Glenwood Elementary is crowded — and more than 100 parents gathered Thursday to help the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education figure out what to do about it.
Glenwood’s capacity is 423 students, and with 513 students currently enrolled, the board said it had to come up with short and long term solutions for its students.
Glenwood is currently home to one of the district’s Mandarin-English Dual Language Program, and Assistant Superintendent Todd Lofrese said the program was one of the big drivers in the school’s enrollment growth.
Older sibling transfers and greater-than-expected growth within Glenwood’s attendance zone also contributed to over capacity at the school.
Lofrese said the district’s administration had entertained several options, all of which involved moving a significant number of students.
Lofrese outlined how the district could spot redistrict, meaning it would move some neighborhoods to less crowded elementary schools across the district.
In it’s agenda item, the district’s administration crafted a proposal that would require moving 84 students from the Greenwood, Roosevelt Drive, Gimghoul, Summerfield Crossing, Foxcroft, Milton Ave. and Franklin Grove neighborhoods to Northside and Rashkis Elementary Schools.
“(Spot redistricting) would delay a tough decision,” Lofrese said during his presentation to the board Thursday night.
Lofrese also outlined several proposals that would relocate the Mandarin-English Dual Language Program.
The Carrboro Elementary option
The board has committed itself to the long-term success of the Mandarin-English Dual Language Program, and with that commitment comes sacrifices for some families, Lofrese said.
Lofrese outlined a plan that would abolish the Spanish Dual Language Program at Carrboro Elementary and combine the school’s program with Glenwood’s Mandarin-English Dual Language Program at a single school.
Carrboro Elementary School parents spent hours Thursday night voicing their concern for this proposal.
Reyna Rivera, a social worker at Carrboro Elementary School, said she spent most of her week calling parents to mobilize the school against the proposal.
“Closing a very successful spanish dual laungauge program without considering all the constituents involved is not equity,” Rivera said.
Many Carrboro Elementary School parents said they weren’t given enough time to consider the proposal, which was distributed earlier this week through the board’s agenda.
Rivera’s son, a third grader at Carrboro Elementary School, said it broke his heart when his best friend changed schools last year after the board redistricted the school.
“I think you guys should think of maybe not changing our schools, but maybe making a little difference in all of the schools,” he said.
‘School-within-a-school’
The district is concerned the two dual language programs create the feeling of schools-within-schools instead of being one fluid institution, according to the board’s agenda.
Many parents insisted the dual language programs didn’t create a different culture. Instead, they said their kids appreciated working alongside one another.
Susan Swafford has a fourth grader at Glenwood Elementary. Swafford said she would be fine with moving her child as long as the dual-language program would continue to exist in the district.
“School-within-a-school, it’s a new term that we didn’t really know about,” Swafford said. “The magnet is really to solve the school-within-a-school problem. But is that really a problem?”
As a liaison to Carrboro Elementary School, board member Jamezetta Bedford said she witnessed the the difficulties the dual language program had with integrating into the school’s broader culture.
“It was very clear that that school suffered from severe problems with school-within-a-school,” Bedford said.
Bedford said she was in favor of spot redistricting to relieve the immediate problems with crowding at Glenwood.
“I have the coldest heart when it comes to redistricting,” Bedford said. “I think we need to spot redistrict for those neighborhoods. It’s unfortunate.”
The district identified more than 10 segments of students with more than 321 students that are eligible for reassignment.
Board member James Barrett said he felt those neighborhoods originally slated to go to the district’s newest school, Northside Elementary School, should be redistricted there.
“I’d be happy to see our downtown neighborhoods go to our downtown school,” Barrett said.
Barrett also said the district’s administration should look into special waivers from the state that would allow the school to have more students per classroom in lower grades in its dual-language program.
A timeline going forward
Board member Michelle Brownstein said there is no definite timeline for when the board will vote on how to handle the crowding at Glenwood Elementary.
Instead, she said the district would take time to craft a thoughtful plan for how to handle a complex issue.
On the agenda, the district’s administration asked the board to provide further guidance so a finalized recommendation could be considered during the board’s next meeting on Nov. 21.
Brownstein said parents still had time to email members of the board with any concerns they had, and she said the board would take its time evaluating all options.
city@dailytarheel.com
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