City schools favor limit for exchange students

Opportunities for foreign exchange students to study in local schools might be harder to come by in the future.

Before their meeting was cut short because of deteriorating road conditions, members of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education voted unanimously to accept a policy that includes a provision to limit the number of foreign exchange students admitted to district high schools.

According to the policy, the cap — which will be set at six students per school per year — was needed because of the popularity of the district’s exchange program and the overcrowding situation at both Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill high schools.

Board member Nicholas Didow made a motion to remove the cap from the policy and allow the number of international students admitted to be flexible.

“I would much rather (the cap) be determined by ISD staff,” he said, referring to the district’s instructional services division staff, which ultimately oversee the foreign exchange program.

But after Didow’s motion failed, board member Mike Kelley made a motion to set the limit on exchange students at six, in addition to the number of students from each high school who are studying abroad.

Nettie Collins-Hart, assistant superintendent for instructional services, said the cap would help school system employees know exactly how many foreign exchange students would enroll in the district.

But, she said, a cap would not exact a large change in that number.

“I don’t suspect it would greatly impact the number,” she said.

Collins-Hart said it is not clear exactly how many foreign exchange students are currently enrolled in the school system.

District Spokeswoman Kim Hoke said about seven foreign exchange students enroll in each school annually.

But Hoke also said that most, if not all, exchange student applications received each year by the district are approved.

City schools Superintendent Neil Pedersen reminded board members that they still had the option to revise the number.

“Once we better define the students, we can come back to the board in a year and see if we want to adjust the number,” he said.

According to the policy, potential exchange students must, among other things, be a high school junior or senior and have “academic command” of the English language.

Students also must be eligible to enter the United States on a J-1 visa — used for non-immigrants who want to come to the country to study, teach or participate in other educational activities.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.