Community superintendent survey yields high response

A recently released survey of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools stakeholders suggested the system’s new leader needs to be capable of making difficult decisions.

And some of those difficult decisions surfaced at Thursday’s board of education meeting.

In a meeting that ran late into the evening, board members heard dozens of comments from parents, teachers and community members on a variety of issues currently before the board.

Debated topics included plans to alleviate overcrowding at two elementary schools through redistricting and the continuation of smaller class sizes for special needs students, among other issues.

“We need a leader with a vision for the district for all students,” said board chairwoman Jamezetta Bedford. “We need a change agent.”

Representatives from the North Carolina School Board Association — the group charged with finding a new superintendent — presented the results of a survey distributed to gather community input on the ideal candidate to replace current superintendent Neil Pedersen, who plans to retire at the end of the school year.

The board praised the high response rate — more than 981 community surveys and 299 staff surveys were returned.

“I’m so proud of our community,” said board vice-chairwoman Mia Day Burroughs. “Democracy is alive and well in Chapel Hill and Carrboro.”

The surveys suggested that both community and staff want a confident superintendent with classroom experience.

“We need to have a cheerleader,” said board member Annetta Streater. “They need to be excited and self-motivated to invite participation in the community.”

The district currently projects a significant deficit in the coming school year — Burroughs estimated the funding gap to be as high as $10 million.

As a result, any planning decision the district makes for the coming year will have to be weighed against a reduced budget.

In a work session proposing solutions to overcrowding at Glenwood Elementary School, the district’s coordinator of student enrollment, Kevin Fuerst, suggested the use of current and future portable classrooms as a way to ease the strain on the building’s classrooms.

Although some of these units are already in use as offices for student programs, board members cautioned that those programs might not be funded in future school years.

“There’s a big budget shortfall for all,” said board member Michelle Brownstein. “We have no idea if all of those offices will be needed.”

No final decision was made on the redistricting plans, but board members voiced general assent with the plan to relocate specific neighborhoods of families from Glenwood and Morris Grove elementary schools.

Contact the City Editor at city@dailytarheel.com.