Afterschool Expansion Coming to Durham Public Schools?

Perhaps the most consequential item for South Durham families on Thursday’s Durham Public Schools Board of Education agenda: a proposed pilot program to bring non-state licensed afterschool care to eight DPS elementary schools – including Pearsontown, Southwest, Murray-Massenburg, Lyons Farm, and Forest View.

The move is designed to address chronic aftercare waitlists, which have affected hundreds of students across the district. By using a non-licensed model, DPS can hire staff more flexibly and add 200 new seats systemwide.

Key features:

No tuition increase for families
Estimated $300,000 in net annual revenue
Maintains structured, supervised programming focused on enrichment and safety

Pilot schools include:

E.K. Powe
Forest View
Lyons Farm
Morehead
Murray-Massenburg
Pearsontown
Spring Valley
Southwest

Guilford is another county that offers both licensure and non-licensure programs. Alamance, Orange, and Johnston offer only non-licensure programs. Chapel Hill-Carrboro and Cumberland offer only licensure programs.

These pilot sites in Durham won’t be eligible for DSS childcare subsidies, but DPS leaders say expanding access outweighs that limitation. The district has not set a formal timeline for evaluating the pilot’s outcomes, but its performance may inform future expansion.

For a preview of the meeting’s full agenda, check out the SoDu We Watch Our Government? report.

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