TL; DR
The board
received a budget update.
received a report on school closure statutory procedures.
received an update on the cell phone policy implementation.
***********************************************************************************
The first agenda item was a Recommendation for Approval of the FY 2025-26 Q2 Budget Amendments and FY 2025-26. From the meeting Abstract (copy and pasted):
PURPOSE: This agenda item is a consolidation of several different items, all pertaining to the mid-year results FY 2025-26 as of December 31, 2025.
1. To update and inform the Board of Education on the mid-year financial results of the local operating fund for FY 2025-26.
2. To update and inform the Board of the financial status of each major fund code through December 31, 2025.
3. To seek Board approval of the budget amendments processed during Q2 of the fiscal year ended 6/30/2026. This reflects all amendments to the budget through December 31, 2025.
BACKGROUND: In accordance with the requirements Board Policy: 8510, administration is required to provide the board with a statement of financial condition which includes budget-to-actual statements reflecting budgeted accounts; actual payments made; amounts encumbered, including electronic obligations; and the amount of the budget that is unobligated for all major funds. The numbers presented in the attachments are presented on a preliminary unaudited basis. They will still require subsequent adjustment for items not yet accrued to bring them into compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
For further details, click HERE for the presentation PowerPoint.
*******************************************************************************************
The next item was an Overview of North Carolina School Closure Statutory Procedures. The meeting Abstract included the following information (copy and pasted).
PURPOSE: The CHCCS Board of Education will receive an overview on the North Carolina school closure statutory procedures in order to consider the financial savings to the school district.
BACKGROUND: At the August 14, 2025, Board of Education meeting, district staff presented an overview on the financial cost savings in closing a hypothetical elementary school in order to inform on how one could financially impact a school district. This presentation included discussion that the district’s 2025-26 student enrollment and 10-year projections would be further discussed at its December 11, 2025, retreat.
At the December 11, 2025, retreat, a local demographer (Carolina Demography), retained by Orange County and CHCCS, presented an analysis on the 2025-26 student enrollment and provided a preliminary overview on a 10-year projection.
Based upon the presentation and discussion, the Board of Education asked district staff to apprise them of any statutory requirements and procedures with the closing of a public school in the state of North Carolina.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: It is estimated that an elementary school closure could reduce the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools annual budget by approximately $1.7M.
PERSONNEL IMPACT: An elementary school closure can reduce the number of annual recurring positions (school specific) within the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools budget.
Some of the supporting materials are as follows:
The statutory requirements presented in a PowerPoint are outlined HERE. These are the legally required steps to follow in the process of closing a school in NC.
The memo (School Closure and Consolidation: Statutory Procedures) prepared by the district’s legal counsel (Eva DuBuisson) may be found HERE.
School Closing Procedure guidelines (NC Department of Public Instruction) may be found HERE.
Summary Note: After the presentation, the board asked administration, “What’s next? What’s the next step?” Three elementary schools (Ephesus, Glenwood, Seawell) were named for further study. A suggestion was made to consider expanding the school list to include Estes Hills and FPG (slated for replacement under the approved Bond Plan). After some discussion, the board directed the administration to focus on the three schools originally named.
Understandably, the three school communities have raised a number of questions and have supported their schools via letters to the board and social media posts. Related to the expressed concerns and questions, a clarification letter was sent to the community from the superintendent and board leadership as follows:
“This message is for all CHCCS staff and families:
Following our recent community conversations about the financial implications of CHCCS student enrollment trends, the Board of Education has asked district leadership to analyze how best to keep our school district functioning at a high level for the foreseeable future. Specifically, the Board directed the district to analyze whether the closure of one or more elementary schools would help us achieve that goal.
So what does this mean? District leaders will put together more information, along with possible options and clear explanations, to share with staff and the community. We expect to bring this forward at the next Board of Education meeting on Thursday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m.
We are fortunate that the community approved the 2024 Bond Referendum. These finances will allow us to replace three of our elementary schools with new buildings. In a series of meetings before and after the Bond vote, the Board (in 2025) decided to prioritize three of our oldest schools to be rebuilt (for video, start at the 3:13:50 timestamp): Carrboro Elementary, Estes Hills Elementary and FPG Bilingüe.
The facility study that recommended replacing the three schools named above also identified Ephesus Elementary School, Glenwood Elementary School and Seawell Elementary School as aging and inefficient to run, compared to our other, newer elementary schools.
Therefore, the starting point will be to consider Ephesus, Glenwood and Seawell, even though we do not anticipate needing to close all three.
Staff will look into which options make the most sense fiscally, while also considering how to best minimize disruption to our community.
Any potential school closures are extremely unlikely to take effect until the 2027-28 school year, at the earliest.
This discussion is about buildings, not academic programs or extracurriculars. Any decision about a building isn’t necessarily a decision about the programs and activities within those buildings.
What can be expected in the near future? After Feb. 5, if we continue to go down this path, we plan to hold staff and community forums in any potentially affected communities. These conversations will give us the chance to explain things in more detail, listen closely and answer questions along the way.
What about the long-term? This would include a detailed study, a public hearing and continued discussion through the winter and early spring.
Any school closure would also be accompanied by a comprehensive student redistricting process at all schools across the district.
Our goal, with the Bond and with a potential closure, is to put as many students as possible in state-of-the-art facilities and to balance student enrollment.
Get caught up: Why is this happening? CHCCS student enrollment has been decreasing since 2019. That’s due to a mix of reasons including fewer births, some families moving out of the area, not enough new families moving in, and more families choosing options like charter schools, private schools and homeschooling.
When student enrollment declines, so does the state funding we get for day-to-day operations. This was discussed in depth in a series of staff and community meetings last fall.
There’s nothing wrong with being a smaller district. But this shift means we need to find as many cost-saving measures as possible. That includes reducing the high fixed costs that accompany maintaining old, inefficient buildings.
We want to get it right, which means looking at central services, school staffing and programming as well.
We are committed to preserving excellent student-teacher ratios and quality instruction as we optimize our operations.
We know there are many questions right now, and not all of them have answers yet. As this conversation gets started, no decisions have been made, and we’ll keep you updated with important dates and developments.
If you have a question or comment that you’d like to share, do not respond directly to this email. Instead, please use this link so that we can gather responses all in one place.
Thank you for your time and attention.”
Sincerely,
Riza Jenkins, Board of Education Chair
Barbara Fedders, Board of Education Vice Chair
Dr. Rodney Trice, Superintendent
*******************************************************************************************
The final item on the agenda was titled, CHCCS Cell Phone Policy Implementation Review. From the meeting Abstract (copy and pasted):
PURPOSE: Assess the implementation of House Bill 959 and more specifically Policy Code 4318: Use of Wireless Communication Devices by reviewing feedback from parents, teachers, students and school leaders on cell phone policy implementation. The goal is to provide an update to the Board of Education, while at the same time identifying celebrations and growth opportunities within our district cell phone policy.
BACKGROUND:
The North Carolina General Assembly passed House Bill 959 regulating the use of cell phones and other wireless communication devices during school instructional time in all grades, K-12. The bill, which the governor recently signed into law, requires North Carolina’s public school districts to establish a policy that “...shall prohibit students from using, displaying or having a wireless communication device turned on during instructional time.”
While the new policy was not required by law until January 1, 2026, CHCCS believed it would ease the transition if we updated our current device rules in August 2025, so that these new changes would take effect at the start of the 2025-2026 school year.
For the 2025-2026 school year, school and district administration implemented the following school-based rules regarding cell phones:
At high school, cell phones -including ear buds- are not used, displayed or turned on during class instructional time. This includes class transition times. Students are still able to use their devices during lunch.
At middle school, there were no major changes compared to last year. Students had already adjusted to “away for the day” expectations in 2024-25. “Away for the day” means students may bring their phone to school, but phones will remain in middle school lockers throughout the day. Smart watches may be worn at the middle and high school level only and used only as watches (to check time) during instructional time, but any features that permit sending or receiving messages must be disabled when use of a wireless communication device is prohibited.
At the elementary school, any student who has a phone is expected to keep it “away for the day” as well.
Exceptions exist as required for students with medical needs and/or in a student’s individual education plan.
PERSONNEL IMPACT: School administration will need to continuously educate staff, students and parents on these new practices. As a gentle reminder these practices are not new to all schools. CHCCS district administration will continue to assist schools with implementation of the new policy.
-END-
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.