‑harm and employee complaints; staff emphasized the systems operate 24/7 and that many tips arrive after hours or on weekends.

Howard described district systems that support school safety: school resource officers assigned at middle and high schools, access‑control vestibules and badge systems, cameras, emergency radios and an Emergency Operations Plan updated annually under North Carolina law. She also said the district is actively researching additional security technology and grant opportunities to pay for upgrades.

HVAC and facilities work: Operations presenters described an ongoing capital effort to replace aging HVAC systems, prioritize replacements by criticality and install remote monitoring; the district said roughly 98% of facilities will be equipped with HVAC monitoring to detect and respond to failures. Staff said recent federal ESSER funds helped complete HVAC capital improvements and that ARPA funding is planned for additional projects; they also described playground renovations and a 10‑year capital improvement planning process that will follow a facility‑conditions assessment.

Transportation and on‑time goals: Kenneth Barnes, presenting goal 5b, said the district’s target is that by 2028, 90% of DPS students who ride district buses will have on‑time arrivals. The transportation team described route adjustments to shorten ride times, plans to regionalize driving next year, a behind‑the‑wheel driver training program and recruitment efforts to restore and expand the driver workforce. Barnes and others emphasized a crucial distinction for trustees: the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI) reports a transportation “efficiency” metric that has risen recently for DPS, but that state efficiency statistics are not the same as the board’s “on‑time arrivals” metric; district staff said a new instrument and reporting process will be developed so the board can receive on‑time arrival data (daily/weekly/monthly) rather than only DPI efficiency numbers.

Enrollment, magnet and facilities growth: Lori Blake Reed reported on goal 5c — increasing K–12 enrollment toward higher utilization — and outlined marketing and outreach strategies (showcases, videos and program marketing), the recent openings of Myra Matzenberg Elementary (2024) and Northern High (2023), and plans for an interim health‑sciences early college to open at 41 Moore Drive with a permanent site on Durham Tech campus in two to three years. Reed reported a modest enrollment increase for FY24‑25 of +157 students (from 31,031 to 31,188) and said the district is creating long‑range enrollment forecasts to inform the capital improvement plan.

Business modernization and finance/HR systems: Teeter summarized the district’s multi‑year modernization work to move legacy AS/400 finance, payroll and fixed‑asset systems to web‑based cloud systems. The accounts‑payable, budget, fixed‑asset and general‑ledger migrations are complete; payroll is the next major module targeted to go live in January (the district proposed a parallel run schedule to test payroll in both old and new systems during fall months). He said child‑nutrition and HR modules will follow and that the district hopes to reduce the number of separate software systems that school treasurers must access.

Board questions focused on timing, data and implementation: trustees asked for comparisons of tip counts against prior years, for firm estimates of technology upgrade costs, clarification that seclusion‑and‑restraint reporting is being revised (see separate policy item), and more detailed timelines for the payroll and nutrition‑software migrations. Trustees also pressed for regular updates on HVAC response procedures and requested a clearer public communications template for families if facilities failures force early dismissals.

Why this matters: Priority 5 covers the district’s back‑office capacity that directly affects school safety, daily operations, student access (transportation, enrollment) and the sustainability of digital and physical infrastructure. Several items reported — HVAC reliability, bus on‑time performance, device sustainability and payroll modernization — can affect operations, safety and staff capacity if not implemented and monitored.

What to watch next: The board requested staff return with more detailed on‑time bus arrival reporting, comparative tip counts year over year, cost estimates for security technology, and a timeline for payroll and child‑nutrition software moves. Trustees also asked for a public communications plan staff could use during facilities outages that could affect in‑school comfort and student dismissal decisions.