Residents and educators urge full Durham Public Schools funding; community groups press for HEART expansion and early-defense pilot

Dozens of residents, school staff and community advocates urged the Durham County Board of Commissioners during a public hearing to restore or increase funding for Durham Public Schools (DPS), expand the HEART crisis response program into schools and across the county, and support a proposed Holistic Early Defense pilot for families involved with child welfare.

Speakers told the board the county manager’s recommended budget — which the public hearing characterized as funding $10,000,000 of DPS’s $16,000,000 ask — risked layoffs, service reductions and the loss of recently won pay increases. “Our students and coworkers deserve a budget that is free of layoffs and budget cuts,” said Micah Hunter Tweetmeyer, president of the Durham Association of Educators.

Why it matters: Speakers said cuts or partial funding would affect bus drivers, school social workers, master’s‑pay upgrades and other frontline positions that, they argued, are essential to student safety and learning. Advocates also framed modest county investments in alternative crisis response and early legal help as cost‑effective measures to prevent deeper social and fiscal harms.

Key public testimony and requests - Durham Association of Educators and school staff: Multiple speakers, including Micah Hunter Tweetmeyer and classroom teachers, asked the board to fund the full $16,000,000 DPS request. Testimony cited ongoing transportation staffing shortages, the need for a $200 supplement for drivers, inclusion of social workers in master’s pay and other frontline supports. “Please do the best you can for my students and for all DPS students with this budget,” said fourth‑grade teacher Vanessa Barnett Laurel. - Bus drivers and transportation staff: Several bus drivers and monitors described staffing shortages that delayed students’ starts to school and said the $200 supplement and other funding in the DPS request are essential to retain drivers. “You can fully fund the DPS budget request and ensure that drivers get the $200 supplement,” said bus driver Andre Cunningham. - HEART expansion: Members of the Have a Heart Coalition urged countywide HEART expansion and a specific, time‑limited investment to place non‑police peer‑support/EMT personnel into schools. Community speakers said HEART already responds to mental‑health and nonviolent crises and could divert many calls from armed law enforcement. “All that is needed is $450,000 and this does not need to come from money already earmarked for schools,” said Reyna Rusenko, citing a funding figure proposed by advocates for a school pilot. - Holistic Early Defense / Carolina Parent Defenders: Speakers from the People’s Alliance and the Carolina Parent Defenders pilot asked the county to allocate $250,000 to launch a holistic early‑defense pilot that would provide legal and social supports to families at risk of child‑welfare intervention. Testifiers described neglect findings tied to poverty and argued early legal and social support can prevent traumatic family separations.

Arguments and context from speakers - Several speakers tied education funding to broader county priorities, arguing that underfunded schools increase pressure on other systems. A social worker representing DPS said she sees increases in homelessness and eviction that drive families into CPS processes and that prevention investments would lower long‑term costs. - HEART advocates pointed to county analytics and calls‑for‑service data, saying unarmed HEART teams could handle hundreds of calls per month and that the sheriff and many commissioners have publicly supported HEART expansion; advocates urged commissioners to act on that stated support.

Board process and next steps The board opened and closed the public hearing after calling forward speakers in groups. The hearing itself did not change the manager’s recommended budget; commissioners will consider the public testimony as they deliberate on departmental allocations and the final FY2025–26 county budget.

Ending note: Public commenters repeatedly urged commissioners to prioritize direct services — from teacher and driver pay to community‑based crisis response and early legal support — and warned that partial funding could force difficult staffing and program cuts.