Durham: Where Families Matter

Because my family matters.

I’m Millicent Rogers. As a Durham native, I grew up attending Durham Public Schools. When I became a single parent with the birth of my son in 2011, I knew I was committed to enrolling him in the same school system.

The joys I experienced at Holt Elementary School, where Ms. Reams served as my bus driver for all six years and the enhanced learning experiences of the Math Science Education Network (NC-MSEN) with Mr. France at Durham School of the Arts were all remembered with fondness.

Those memories moved my desire to invest in DPS so that my son could have experiences that would far exceed our expectations. I am running for Durham Public School Board of Education because my son, my nephew, my family matters.

Because your family matters.

 

Your family deserves to have access to safe and equitable learning spaces. Let me be clear: your family, no matter what form it takes, deserves to have access to safe and equitable learning spaces. You might be one of the 18.6% of households in Durham where a language other than English is spoken. Your family might include one the 6.6% of Durhamites who have a disability. Your children might be among the 10% of American children who currently live in a multigenerational household. You might be among the 44% of households in Durham that are single parent families. You also might be among the 1.27% of households led by same-sex couples. Regardless of your race, immigration status, gender - regardless of any identifier we could put on you, if you’re raising a family in Durham, you deserve a seat at the table. You deserve to know that your family matters.

As I run for Board of Education Consolidated District B, I want to be abundantly clear that I want to hear from you. If elected, I will still want to hear from you. In fact, I will fight to make sure that our schools have systems for including your voice. What you have to say is important. Your voice is unique. And your family matters.

Because the DPS family matters.

The most valuable part of DPS is, without a doubt, our human resources. We have to center the entire DPS family in our decision making process. From bus drivers to district administrators, our staff matters and needs to feel valued through our policies.

  • The DPS administrative team is beyond capable, but the people working under them need to know they have a say in what happens at their own schools. If elected, I will work tirelessly to ensure that our capable administrators have the support they need to excel, and all staff members are included in a transparent process of school improvement.

  • Too many DPS schools lack full time nurses, social workers, and school psychologists. The talented teachers within DPS don’t teach in a vacuum, and they need support staff. And that support staff, especially our classified staff, deserves to be paid fairly. I am committed to raising wages for our classified staff and ensuring that we are fully staffed across the district, reducing the workloads of our existing staff.

  • During covid, our staff has gone above and beyond to fill in for staffing shortages, but we owe it to them to do better. I am committed to working conditions that communicate our value for the staff DPS has been fortunate to have during this unprecedented time.