Some CHCCS Educators Reassigned or Told Contracts Won’t Be Renewed

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Good morning, readers.

Last night, over 30 middle and high school students packed the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools board meeting to advocate for the 31 staffers who found out last week that their contracts would not be renewed or that they would be reassigned to different roles in the district.

“Cutting Latin would leave tons of kids without one of the best electives and its teacher,” said Henry, a sixth grader at Culbreth Middle School. “What really makes [our teacher] special is the fact that she stands outside of her door every morning saying ‘salve,’ which means hello in Latin, to the students as we walk by. She really cares about how we’re doing that day, and tries to make it even better.”

The students also collected over 1,000 signatures on a petition and sent out materials coaching each other on how to best write emails and petitions to the board (“It won’t help our cause to view the school board or superintendent as our adversaries! Remember to use polite and positive language and to avoid being accusatory,” said one online guide). 

Board members were clearly impressed by the students. But after the students left to finish up homework, the conversation turned back to the numbers—enrollment, dollars, and per-school allotments—that are likely to inform the board’s final decision.

“If we don’t make that cut, it’s a cut somewhere else,” Bob Bales, director of curriculum, told the board. “And then we have another group of people that are going to come in and—we have amazing teachers everywhere. This is an extremely difficult decision.”

Read more below about how the district’s difficult staffing situation came to be, and have a good weekend.

 —Chase

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