CHCCS system looks forward to renovating old district buildings with new board members

Chapel Hill-Carrboro voters elected two new members to the school board, and re-elected two incumbents Tuesday night. 

Amy Fowler and Mary Ann Wolf will serve on the board for the first time, while James Barrett and Joal Broun were both re-elected.

The race was fairly close, with Fowler receiving 22.4 percent of the vote, Wolf with 20.59 percent followed by Broun with 19.49 percent and then Barrett with 17.46 percent.

The board sets policy and direction for the school district. The district has an enrollment of over 12,000 students, employs 1,200 teachers and has the lowest drop-out rate in the state. 

Each board member elected echoed similar thoughts the day after they won seats on the board. They expressed excitement and anticipation for the opportunity.

“I’m very humbled that the voters would give me an opportunity to serve them in this fashion. I’m just humbled and overwhelmed by the responsibility that they’ve given me,” Broun said. “I’m going to work hard to continue to make Chapel Hill-Carrboro the best district in the state.”

Recent issues board members and candidates have discussed are allocating funds for renovation of older buildings and retaining teachers and administrators.

Incumbents Barrett and Broun both said one of their immediate priorities was to come up with a solution for renovating school district buildings.

“The first thing is to figure out what we’re going to do to renovate our older buildings," Barrett said. "Voters approved bond money last year, but construction costs are coming in extremely high, and we need to figure out a solution for that."

Wolf prioritizes retaining quality teachers and administrators.

“Our district has worked really hard to stay ahead of the curve, I think, in terms of teacher pay. I think we have to continue doing that,” Wolf said. “We want them to feel like they have the resources and opportunities to meet the needs of each kid, but also opportunities to learn and grow as teachers and also to plan and I think that’s a really important aspect of our work going forward.”

This will be Wolf’s first term on the board, and she said she is excited to get started. Wolf said she feels she has the necessary experience to adjust to the new position since she's been involved with education and policy for 20 years.

“I’m really interested in being a part of the board but also acknowledge that there will be a learning experience because it’s a different role than I’ve played before," she said. "I think a lot of what I’ve done in my experience will only support this."

Fowler’s experience on the Special Needs Advisory Council, comprised of a group of parents and community officials, led to her decision to run for a seat on the school board. She said she feels prepared to work on the board.

"I feel like we made a lot of progress, but you know there were some areas where we weren’t getting a lot of traction, which was part of my goal for running for school board,” Fowler said. “Hopefully, they’ll have a greater voice on the school board in order to make things happen for students with disabilities.”

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