Durham votes yes on $550M bonds for schools, community college, museum

Mary Helen Moore

Durham County voters said yes to a trio of education and museum bonds totaling $550 million, according to unofficial results reported Tuesday night.

Here’s how Durham’s voters cast their ballots on each referendum, with all 57 precincts reporting.

  • $423.5 million for Durham Public Schools: 83.2%

  • $112.7 million for Durham Technical Community College: 82.15%

  • $14 million for the Museum of Life and Science: 78.9%

More than 126,000 ballots were cast in Durham in the 2022 midterms, a 52.8% turnout rate.

Most votes were cast early — over 87,000 — and about 39,000 voters turned out on Election Day, according to the county.

Property taxes will increase next year by 2.5 cents per $100 of assessed property value. For a $400,000 house — slightly below the current median — annual tax bills will go up $100.

According to a survey conducted last spring, 53 percent of high school parents want Durham Public Schools to return to the old bell schedule.
According to a survey conducted last spring, 53 percent of high school parents want Durham Public Schools to return to the old bell schedule.

Moving DSA, renovating elementary schools

In DPS’s latest 10-year plan, the school district estimates it needs $944.5 million for capital projects, like school replacements and major construction projects.

“Durham Public Schools is growing,” Superintendent Pascal Mubenga told The News & Observer previously. “We have buildings that have been around for 50, and some even 100, years. It’s about time for us to fix our buildings.”

Board of Education Vice-Chair Matt Sears said the board is grateful for the community’s support over the years.

“All students deserve a great place to learn, and tonight the voters of Durham are helping us deliver on that promise. We will continue to need that support,” Sears told The N&O Tuesday night.

Another education bond can be expected this decade.

The DPS bond approved Tuesday will cover the $108.7 million price tag to relocate Durham School of the Arts to a larger campus several miles from downtown.

The magnet school, which has over 1,800 students in grades 6 to 12, has been on a century-old campus on North Duke Street since opening in the 1990s.

The district hopes to have a new school on Duke Homestead Road ready by 2025.

The old DSA campus — and the campus set to be vacated by Northern High School next year — will eventually be refitted to house career-technical education programs, the Durham School of Technology, the staff running Ignite Online Academy and other district needs.

Six schools will get comprehensive renovations with the bond money, adding classroom space for pre-K and elementary school students:

  • Bethesda Elementary

  • Club Boulevard Elementary

  • Glenn Elementary

  • Holt Elementary

  • Mangum Elementary

  • Morehead Elementary

Durham got its first new elementary school in 10 years this year when Lyons Farm Elementary opened near the south county line. Murray-Massenburg Elementary is scheduled to open in August near Hope Valley Farms, with some money coming from this bond.

The Durham Public Schools central office building on Cleveland Street, photographed on Tuesday, Apr. 20, 2021, in Durham, N.C.
The Durham Public Schools central office building on Cleveland Street, photographed on Tuesday, Apr. 20, 2021, in Durham, N.C.

Durham Teach to upgrade health, science facilities

Durham Tech President J.B. Buxton said he was grateful to Durham voters and excited about connecting residents with jobs and educational opportunities.

“This is one of those opportunities that will impact a lot of people’s lives,” Buxton told The N&O late Tuesday.

Here’s how the community college plans to spend its $112.7 million:

  • Constructing an 86,000-square-foot Allied Health Programs building. This includes upgraded labs and classrooms for nurses, pharmacy technicians, medical assistants and more.

  • Building a 36,000-square-foot training facility to educate those entering the booming life sciences and biotechnology industries.

  • Buying land on Bacon and Cooper streets where the main campus can eventually expand.

Buxton said the upgrades are vital to fill the tens of thousands of life sciences and healthcare jobs in Durham, with both industries projecting major regional growth. The college has partnered with industry to design state-of-the-art facilities.

“It’ll give us an opportunity to build the facilities that mimic the settings they’ll be in,” Buxton said.

Brenda Vann is helped across a stream by her daughter, LaTasha McNeil, as her granddaughter, Jayla Brown, 3, watches at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, N.C. on Tuesday, May 3, 2022.
Brenda Vann is helped across a stream by her daughter, LaTasha McNeil, as her granddaughter, Jayla Brown, 3, watches at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, N.C. on Tuesday, May 3, 2022.

Modernizing the Museum of Life and Science

The Museum of Life and Science plans to modernize its facility with the $14 million it’s requested. New exhibits would focus on climate change, health science and tech and innovation.

“All the scientific and technological advancements that are taking place here, we’d really like to see those reflected in in our exhibits,” president and CEO Carrie Heinonen said previously.

Other upgrades include outdoor amenities, more environmentally friendly equipment and an updated meeting space.

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