Instead, the board agreed to use the academic achievement of the students' neighborhoods and the overcrowding of nearby schools as criteria.
Catherine Mau, the student assignment and technology project coordinator at Orange County Schools, said providing students in low-income neighborhoods with the opportunity to come to Hillsborough Elementary is critically important.
“By targeting those students with a laser focus and making sure those that are most in need of a year-round program have a higher weight, we think that we’d be able to help achieve this goal,” Mau said.
Staff diversity
Principal of Hillsborough Elementary Christine Kreider said the school has made significant progress toward improving diversity among its faculty.
“I do want to note that over the past few years, over 50 percent of our new hires were all staff of color, and I think that’s notable as we look at our recruitment and marketing efforts,” she said.
Orange County Board of Education Vice Chair Brenda Stephens praised Kreider for many of her efforts to improve the situation.
“We’ve been talking about the lack of diversity at (Hillsborough Elementary) for over a decade,” Stephens said. “But with all of the parameters that you are putting in place, I believe that we’re actually gonna move forward to do something about it.”
However, Stephens said there is still a serious lack of diversity among teachers at the school, which has tangible effects on students.
“I went to a classroom a couple of days ago and a little girl ran up to me and said, ‘Oh, I am so happy to see you in this classroom!,’” she said. “Well, it was a little Black girl who said that to me, and I know exactly what she meant because she said ‘Are you our teacher today?’ and I said, ‘Yes, I’m your teacher.’ The teacher really makes a big, big difference.”
Kreider said there is still work to be done.
“We need to be having that dialogue and that vocabulary about diversity, inclusivity and belonging,” she said. “And that’s the work that all of our teachers are championing and having those difficult conversations, and that’s important.”
To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.
Improved transportation routes
During the meeting, the board also discussed limited bus transportation routes near the school, which they identified as a “significant barrier to families.”
Currently, buses travel within a 1.5-mile radius of the school, but students living farther away do not have easily accessible options for transportation.
Patrick Abele, the deputy superintendent of operations at Orange County Schools, said the plan would attempt to establish routes that are accessible to any student, regardless of where they live.
According to the agenda, the board will survey applicants' parents to determine which students will need bus transportation.
The board is also considering adding crossing guards to certain locations, reassigning buses to unserved locations and adding designated walk zones within the town.
@ianwalniuk
@DTHCityState | city@dailytarheel.com
