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The Daily Tar Heel

Opinion: The conditions at Chapel Hill High School are unacceptable

I t is the responsibility of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools to improve teacher satisfaction at Chapel Hill High School, the district’s oldest high school.

No teachers strongly agreed that there is an atmosphere of trust and respect at the school, according to 

Instead of blaming budgetary constraints and the inability to pay teachers competitively, the school system should take a closer look at some of the underlying issues that could contribute to dissatisfaction among staff members at the school.

Teachers said the administration failed to address the results of the survey, damning as they were.

To begin improving teacher satisfaction, the school system should host an open meeting at Chapel Hill High School where teachers can share their grievances without the fear of retribution from administration.

Normally it’s the principal’s job to provide solid support for teachers and make them feel valued. The fact that the school has had 10 principals in the last 20 years also shows the district must step in to evaluate why there has been such high administrative turnover. Turnover is expensive for schools, especially at the administrative level, so it’s in the district’s best interest to identify why principals don’t stay at the school for long.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools is among the nation’s top-performing districts. As long as this trend continues, the school district should implement policies to establish institutional continuity at the school so teachers don’t feel as though the district’s inability to retain a principal is their fault.

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