Chapel Hill-Carrboro City schools prepare for elections shake-up

With more than half of the school board seats up for grabs, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools are looking at a year filled with change.

Five of the seven school board seats are on the ballot in the upcoming Nov. 8 election, an unusual occurrence for the area, said Stephanie Knott, spokeswoman for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.

“It’s kind of extraordinary to have five seats open — usually no more than three or four seats are open at a time,” she said.

“It can really transform the makeup of the board.”

Among the candidates running are incumbents Mia Day Burroughs, Annetta Streater and Mike Kelley. New to the race are James Barrett, Raymond Conrad, Brian Bower and Kris Castellano.

These seven candidates are running for the four four-year positions.

Jamezetta Bedford is running unopposed for the board’s open two-year position.

During the summer, the school system officially adopted the Common Core curriculum, a set of standards developed by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers. Forty-four states have adopted the standards, which were created to give school systems across the nation consistency in their education.

The 2011-2012 school year will serve as the transition year from the current curriculum to the Common Core standards for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.

Kelley said due to the amount of work that will go into shifting over to the new guidelines, he believes that the new curriculum will take all of the board’s attention.

“This is a year to not start new things,” he said. “The staff and the central office will have a lot to work on.”

Along with the change in curriculum, new Superintendent Thomas Forcella took over the position on July 1.

Kelley and Barrett both said Forcella’s leadership will bring more consistency to the school system and will change how the board is run.

“It’s a great opportunity for schools and the board to see some follow through,” Barrett said.

Knott said the board exists mostly to encourage professional development and ensure that children can grow academically. Board tasks include handling financial resources and personnel issues.

Despite recent budget cuts, Burroughs said she believes that the board has maintained its focus on students.

“The board has done a really good job protecting student experience even though millions of dollars were cut from our budget,” she said.

The school system still achieved the highest average SAT scores in the state and the state’s second highest graduation rate.

“We could applaud ourselves and stop right there, but we don’t,” Burroughs said.

Barrett said educational change starts in the schools.

“Nationally we talk about the importance of education, but the school board is really where we can make a difference,” he said.

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