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Board asks for budgets, demographic data after district outlines summer programs for 2026
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Summary
Durham Public Schools presented a suite of summer learning and enrichment programs expected to reach over 1,000 students; the board requested proposed budgets by April, preliminary enrollment demographics by June, and final completion/outcomes and per‑pupil spending by September.
Ashley Stevens, director of school innovation, gave an overview of Durham Public Schools’ summer programs for 2026, describing required offerings such as Read to Achieve and Extended School Year services, plus optional community partnership programs including English for Career Development (in partnership with Durham Tech), CTE Summer Quest, Rising Star internships, Camp Funtastic, SparkCamp and Camp Inventions. Stevens said the district expects to impact more than 1,000 students, employ over 100 DPS staff for summer roles, and rely on a mix of federal, state, local and grant funds along with some parent fees and partner scholarships.
Board members pressed for more fiscal and equity detail. Miss Chavez asked for the proposed budget for each program by the end of the month and additional breakdowns (per‑pupil spending, staffing roles, materials, transportation). Chavez also requested, and the board asked administration to provide by the June work session, preliminary enrollment and demographic data (race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, ESL, EC and AIG) and by the back‑to‑school report in September the final program completion counts, outcomes, and actual per‑pupil spending compared to budgeted estimates.
Stevens said program cost estimates on the slides were largely based on last year’s experience and that many community partnership programs are funded mainly by partners; some programs (Camp Funtastic, Spark) are funded primarily by parent fees while partners provide scholarships for others. She agreed to supply detailed budget breakdowns in April, enrollment/demographic snapshots in June and finalized outcomes and spending in September. Several board members signaled support for the data requests and asked that some updates be included in superintendent briefings and board weekly reports.
What happens next: administration will post a written budget breakdown for each summer program and provide staged data (April: proposed budgets/per‑pupil spending; June: preliminary enrollment/demographics; September: final participation and outcome metrics).
