In a significant shift for Durham Public Schools, the Board of Education has introduced family responsibility zones in response to persistent challenges stemming from a bus driver shortage. Meeting on Thursday, the Durham Public Schools board decided to no longer provide bus service within 1.5 miles of elementary schools, a move that Durham Public Schools believes will reduce the need for 20 bus runs. "I’m devastated and angry, because I care about my kids," Retha Daniel-Ruth, a veteran DPS bus driver, expressed ahead of the board meeting, as reported by CBS17. In efforts to continue to address the driver deficit, Durham Public Schools has also extended its rotational bus service, initiated on Dec. 2, which now has students catching buses only four days a week.
The board's decision came through a 6-1 vote, facing opposition from board member Bettina Umstead, who voiced concerns about potential access issues for students. "I'm very worried that we're shifting who can't get to school," Umstead said in a statement acquired by WUNC. The zones were chosen based on safety and walkability considerations, and the district has chosen not to release the maps publicly for safety reasons, although they have been shared with the school board.
Notably, board chair Millicent Rogers joined Umstead in opposition to express bus stops, another measure set to be implemented after Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Concerned parents have been vocal about the disruptions, with one parent, Katie McDonald, highlighting how this affects their children's education, "What I care about, as a parent of two Durham Public Schools students & scholars, is how will they be able to get to school for the remainder of the school year and beyond?" McDonald told WRAL. Approximately 2,000 students will lose daily bus service under the new plan, which aims to end rotational busing and alleviate the pressure on the transportation system.
