After a month-long summer break, about 3,400 elementary and middle-schoolers will be heading back to class on Monday, as Durham’s five year-round schools begin the new school year.
Take note that today and tomorrow are the open houses for parents at Easley, Holt and Pearsontown elementaries and Chewning and Rogers-Herr middle schools. (Here's the schedule.)
School supply lists are out, and parents should know that tax-free weekend is scheduled for Aug. 1 through Aug. 3, during which school supplies, and most clothes, electronics and sports equipment are exempt from sales taxes.
That will help families save a few bucks, but there’s another budget consideration to be made before parents send their children to school Monday — breakfast and lunch prices have increased by a quarter each. (An earlier blog post explains some of the reasons.) Students who receive free and reduced lunch will not see changes.
The new prices are:
| Breakfast | Lunch | |
| Reduced | .30 | .40 |
| Grades K-5 | $1.60 | $2.10 |
| Grades 6-12 | $1.60 | $2.35 |
| Adults | $1.85 | $3.15 |
| Milk | .50 | .50 |
In case you didn't know: for the most part, year-round schooling in Durham is optional. Students must apply to get into the programs at Easley, Holt, Pearsontown and Rogers-Herr.
Just last year, Chewning became the district’s first mandatory year-round program after years of having a student population split between traditional and year-round calendars.
