On July 18, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools District Board of Education met to discuss a new option for the use of the funds gained through the proposed bond referendum, as well as a preliminary budget report.
What’s New?
- The board read a resolution in support of prioritizing public schools by opposing taxpayer-funded private school vouchers.
- The board encouraged the N.C. General Assembly to increase teacher salaries, allocate funding toward early childhood education and childcare and to place a moratorium on taxpayer-funded private school vouchers to ensure the money is invested in public education.
- “This voucher plan is just yet another assault on public education, and that’s the essence of what we read tonight,” board member Mike Sharp said.
- He said that state funding for public education is decreasing, as well as enrollment, and that the pressure on communities to respond is increasing.
- During the public comment section, community members and parents of Morris Grove Elementary School students expressed disapproval of option two, which would result in the displacement of Morris Grove Elementary students and the consolidation of the dual language programs.
- “Morris Grove Elementary exemplifies the district's culture of care. We are a close-knit community that genuinely cares for one another,” Kim Singh, a parent and teacher assistant at Morris Grove Elementary, said. “As educators, we take pride in our strong relationships with the families we serve. Proposals 2 and 2A would displace current Morris Grove families, forcing them to move to schools miles away.”
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Al Ciarochi, deputy superintendent for operations at CHCCS, presented an update on the proposed uses of the bond referendum.
- He introduced a new option that would consist of building a replacement for Frank Porter Graham Elementary School on land adjacent to Morris Grove Elementary, vacating the original building, replacing Carrboro Elementary School and temporarily relocating them to the vacant Frank Porter Graham building. Additionally, maintenance would be conducted on Culbreth and Phillips Middle Schools and the district would construct a new Estes Hills Elementary School on the current school’s site.
- This option would not consolidate the district’s dual language programs and would require alternative sites for Phillips Middle School’s athletic activities.
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The project would be completed in four phases.
- The first phase would consist of constructing the new Estes Hills Elementary building behind the current school, rendering the football field and track temporarily unusable. Frank Porter Graham Elementary’s athletic facilities would be used during this time.
- The second phase would include students moving into the new Estes Hills Elementary building and the demolition of the original building.
- The third phase — which would take place in several years after the passage of another referendum — would construct a new Phillips Middle next to the new Estes Hills building to create a K-8 campus, similar to that of McDougle Elementary and Middle schools.
- The fourth phase would involve moving students into the new middle school, demolishing the original Phillips Middle building and constructing new parking lots and athletic fields.
- Board member Vickie Feaster Fornville said that people are not doing a good job thinking collectively, and that some are only thinking about how they will personally be impacted.
- “I was appalled when I moved here to see these old schools. And to hear community members say, ‘Well I'm not gonna vote for our kids or my neighbors’ kids to go to a newer school and the wonderful staff that we have working every day to be able to work in a better school,’ that’s very disappointing,” board member Riza Jenkins said. “So, I agree with [Fornville]. Some of us need to check what we’re talking about. And again, it's not just us, it’s Orange County Schools, too.”
- He introduced a new option that would consist of building a replacement for Frank Porter Graham Elementary School on land adjacent to Morris Grove Elementary, vacating the original building, replacing Carrboro Elementary School and temporarily relocating them to the vacant Frank Porter Graham building. Additionally, maintenance would be conducted on Culbreth and Phillips Middle Schools and the district would construct a new Estes Hills Elementary School on the current school’s site.
- Jonathan Scott, CHCCS’ chief financial officer, gave a presentation on the preliminary results from the district’s budget operations over the past few years. As of the date of the meeting, the district had around a $2.3 million estimated operating budget deficit going into fiscal year 2024-2025.
