Public comment period highlights: international-student support, STEM funding, discipline concerns, health-plan problems and a request on Carmel Middle staffing

Speakers during the board’s public‑comment period on Feb. 11 raised multiple issues affecting students and families across the district.

Why it matters: Public comments provide the board with direct feedback from students, parents and community groups on operational and programmatic issues that affect day‑to‑day school experiences and district priorities.

Open Arms Alliance (international-student peer support): Alita Mololo, a junior at Myers Park High School, outlined a student‑led initiative called the Open Arms Alliance to create peer supports for international students who face language barriers and social isolation. Mololo described a recent example of a student from South Sudan who struggled with course language and called for peer‑to‑peer connections, cultural orientation and parent engagement to expand supports across elementary, middle and high schools. “The Open Arms Alliance isn’t just an idea, it’s a movement,” Mololo said.

STEM funding (House Bill 4): Nandana Ramesh, a Ballantyne Ridge sophomore, urged board support to extend funding created by North Carolina House Bill 4 for middle‑school hands‑on STEM programs that the speaker said is set to expire at the end of the 2024 fiscal year. Ramesh told the board the program provides robotics, coding and science experiments to many students and asked the board to endorse making the funding permanent or extended beyond 2025.

Student behavior and discipline: Bill Fowen, a retired teacher and parent, criticized what he called a decline in school behavior expectations and questioned whether some administrators are too lenient when enforcing the district’s code of student conduct. He urged the board to “re‑look at the student code” and to hold high expectations so classrooms remain orderly and productive.

Health plans and documentation for medically fragile students: A parent and community advocate described problems with county nurses’ documentation being incomplete or inconsistently retained by the district, and said that medically fragile students’ health plans have sometimes not been written or followed, which can put students at risk. The commenter said parents often must re‑submit medical documentation to ensure appropriate plans are created and followed.

Acceleration and specialized programs: Tyler Herb, a teacher and program leader, described a seven‑year accelerated math program that identified middle‑grade students ready for advanced math pathways and said the program produced students who later succeeded in AP courses. Herb said the district recently told the program it is “not an approved pathway,” and he asked the board to help the district reconsider and expand the pathway across CMS.

Personnel concern at Carmel Middle School: A community member asked that an athletic director suspended with pay be reinstated, saying the individual “is adored by this community and the school” and urging the board to review Carmel Middle leadership. Board procedures prevented discussion of confidential personnel details; the speaker said several parents had emailed the board with no reply.

Student advisor report (student‑voice concerns): Student advisor Miss Silverstein summarized district‑wide student feedback collected by the student advisory office. She said three recurring concerns emerged: limited vegetarian meal options in cafeterias, security scanners at school entrances causing delays and false positives, and insufficient college‑counseling resources because counselors are overextended. She urged the board to consider steps to improve those areas.

These public comments were recorded in the board’s meeting minutes and submitted as part of the public record for board members and staff to consider.