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Serving the students and the University community since 1893

Thursday May 26th

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools is one of two public schools systems in Orange County. The system is run by the CHCCS Board of Education, which is comprised of seven elected officials who hold four-year terms. Under the board is the superintendent. The current superintendent is Tom Forcella.

The district includes 11 elementary schools, four middle schools, four high schools, a middle college with Durham Technical Community College and a school for children at UNC Hospitals. These schools serve more than 12,000 students across Orange County.

Learn more about the district's Board of Education here.

Browse board meeting agendas and videos here.

Pristine Onuoha, 11th grade student at East Chapel Hill High School, poses for a portrait at East Chapel Hill High School on May 24, 2022. Onuoha is one of five national finalists in the NASA Genes in Space Challenge.

East Chapel Hill High School student announced as finalist in national NASA competition

By Joelle Adeleke | 5:57pm

Pristine Onuoha, a junior at East Chapel Hill High School, was announced as one of the finalists for the Genes in Space challenge hosted by NASA.
For this national competition, students must design an experiment that relates to an issue about spaceu2019s effect on DNA. The winning proposed experiment will be tested on the International Space Station.
Onuoha's proposed experiment would analyze the relationship between stem cell populations and telomere length in the white blood cells of astronauts.

Project Graduation gift bags sit on a table at the Phoenix Academy High School Spring 2021 graduation ceremony. Photo courtesy of Project Graduation.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools celebrating 30th anniversary of Project Graduation

By Ethan Harrell | May. 22

South Orange Rescue Squad donates ambulance to Chapel Hill High School for EMT classes

By Lucy Marques | May. 24

CHCCS cancels after-school activities due to severe weather

By Sarah Choi | May. 6

Jillian La Serna, chairperson of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education, yields public comments at the board's Aug. 12, 2021 meeting.

CHCCS School Safety Task Force discusses school resource officers alternatives

By Katie MacKinnon | Apr. 11

SROs are law enforcement officers placed in schools with the goal of creating and maintaining safe, secure and orderly learning environments for students, teachers and staff. The task force's findings have not been finalized yet, but options for alternatives include adding to or replacing the current SRO program in the district.

The Orange County Board of Education building, as pictured on Monday, March 28, 2022, is located on East King Street in Hillsborough.

Reports highlight racial disparities in disciplinary infractions in OCS, CHCCS schools

By Madelyn Van Meter | Apr. 5

Data presented in a March 22 Orange County Board of Education meeting showed that Black students make up about 14 percent of the student body population but account for close to 30 percent of disciplinary incidents.

Masks lie at the entrance to Wilson Library on Jan. 9, 2022.

Orange County BOE approves plans to mitigate COVID-19 spread amid spring break travel

By Brian Rosenzweig | Mar. 9

Masks will remain optional in Orange County Schools as long as positivity rates stay below two percent. If more than two percent of the student population at a given school tests positive within a seven-day period, masking will be reinstated for the next school week.

DTH Photo Illustration. Local ESL programs have recently been facing staffing shortages.

North Carolina ESL teachers navigate pandemic challenges

By Ian Walniuk | Mar. 8

As the pandemic and associated staffing shortages have taken a toll on school districts across North Carolina, English language teachers have faced many unique challenges.

Jacob Hewgley is a math teacher at Carrboro High School. Hewgley is one of many local teachers feeling overwhelmed by circumstances posed by the pandemic.

'This job is exhausting': CHCCS struggles with teacher shortages

By Ethan Horton | Mar. 8

North Carolina is experiencing teacher shortages in all core subjects for elementary schools as many teachers have considered leaving their jobs — or already have — throughout the pandemic. The state is also facing a shortage of substitute teachers to fill classroom vacancies.

A student enters Carrboro High School on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022.

Carrboro Lions Club donates vision screener to CHCCS

By Sierra President | Mar. 1

“I think we’ve seen more kids younger and younger who are getting glasses prescribed and getting their vision impairments corrected earlier," Exceptional Children program facilitator Ashley Kellum said.

DTH Photo Illustration. The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging educational and social development in children.

Editorial: Mitigating the effect of the pandemic on speech development

By Editorial Board | Feb. 28

"Isolation caused by the pandemic has also created concern among educators and parents as we wonder what the future effects of social isolation and the comfort in it may have on these generations. In an effort to support all students, regardless of where they are in speech development, it is imperative that primary educators implement options such as plexiglass desks or clear masks in their classrooms. Only then can we begin to mitigate the social effects of the pandemic on student learning."

"The best tool at our disposal is the vaccine," says Carrboro mayor Damon Seils. Seils poses for a portrait in Carrboro on Thursday, Feb. 17, hours after a press conference where NC Governor Roy Cooper encouraged local schools and governors to end mask mandates.

Orange County leaders making no mask mandate changes, will reevaluate in March

By Ian Walniuk | Feb. 23

CHCCS will provide an update on COVID-19 protocols at its March 3 Board of Education meeting, Chief Communications Officer Andy Jenks said in an email.

DTH Photo Illustration. The CHCCS Board of Education filed a report comparing the wages of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools classified employees to surrounding school districts and other market competitors on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022.

CHCCS considers plans for non-instructional staff pay increase as it falls behind market

By Harrison Gummel | Feb. 21

The employment study, which was presented at last Thursday's Board of Education meeting, was conducted to help Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools administer equitable compensation moving forward.

Justin Seifts, the recipient of the 2022 Reckford Teaching Prize Reckford teaching, teaches Spanish at East Chapel Hill High School on Friday, Feb. 11, 2022.

'Maybe it opens the door to new possibilities': CHCCS alumnus wins teaching award

By Samuel Long | Feb. 15

Seifts said a significant population of the students at East Chapel Hill High School are Asian, but many of them have never had an Asian teacher before.

A Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools school board meeting on Feb 6, 2022.

CHCCS votes to invest over $860,000 in mental health resources at latest meeting

By Jenna Rupp | Feb. 7

Stemming from a new spending plan, students in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools will soon see an increase in available mental health resources. The recommendation for the plan said that it is "particularly important" to acknowledge the impact that COVID-19 has had on the overall mental health of students in CHCCS schools.

A screenshot of State Assistant Attorney General John Barkley explaining the process behind amending immunization policy over Zoom on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022.