Money for Durham Public Schools was the only topic of conversation at Tuesday night's "Conversation With Commissioners" at Jordan High School. And it was pretty much a one-sided conversation, as statements from 35 members of the audience ran past the meeting's 9 p.m. appointed quitting time.

County Commissioner Brenda Howerton (right) did manage to get in a word or two, though.

Citizen Ricky Hardy was one of those telling the commissioners not to cut DPS's appropriation for 2010-11, despite the county's own revenue decline. He wanted to know how many of the commissioners had children of their own in the school system.

No hands went up. After a moment of awkward silence, Howerton said:

"Mr. Hardy, you should ask us about grandchildren."

School board members are considering a host of cost-cutting measures, including layoffs, furloughs and pay cuts in response to state and county budget cuts.

Michael Oehler, who has a son in kindergarten and a daughter right behind him, thinks Durham needs a special school tax.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools has such a tax, he said. Their tax rate is 18.84 cents per $100 of assessed tax value, so on a $200,000 home, a homeowner would pay about $377.
Oehler recently started a blog to push his idea. He thinks Durham homeowners would support a 33-cent per $100 school tax, which on a $200,000 home would add $660.

“I think that’s a no brainer,” he said. “I think for too long school funding has been a third rail of the county-city merger. I think the time has come to start talking about how schools are funded in Durham and to talk about it openly.”

School Board Chairwoman Minnie Forte-Brown wouldn’t say if the board would support such a tax, only saying the issue has yet to be discussed.

We'll have more on the school budget in Wednesday's Durham News.

County Commissioners Chairman Michael Page took issue tonight with Durham PTA Council President Trilby McClammy over school financing.

In a letter to parents, McClammy wrote that the county holds "a rainy day fund of over $92 million" that it could use to avoid cutting its appropriation for Durham Public Schools.

Not exactly, Page said in a statement he read at the commissioners'  regular meeting.

Parents recently received a letter from the Durham Council of PTA's highlighting Durham Public Schools' budget woes. The notice pointed out the county's $92 million "rainy day fund" that the school system could tap into.

But only $36 million of that money can be used, Durham County Manager Mike Ruffin explained. The county's financial policy requires its total fund balance to maintain a 15 percent minimum balance. Any amount above that must be used for employment benefits.

"In short, we are not sitting on a $92 million largesse that can be used to assist the schools," he said in an e-mail. "In all candor, the county does not have any additional funds in its reserves that it could appropriate to assist with the school system."

DPS is preparing for up to 7 percent in budget cuts thanks to a reduction in state funding and a mandatory 3 percent budget reduction for all county departments. The system lost 139 teachers and 74 teacher assistants last year due to cuts and could lose up to 400 more positions after this school year, according to the PTA.

Matthew Sears seems like the type of math teacher every student wants.

Sears, who teaches at Hillside New Tech High School, recently won a Career Award for Science and Mathematics Teachers from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

The award, which provides $175,000 over five years, will help support Sears' salary and pay for things ranging from professional development activities to classroom supplies. The award is given to North Carolina teachers with a solid knowledge of science or math and strong performance records.

Sears was the 2008 Durham Public Schools Teacher of the Year, is a Kenan Fellow and spent part of 2008 in India as a Fullbright Exchange Teacher. 

A deal between Durham County and Durham Public Schools that would save the school system more than $200,000 a year in sales tax passed through the county commissioners' work session this afternoon and on to tonight's regular-meeting agenda.

But not until after a lengthy conversation about the school system's compliance with the county's "Minority/Women Business Enterprise" policy on awarding contracts.

Durham Public Schools students will have one more day to enjoy what's left of the snow as schools will be closed tomorrow.

The district has not announced the make up day for tomorrow's closing.

For Monday and Tuesday's closings, make up days for traditional calendar schools will be on Friday, February 19 and Friday, March 19.

Those on a year-round calendar will have make up days on Monday, March 22 and Wednesday, June 9.

Working with the community to improve Durham schools was most important for those who recently completed a survey about the characteristics they want in the next schools superintendent.

The survey responses, 563 completed by the community and 1,359 by school staff, were presented to the school board tonight by the North Carolina School Boards Association, the group conducting the superintendent’s search.

Safe school environments ranked second for community members. Effectively advocating for school resources ranked third.

Staff members thought safety was most important, followed by community collaboration and obtaining resources for schools.

“The comments ranged a lot,” said Allison Schafer with the school boards association. “It was hard to say there was a theme. There were a lot of varied comments anda lot of thoughtful comments.”

The online and paper surveys were the last public opportunity for residents to voice their opinion prior to the February 5 deadline for applicants. The new superintendent is expected to start by July 1. The survey results will help the school boards association and board members craft questions for candidates, Schafer said.

They’ll also help tell what’s really going on in the school system, Board Member Steve Martin said.

“It gives us great insight as to what’s going on in our system and will give the superintendent and the current administration valuable information as to how things areworking,” he said.

Just moments ago, the Durham Public Schools' Superintendent's Business Advisory Council released a statement regarding the qualities they want in the next superintendent.

"Simply put, we want the next superintendent to take the initiatives that Dr. Harris established to the next level in every way," wrote Victor Velazquez, the council's vice-chairman.

Former Superintendent Carl Harris, now with the U.S. Department of Education, created the council to better engage Durham's business community with the school system.

The council wants Harris' replacement to focus on leadership, innovation, accountability, student achievement, career and college preparation and communication. Having quality leaders in each school is key, along with new ways to educate students, continuing school scorecards, having a stronger focus on academic results and preparing students for the next level as well as continuing the system's community engagement.

"We know that the next superintendent will find this to be a wonderful place to do amazing things," Velazquez wrote. "The business leaders of Durham stand ready to help this person make the Durham schools second to none." 

You have until tomorrow to share your thoughts on the next superintendent. Groups and organizations should fax their statements to Allison Schafer at the North Carolina School Boards Association at 919-841-4020. Residents can complete the superintendent search survey at DPS' website, www.dpsnc.net.