The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education recently met to continue its conversation on the future elementary school closures.
During a Feb. 19 work session, the board focused on narrowing down its list of criteria for what data or features district staff will use when examining elementary schools for closure, with the target of choosing at least one school to shut down for the 2027-28 school year.
The conversation follows a Feb. 5 meeting, where the majority of the school board expressed interest in closing two elementary schools at once amid waning enrollment trends and funding challenges. While the district previously selected Seawell Elementary School, Ephesus Elementary School, and Glenwood Elementary School as its best options, the board is now also considering Estes Hills Elementary School and Frank Porter Graham Bilingüe Elementary School.
Though the board aims to review and finalize a shortened list at its upcoming March 5 meeting — at which point it can move forward on tasking staff with school closure plans — the members gave input on a list of 64 initial considerations. A majority of the board members said they would like the list to retain or combine aspects of staff’s recommended considerations, including a school’s long-term maintenance costs, the feasibility of building on site while students remain enrolled, and a building’s adjacency to middle or high schools…