Durham Reporter

A philanthropist has earmarked $18 million for Durham Public Schools with the hope of educating and empowering students.

MacKenzie Scott, who is divorced from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, made the donation through the National Philanthropic Trust.

"Ms. Scott's recent gifts to public and charitable organizations have been focused on fostering equity, opportunity and achievement for American communities,” Superintendent Pascal Mubenga told ABC 11 News. We are pleased and humbled that Ms. Scott has taken note of DPS's commitment to embrace, educate and empower each student.” 

The Durham Public Schools Board of Education will work with Durham Public Schools to determine how best to spend the money.

"This investment is a one-time gift. It is unprecedented in our time, that we've had Durham Public Schools, so we want to be really thoughtful about what we do with the funding,” Bettina Umstead, chair of the school board, told ABC 11 News. “There’s not often a time where you get unrestricted funds... Oftentimes are funds are earmarked for certain responsibilities, whether that's for staff, operations, for COVID response recently. So this really gives us an opportunity to think creatively."

The school system was just one beneficiary of Scott’s generosity. She has donated almost $2 billion across more than 300 organizations in 2022. Scott also donated $90 million to three North Carolina Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in 2020.

"I want to thank Ms. Scott for witnessing and supporting the great work of DPS educators and staff to support students and families,” Umstead said, according to ABC 11 News. “We will focus on using this to enhance our work with schools that will ignite the limitless potential of our students."