In the quest for quality education, families often find themselves overwhelmed by the options available, especially when relocating to a new area.

In this episode of Office Hours, Emmy Renquist of SchoolUp offers insights into that process. She's an education consultant with deep roots in the community. SchoolUp's team primarily covers Wake and Durham counties.

Plus:

• Data center moratorium on Monday's Council agenda
• Rogers-Herr performers take their talents to Carowinds
• SoDu We Have Favorites: Submit your nominations
• New Fiction: Dispatches Received in Error, Issue 4
• Get a 50% subscription discount

The "Tickets for Teachers" initiative was born out of a simple yet powerful idea: utilize unused event tickets to benefit Durham educators. Many community members have tickets they can’t use, whether due to illness or scheduling conflicts. By donating these tickets, educators and their families can enjoy local events that might otherwise be out of reach. This initiative not only prevents tickets from going to waste but also fosters community spirit by providing educators with enjoyable experiences.

Hear from Matt Sears, the mind behind this initiative for RootEd in DPS, in this latest episode of Office Hours.

Plus:

• What's going on at Hope Valley Elementary School?
• Wendell Tabb and Xavier Cason produced "The Third Day," which premieres this weekend at Hillside High!
• Durham Planning Commission opposes The Reserve at Rocky Branch (but City Council could still approve it).
• School cafeteria health inspection reports.
• New weekly SoDu Shopping Basket!
• Paid Subscribers: Spotlight your favorite nonprofits!
• Another bonus for paid subscribers: "Dispatches Received in Error" serial fiction project.

Today is Local News Day, and it feels like the right moment to talk about why local journalism still matters — especially here in South Durham.

South Durham deserves local news that is actually local. It deserves coverage that helps people make sense of the changes happening around them, not just broad countywide headlines. That means reporting people can actually use in daily life — reporting that is close to home, practical, and rooted in the neighborhoods people live in every day.

At Southpoint Access, that’s the mission.

We focus on the issues that shape life in South Durham:
schools, development, traffic, local government, small business, and neighborhood life.

So what does that look like in practice?

It means following DPS decisions, student life, lunch menus, and helping families understand what policy changes actually mean for them.

It means tracking growth and development — rezoning cases, new housing, road projects, and planning updates — because growth here is not abstract. It affects commutes, school assignments, neighborhood character, and the cost of living.

It means covering government in a straightforward way: key public meetings, civic decisions, and explainers that help people understand what is happening without making them dig through agendas and jargon.

And it means building useful local tools — traffic updates, fuel prices, grocery price tracking, events calendars, and community guides — because local news should not just inform people; it should help them navigate their lives.

Got feedback? Send email to [email protected]!

Today, we’re talking about a proposal that’s back on the table in Durham Public Schools — and one that is likely to get a lot of attention from families ahead of the school board’s April 9 work session.

DPS is again considering a shift to what it calls an express-stop transportation model for secondary magnet students.

Here’s the basic idea: instead of neighborhood bus stops, students would be picked up and dropped off at centralized hubs — mostly existing DPS campuses and other district sites.

Under the current plan, the first phase would begin in the 2026-27 school year and affect students at Durham School of the Arts and Brogden Middle School. Then, in 2027-28, the district would expand the model to other secondary magnet programs.

District documents say about 770 students and families would be affected in that first year.

Now, if this sounds familiar, that’s because it is.

A version of this proposal came up before, and when it did, many families pushed back hard. Parents and students said the model would make transportation less accessible, especially for families with rigid work schedules, multiple children, or limited access to a car.

And that basic tension is still here.

That, plus a look at April 9's Local News Day event! You can join me at the Southwest Regional Library branch at 3605 Shannon Rd. from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. to talk about what's important in local news.

Richard Dansky joined me on Office Hours to talk about his new novel, Ghosts of Smoke and Flame, a horror-comedy he describes as “Good Omens meets The Amityville Horror.” We talked about the book’s mix of ghosts, angels, demons, grief, and humor, plus the local writing community and upcoming events.

Then we shifted into Rich’s longtime home turf: video games. We discussed the shutdown of Red Storm, the wave of layoffs across the industry, and why so much hard-earned creative talent keeps getting tossed aside in pursuit of short-term gains. It’s a conversation about storytelling, reinvention, and what creative industries lose when they stop valuing the people who make the work.

Subscribe to Southpoint Access!

As Hope Valley prepares to celebrate 100 years, Preservation Durham's Julia Lasure and Grace Wilson (also a Hope Valley resident) join neighborhood news guy Wes Platt to talk about the upcoming home tour.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Southpoint Access⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is sharing revenue with Rogers-Herr Middle School Music Boosters until March 31.

On Thursday, I had the privilege of presenting at career day at Rogers-Herr Middle School. I talked about my experiences as a journalist and the motivation for creating Southpoint Access to serve neighbors in South Durham.

Also in this episode, I talk about afterschool program costs and the grim budget process ahead for Durham Public Schools.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Southpoint Access⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is sharing revenue with Rogers-Herr Middle School Music Boosters until March 31.

About a month into his new job as executive director of Maureen Joy Charter School in Durham, Dr. Kelvin Bullock takes a few minutes to discuss his role, his experiences in Durham Public Schools, and a possible future where traditional public schools and charters like Maureen Joy can coexist and thrive.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Southpoint Access⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is sharing revenue with Rogers-Herr Middle School Music Boosters until March 31.

Durham’s latest controversy started with something that sounds small: first names versus titles in a formal meet-and-confer meeting between DPS Superintendent Dr. Anthony Lewis and Durham Association of Educators president Mika Twietmeyer. But the reaction was anything but small.

In this episode of Southpoint Access Office Hours, I walk through what was said on the record and why many community leaders saw the exchange as part of a larger pattern of disrespect toward Black leadership. I also address a seeming inconsistency — that Dr. Lewis used Twietmeyer’s first name first — and explore what consistency and professionalism can look like in high-stakes public settings.

The takeaway: in a district where history, power, and race shape how moments land, clear, mutual norms around respect matter — especially when the work is about schools.

Plus:

• Afterschool program costs go up June 1.
• Early voting ends this weekend!
• Let's support local news!

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Southpoint Access⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is sharing revenue with Rogers-Herr Middle School Music Boosters until March 31.

On Tuesday, Feb. 24, more than 350 Durham Public Schools students will put on a show at the Durham Performing Arts Center through a partnership between the school district and the nonprofit DPS Foundation.

Get a look behind the scenes at a rehearsal at Riverside High School and hear from K-12 arts director Lester Turner and Murray-Massenburg Elementary School teacher Mikey Truzey.

Plus:

• What's up with the Unified Development Ordinance?
• Early voting has begun!
• Let's support local news!

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Southpoint Access⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is sharing revenue with Rogers-Herr Middle School Music Boosters until March 31.