Durham Schools May Soon Adopt a Discriminatory Policy

Durham County is Pondering Discriminatory Policies

I received this message today. It seems like the discrimination seen in Wake county, where they undermined the ruling of Brown v. Board of Education, has spread to a lesser degree to Durham county. They are considering doing away with the lottery system that gives everyone a fair chance of getting into DSA and locking out charter school children. I think this intentional backwardness is a disgrace.

Below, a CPSC parent has explained some recent news regarding magnet schools in Durham Public Schools. This may be of special interest to any parents who may want to consider having their child apply for Durham School of the Arts (DSA) for middle school (as many CPSC students do.) There is a possibility that if the odds of getting into DSA would be extremely limited if there are preferences given to feeder elementary schools (RN Harris, Club Blvd and Sandy Ridge.) The dates listed below are open to the public and are for public comment only (there will be no discussion.)

Greetings All,

The Durham School Board will vote on December 15^th on new proposal for magnet schools and student assignments. These changes are county wide. DPS is offering the public three opportunities to provide feedback:

• 6:30 p.m. Thursday, December 1 @ Riverside High (auditorium)
• 6:30 p.m. Monday, December 5 @ Jordan High (auditorium);
• 6:30 p.m. Thursday, December 8 @ Southern High (cafeteria)

According to the DPS website the format of these sessions are as follows:

• Moderator will offer short presentation to include rationale for proposal along with guiding principles and assignment limitations.
• Spanish interpreters will be available at the December 8 meeting.
• Speakers must sign up to speak.
• Speakers will be called in order in which they signed up.
• Maximum time is three minutes per speaker.
• Time cannot be yielded/donated to another speaker.
• There will be no dialog. Board members are there to listen.
• Sign-ups will begin at 6:00 (and close at 7:30).
• Speakers may only sign up for themselves.

Since there are only three minutes allotted to each speaker, I would recommend that families take the opportunity to gather as much information as possible prior to the meeting in order to digest, reflect and formulate the most effective responses during the session.

Today, Monday, November 28, 2011 at 7:00pm in the Weaver Auditorium, Durham School of the Arts PTSA has scheduled a second urgent meeting to discuss the magnet proposal. This meeting is open to the public.

One key point from the first DSA meeting. This plan will drastically change student assignment to magnet schools. It will create feeder pattern (links) from elementary to middle to high school that will essentially not allow an open lottery system with equal access to all families all over Durham County.

Some questions have been submitted via the internet and DPS has responded. You can find the answers on this link http://www.dpsnc.net/about-dps/departments/student-assignment/magnet-student-assignment-proposal/responses-to-board-questions

If you believe this is a wrong-minded idea please go to the Durham Public Schools feedback page and register your opposition. Our children need us to be heard if we want to keep a level playing field for them.