Resident presses board for more transparency ahead of Oyster River budget vote

Bruce Fenton, a Durham resident and parent of four district students, used public comment time to press the board for greater transparency on the district budget ahead of the upcoming warrant vote.

Fenton said he was surprised to hear discussion of “potentially a commitment of millions of dollars for expansion of the elementary schools” so soon after recent conversations about teacher pay. He criticized the size of the district budget—citing a $58,000,000 figure that he said seemed “extraordinary”—and said enrollment has been flat over five- and 10-year periods.

“There's a lot of lack of transparency,” Fenton said. He called out unspecified contracted services and large special-education allocations that “don't say who's getting that check” and asked the board to produce clearer data about where money flows. He said taxpayers in Durham already face high tax burdens and urged the board to “increase the transparency and give us better data to make these decisions.”

Fenton also suggested that expansion plans could create lucrative opportunities for private actors and said he suspects “millions that could be cut,” though he did not identify specific line items or contractors. The board took the comment during public-comment time; no action was taken at the meeting. The superintendent and administrators presented budget-related materials elsewhere in the meeting and reminded the public that the district’s budget vote is scheduled for Tuesday, March 11, with polling locations posted on the district website.

No board member disputed Fenton’s characterizations at the time; several board members later emphasized the need to study first-year pilot programs (for example, a new counselor position) before proposing expansions in future budget cycles.