In a joint meeting between Durham’s school board and county commissioners on Tuesday, county manager Claudia Hager emphasized the county’s “unwavering” commitment to its public schools—but proposed a draft budget that falls $6 million short of the school board’s request.
“There are so many mandated services and commitments that county commissioners have to deal with,” Hager told the assembled policymakers about her $1 billion FY 2025-26 budget in which DPS funding is the single largest expenditure. “And often more competing priorities than there are dollars to support them.”
Last month, Durham’s school board unanimously voted to request a $222 million operating budget from the county commission. That would be about $16 million more than the county’s public school system received last year…