Lowe’s Grove’s Future, Teacher Housing, and Demolition
The Durham Public Schools Board of Education weighs options for the old Lowe’s Grove School site—from teacher-focused affordable housing, limited retail, and single-family homes to the rising costs and safety risks of keeping a deteriorating, non‑historic building standing—while debating demolition, stakeholder engagement, and the district’s role in private and nonprofit development. The board also reviews early results from the DSA Express Stops bus pilot, districtwide safety planning, and a budget and contracts policy update. 61mins
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Original Meeting
Thursday, October 8th, 2026
12633.141
#DPSCommunity | DPS Board of Education Monthly Work Session | 10/8/26
Video Notes
#DPSCommunity | DPS Board of Education Monthly Work Session | 10/8/26
In This Video
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Senior Project Manager Sonyia Turner outlined the stakeholder engagement process and shared preliminary community priorities for the old Lowe’s Grove School site, including affordable housing for teachers, mixed-use and transit-oriented development, public amenities and green space, and preserving the school building.
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Senior Project Manager Sonyia Turner summarized market findings, identifying potential for retail, single-family, and affordable housing at the old Lowe’s Grove School property while explaining that market-rate multifamily, office, and hospitality uses were not suitable due to high vacancies and existing competition.
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Senior Project Manager Sonyia Turner outlined projected demand for retail and higher-priced single-family homes in South Durham and explained how those trends, traffic patterns, and site characteristics could support modest storefront retail and potential single-family development at the old Lowe’s Grove School property.
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Senior Project Manager Sonyia Turner defined affordable housing using HUD standards, highlighted that over 36,000 low- to moderate-income households in Durham County faced housing problems, and explained that beginning teachers generally could afford about $1,400 per month in housing costs, placing them in the low- to moderate-income range.
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Senior Project Manager Sonyia Turner explained that the old Lowe’s Grove School site was likely competitive for federal affordable housing tax credits, noted the status of potential teacher housing legislation, and summarized that the property could feasibly support a mix of limited retail, single-family homes, and affordable housing.
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Senior Project Manager Sonyia Turner reported that while the old Lowe’s Grove School was historically significant, its deteriorated condition meant it lacked the historic integrity required for National Register listing, which could limit private investment opportunities, and illustrated this with photos of extensive exterior and interior damage.
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Senior Project Manager Sonyia Turner explained that the old Lowe’s Grove School would not qualify for federal or state historic tax credits and shared a structural assessment estimating restoration and residential upfit costs at up to $18.5 million, making adaptive reuse of the building extremely expensive.
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Senior Project Manager Sonyia Turner shared that stakeholders prioritized affordable housing—especially for teachers—alongside potential mixed-use retail and single-family development given the site’s proximity to Research Triangle Park, and explained that extensive vegetative overgrowth, a damaged roof, and decades of water intrusion had severely compromised the old Lowe’s Grove School building and contributed to high rehabilitation costs.
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Board Member Millicent Rogers questioned whether parents and nonprofits had been engaged about educational support uses for the Lowe’s Grove site and raised concerns that the presentation focused on options requiring the district to surplus the property rather than exploring what the school board could do without surplusing it.
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Marcia Parrot explained that the Development Finance Initiative had focused its early Lowe’s Grove work on potential private uses and investment, engaging private-sector and aligned stakeholders rather than students, parents, or teachers, but noted that broader community input could be added in future phases if the Board wished.
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Board Member Wendell Tabb asked whether the Lowe’s Grove property had been evaluated for a new elementary school, and Senior Project Manager Sonyia Turner responded that school use had been explored but administration determined existing South Durham schools had sufficient capacity and did not require an additional facility at that location.
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Board Member Rogers asked how the Board could shift from exploring development options back to an administrative decision on the Lowe’s Grove property, and Superintendent Dr. Anthony Lewis responded by recounting that a past demolition quote had been set aside so administration could follow the Board’s direction to engage community organizations and residents interested in the land’s future use.
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Board Member Wendell Tabb asked whether nonprofits could be involved in future uses of the Lowe’s Grove property, and Senior Project Manager Sonyia Turner and Marcia Parrot clarified that the analysis was still in early stages and did not exclude nonprofit developers, though any preservation or new construction on the site would involve significant costs.
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Superintendent Dr. Anthony Lewis and Ken Barnes explained that the city had condemned the old Lowe’s Grove School but granted a conditional extension while the UNC-led process continued, and noted that the district was still incurring internal costs to mow, maintain fencing, and manage significant safety and liability risks at the deteriorated building.
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Superintendent Lewis noted that the Board had approved working with the UNC team to plan future uses of the old Northern and soon-to-be-old DSA sites, and Board Member Rogers urged that upcoming engagement around those properties include more robust, widely shared community input that honors Durham’s history and current residents.
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Board Member Wendell Tabb emphasized that the Facilities Committee would work with administration and UNC to carry out the Board’s direction on Lowe’s Grove, while Vice Chair Jovonia Cason recalled a previous, nearly realized teacher housing proposal at the site that failed in the state legislature and expressed hope that teacher housing would remain a top priority in future community engagement.
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Marcia Parrot explained that the team preferred small-scale stakeholder meetings until assessing the building’s salvageability, financing potential, and market-supported uses so that later large community engagement would stay within realistic development parameters and avoid raising expectations unduly.
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Board Member Rivero urged more diverse stakeholder representation in upcoming planning for the DSA and old Northern properties, consultant Marcia Parrot described plans for a more robust, multi-format engagement process there, Chair Joy Harrell Goff requested Facilities Committee recommendations on how to address the deteriorating Lowe’s Grove building by November, and Board Member Rogers voiced strong support for including affordable housing in future plans.
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Board Member Rogers questioned whether funds were available for demolishing the old Lowe’s Grove building versus covering ongoing liability and fines, and Superintendent Lewis, Mr. Barnes, and Chief Finance Officer Jeremy Teetor explained that prior demolition bids had expired, new bids would be needed under a tight city deadline, and capital reserves would likely fund any demolition costs.
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Senior Executive Director of Auxiliary Services Anthony White described how the transportation team engaged administrators and families around the Express Stops model, coordinated signage and campus bus operations with schools, held an August 5 transportation open house at DSA to share route information early, and then made final route adjustments based on that process.
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Senior Executive Director of Auxiliary Services Anthony White explained that although over 1,200 students initially signed up to ride buses to DSA—more than double the prior year—only about 500 were actually riding as of late September, and emphasized that routes and bus assignments were being planned and adjusted based on those evolving ridership numbers to prevent overcrowding and optimize service.
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Senior Executive Director of Auxiliary Services Anthony White reported that student enrollment at DSA held steady after Express Stops were implemented and shared data showing on-time morning bus arrivals improving from about 42% to roughly 81%, nearly doubling after just a few weeks of the new model.
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Senior Executive Director of Auxiliary Services Anthony White reviewed on-time arrival rates by tier, noting that elementary schools saw improvements while middle and high schools declined slightly, and emphasized that the early-year Express Stops data were not directly comparable to end-of-year figures and would improve as routes were refined over time.
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Senior Executive Director of Auxiliary Services Anthony White shared lessons learned from the transportation rollout, explaining that an outdated Edulog bus-tracking app had frustrated families and would now be proactively updated and communicated about, and that future transportation open houses would be restructured to better support parent engagement.
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Senior Executive Director of Auxiliary Services Anthony White outlined plans to expand the districtwide Express Stops model to four high schools on the same schedule, standardizing transportation while allowing Durham School of Technology students living in the Hillside attendance zone to keep regular neighborhood stops and offering Express Stop access for students countywide.
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Senior Executive Director of Auxiliary Services Anthony White clarified the district’s Tier 1–3 school structure, described using contracted transportation for students living outside attendance zones, and highlighted the addition of electric buses to improve fuel costs and efficiency, while Board Member Rogers commended the significant gains in on-time arrival rates.
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Vice Chair Xavier Cason summarized that the DSA Express Stops pilot had produced positive results and emphasized the need for timely Board consensus on expanding the model to specialty schools so the transportation team could clearly communicate plans at upcoming events like the showcase of schools.
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Executive Director of Safety and Security Mclloyd Bynum provided a mid-year safety update, highlighting efforts to ensure effective law enforcement presence at school events, use incident data to identify trends, and verify that all required safety documents and plans were fully completed and compliant.
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Executive Director of Safety and Security Mclloyd Bynum reported that all schools now had reunification and certain emergency plans fully in place, standardized across DPS sites and uploaded to the state’s emergency management system so agencies like Highway Patrol could access building plans and contacts during a crisis.
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Executive Director of Safety and Security Mclloyd Bynum explained that the department was logging all lockdowns and how they were reported in the news, noted that about 35 officers had recently returned to support schools and athletic events, and outlined plans for comprehensive physical security assessments of every DPS building, including review of camera coverage and blind spots with administrators.
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Board Member Nadeen Bir asked how the district was working with the HEART program, Executive Director of Safety and Security Mclloyd Bynum described using HEART personnel for mental health crises ahead of law enforcement when possible, Board Member Rivero raised ideas for future co-response models as the county studies HEART feasibility, and Bynum committed to exploring expanded partnerships with the city and county.
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Board Member Rivero asked why officers had previously been reluctant to work with DPS, and Executive Director of Safety and Security Mclloyd Bynum explained that delayed monthly pay and past push-pull dynamics between principals and law enforcement contributed to the issue, emphasizing plans to strengthen partnerships and communication going forward.
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Board Member Rivero asked about recent lockdowns at Riverside and the use of an anonymous tip platform, and Executive Director of Safety and Security Mclloyd Bynum responded that they preferred a confidential rather than anonymous system to aid investigations and were working closely with the Sheriff’s Office to pursue the current case without jeopardizing it.
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Vice Chair Xavier Cason recalled serving on a city–county–school Safety and Wellness Task Force that recommended school board engagement with the HEART program, and shared that students defined safe schools as those responding to mental health crises without criminalizing them, expressing appreciation for the district’s openness to coordinated HEART partnerships.
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Superintendent Dr. Anthony Lewis acknowledged the anxiety repeated lockdowns at Riverside created, praised counselors for supporting students, described plans to message families about available mental health resources and a change to the lockdown alert tone to reduce triggers, and urged students not to abuse safety tools.
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Board Member Rivero asked about the timeline for improving the anonymous tip line, Executive Director of Safety and Security Mclloyd Bynum explained that changes were complex and still under review across multiple platforms, Superintendent Dr. Anthony Lewis clarified that the current “See Something, Say Something” tool was a national Sandy Hook platform the district did not own, and Board Member Natalie Bent Kitaif linked stronger SRO–student relationships to safer school events.
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Chief Finance Officer Teeter reported that the district was anticipating state funding adjustments for rising fuel costs, outlined use of fund balance to cover first-year employee bonuses via a lease-purchase arrangement of about $5 million, and noted that certain locally behaving revenues were routed through a special revenue fund to retain flexibility and shield them from charter school allocations.
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Board Member Rivero asked whether a $20 million line item represented new funds or reallocated dollars, and Chief Finance Officer Teetor explained that it largely reflected additional revenue previously anticipated in the budget plus about $5 million recorded as a required lease-related accounting entry.
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Chief Finance Officer Teeter explained that a Board member had recused from work on a contracts policy update referred from the Policy Committee to Finance, and outlined North Carolina School Boards Association–recommended changes including banning contract-splitting to evade Board approval, aligning reporting thresholds with the district’s budget transparency requirements, and adding a clause to ensure instructional materials contracts grant the Board rights to produce accessible formats.
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