school board

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools: Smarter, Not Harder

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education meets tonight at 5:30 (closed session at the Chapel Hill Town Hall) to discuss, among other things, areas for budget reduction.

Though I dislike making judgements on topics with which I'm not familiar, I must admit that my first glance through the list of reductions leaves me with mixed feelings.  I believe them off-base with certain items, such as reductions in professional development, curriculum development stipends, and new-teacher signing bonuses. (see PDF below-pages 5 and 8)  However, I believe them on-target in other reduction avenues, including looking at the K12 Insight online surveys and reducing the Superintendent's meeting refreshments.

Municipal Candidate Filing Ends

2009 municipal and Chapel Hill/Carrboro School Board election filing will begin on Monday, July 6th at 8:00am and conclude on Friday, July 17th at noon.

Date: 

Friday, July 17, 2009 - 8:00am

Will Changes in OCS Leadership Bring Real Change?

The new board of the Orange County Schools was recently sworn into office. At their very first meeting, the three new board members joined with one of the standing members to vote out the old board chair and vice-chair. They were replaced by two newly-elected members, but the new chairs are far from new to Orange County Schools.

The new board chair is Steve Halkiotis, a former county commissioner and someone who spent his entire professional career in the Orange County Schools, working his way up from teacher to assistant superintendent. The new vice-chair is Tony McKnight, himself also a former OCS teacher.

These changes come less than a year after Pat Rhodes became the district’s superintendent, and like Halkiotis and McKnight he also has previous experience in Orange County.

So we have plenty of new leadership, but I’m wondering if they’ll take our district in any new directions. Can three leaders so tied to the district’s past bring innovative solutions to our contemporary challenges?

The importance of educating ourselves BEFORE we vote...

With the Orange County School Board (OCSB) elections looming (among others), and the frustration of the last year lingering with many parents and concerned citizens, we have a real chance to make a change.

What say you – we always have that opportunity?

Yes, of course you are right – the right to vote is fundamental in our society. And a right we should willingly act upon at every chance.

So – I have a confession to make...

There is an extremely high likelihood that I voted for a much maligned outgoing member of the School Board four years ago. For those of you who have not attended OCSB meetings this past year, let me just say that this woman and I have VERY different viewpoints on the process of educating our children.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education (choose up to 3):

· Jean Hamilton
· Jeff Danner
· Lisa Stuckey
· Pam Hemminger

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