Accelerating Digital Equity Campaign Surpasses its Goal!

We set out with bold goals back in June 2020 when the DPS Foundation launched the Accelerating Digital Equity Campaign. Fewer than 8 months later, we're excited to announce that we have crossed our Campaign goal line – raising more than $1.5 million to help ensure all DPS students have equitable access to the resources needed for high quality digital learning this year and beyond! 

This $1.5 million raised is in addition to Durham County’s $1.02 million and the City of Durham’s $338,000 allocated to support Learning Centers this school year. These Centers provide a supervised, supportive environment for students needing a safe place for remote learning.

This was all possible because of a remarkable community response to step in and support our public schools, including Duke University and Duke Health making an early lead gift of $250,000, in addition to generous gifts from 844 other businesses, foundations, civic organizations, faith communities, and individuals.  An incredibly dedicated team of 69 Campaign volunteers – led by Co-Chairs Geoff Durham, Zack Hawkins, and Laura Helms Reece – helped galvanize community support for this effort.

The investments we are making are not just about crisis response. Together we are strengthening access to digital learning, digital literacy, and tech skills system-wide, providing flexible funds to meet schools’ emerging needs through this crisis and on the other side of it, accelerating a long-overdue response to inequities in our schools. 

We are closely following the school reopening bill in the General Assembly and what it will mean for emerging needs. As our schools look toward transitioning to more in-person learning, we know that addressing gaps created by lack of access to technology and digital literacy will continue to be critical for providing all students with a strong and equitable education.

Campaign Funds in Action:

The DPS Foundation has worked closely with the school system and other community partners to allocate campaign funds raised to the most urgent digital equity areas of need. 

Already, Campaign funds have been deployed to:

  • Ensure all students were equipped with learning devices at the start of the school year

  • Create the student IT Help Desk internship, which is adding capacity to the DPS Help Desk while also giving DPS students professional training and a living-wage paid internship 

  • Train teachers on best practices in closing learning gaps exacerbated by the pandemic and in creating equitable pathways to advanced coursework online 

  • Provide hundreds of vulnerable students free access to HOPE Learning Centers

  • Fund 28 projects addressing digital equity and remote learning needs,led by students, educators, and families across 23 different DPS schools

Ongoing Needs:

Although we've met our initial $1.5 million Accelerating Digital Equity Campaign goal, students will need significant ongoing support during this time of crisis and on the other side of it. So, while this Campaign draws to a close, the community’s support is needed now as much as ever. As part of its ongoing work, the DPS Foundation will continue raising support for broader pandemic recovery needs, anticipated to include:

  • Strengthening students’ online learning experience;

  • Supporting schools in meeting their reopening needs when in-person learning resumes;

  • Providing remediation, acceleration, and social-emotional wellbeing support to students;

  • Offering the most vulnerable students free access to Learning Centers;

  • Ensuring educators have the support and resources they need, while also mitigating teacher attrition; and

  • Supporting broad and deep community engagement around school reopening plans.


COVID-19 Critical NeedsKatie Wright