In 2022, billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott gifted $18 million to Durham Public Schools (DPS)—no strings attached. At the time, Riverside High School student journalists wrote op-eds for the INDY sharing how they hoped the funds could be used to improve student transportation, modernize classrooms, and support low-income students and their families.
Three years later, we have a better idea of where that money is actually going: toward things like professional development, the “growing together” redistricting plan, and, potentially, the district’s $7 million budget shortfall, caused by overspending on payroll, charter schools, child nutrition, and more.
Below, three of those same Pirates’ Hook writers follow up on their original op-eds.
Lana McIlvaine: Infrastructure
When I first wrote how DPS should have allocated the $18 million grant towards infrastructure recovery two years ago, I was disappointed when the district ultimately did not listen to any students.
Looking back on my first INDY piece as a senior getting ready to graduate now, I realize that I didn’t have a clear understanding of how expensive running a school district is. In reality, $18 million is a lot, but also microscopic for a district with a $730 million operating budget. That said, I still believe that the way they decided to use the money was inefficient and disappointing.
Infrastructure, by definition, encompasses all physical structures that support daily life. This includes roads, bridges, water, energy, telecommunications, and school buildings. In the context of this article, infrastructure translates to the physical structure of school buildings, the bathrooms, and HVAC systems.
The $18 million was spent on several categories, including $8.22 million on academics. That’s never a bad idea, but the specifics are questionable (e.g., half a million dollars spent on “adequate furnishings” to improve family engagement), and two years have barely produced any tangible results.
My stance remains the same today: good infrastructure improves quality of life and community connection and demonstrates progress.
The bathroom stalls have been upgraded, but only because Student Government Association leaders Abby Cho and Kharmina Mitre ensured the work was getting done. Other improvements, like replacing the rotted trailer ramps, have occurred, but the repairs aren’t keeping up with the needs.
At least infrastructure has been on the radar of DPS. Northern High School’s new building, along with plans for a new Durham School of the Arts and several other major projects, are exciting. However, the execution is as messy as always: Northern’s new three-story building did not provide adequate space for labs in science classrooms and made the soccer field too small (the team currently practices on their old field).
Most of Riverside’s structural issues come from its construction, too. More than 30 years later, the same mistakes are being made, and millions of dollars are spent on new buildings with the same old flaws.
DPS needs to listen to their students. Time after time again, we have been left to fend for ourselves, whether it’s dealing with a bedbug infestation in our Chromebooks or renovating bathrooms. It is more than frustrating as a student to try to be a voice who can represent others, only to be completely ignored by adults.
Sadie Irby: Arts
I wrote my initial story about how, after completing a project in my art class, I was told to paint used canvases white so that we can reuse them for next year. I encouraged DPS to use the $18 million grant to boost funding for visual arts. That was nearly three years ago, and I have seen no visible difference here at Riverside.
A DPS Board of Education work session in 2023, during which they planned on how to use the $18 million grant, mentioned more art funding, but only for one high school in our entire district (Hillside received $150,000). That’s great for Hillside, but also disheartening for students like me, who plan to study visual arts in college. We are the ones most affected by budgeting shortfalls.
Art funding at Riverside has not experienced any substantial changes in the last few years, according to Maegan Fitzgerald, visual arts teacher at Riverside since 2020 and our current department chair.
Under the current model, each visual arts teacher in Durham receives $1,500 from the district yearly. They also receive a per diem, which is the average school enrollment divided by number of visual arts teachers (Riverside has three, which leaves them with around an extra $630). Riverside teachers receive an extra $1,000 taken from the school’s yearly budget, but only after it’s approved by the principal, school improvement team, and department chairs will it be available to teachers. On the other hand, this can be disapproved as well and the money can go to a different department or not taken from the budget at all.
Thirty-five hundred dollars goes away fast. Art supplies are expensive. One two-ounce bottle of Liquitex acrylic paint is $11.99 at my local Michaels, and as a school, we are lucky if that won’t be used up within a semester. Our art department offers five different levels of classes ranging from beginning to AP. Unless you bring your own supplies, all you get is the worn-out colored pencils classes have been using for years.
Skills and materials aside, visual arts have been scientifically proven to boost mental health, something DPS has made a priority. Whether you’re an experienced, longtime artist or a high schooler just looking for a creative outlet, supplies should be accessible for all, but until the district listens, they won’t be.
Isabelle Abadie: Bus
In the original 2023 plan for budgeting the $18 million grant, DPS allocated very little to transportation initiatives. The $1.5 million it did put towards transportation focused on adding activity buses to aid many magnet programs, including Northern’s Fire Technology track. However, none of the designated transportation money went to anything that would help DPS students get to and from school on time.
When I originally wrote about how my district should use the grant, I highlighted our busing inefficiencies and how a large chunk of money could help improve those problems. For example, increasing bus drivers’ salaries and adding more buses would allow bus routes to be shorter, which would allow students to get to bus stops later and improve crowding on buses.
The district has increased bus drivers’ salaries and encouraged job interest with signing bonuses, but this solution doesn’t fix the deeper problem. They might drive up interest in being a bus driver but do not account for anything after that, such as what happens when bus drivers get fed up with poor working conditions.
Even more urgently, the drivers we do have need to feel valued. In early 2024, due to budget discrepancies, many DPS classified staff got significant pay cuts. In protest, classified staff, including bus mechanics and drivers, called out sick for multiple days, leaving schools unable to run without them. These protests spanned months and demonstrated both the importance of our staff and large problems in many of the systems that are the backbone of our school district.
In the end, the school board did not use our suggestions. Due to mismanagement, $7 million could now be used to balance the budget.
How much do our leaders really know about this school system? How many of them are fully equipped to use these funds sensibly in the first place?
Next time, just listen to the kids.
Lana McIlvaine is a senior at Riverside High School. Sadie Irby is a senior at Riverside High School. Isabelle Abadie is a junior at Riverside High School.
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