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Students, parents and educators urge full funding for Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools
Summary
At a May 13 Orange County public hearing, multiple students, parents, teachers and PTA leaders urged the Board of Commissioners to fully fund the schools' continuation and expansion budgets, citing program cuts, teacher departures and impacts on classroom supports such as teacher assistants and language programs.
Dozens of students, parents, educators and PTA representatives addressed the Orange County Board of Commissioners during the May 13 public hearing to press for full funding of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools continuation and expansion budgets.
Brian Link, president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Association of Educators, framed the speakers' request succinctly: "Can we please have money for schools?" Link said the county's recommended budget was nearly $2 million short of continuation and that past county practice had funded at least 49% of the local education share, sometimes exceeding 50%.
Multiple student speakers described concrete classroom impacts from recent budget cuts. Ella Horrigan, a rising high-school freshman, said she and other students will lose access to Latin and French offerings when teachers leave, and called language instruction "formative" to her education. Claire Wherry and Julia Gordon, both middle-school students, described the loss of a highly regarded Latin teacher and urged the board to reverse cuts that they said remove programs that help keep families and students in the district.
Parents and PTA leaders stressed similar concerns. Andrea Tanner, president of the PTA Council for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, asked the board to "prioritize our schools" and to fully fund the continuation budget while looking for ways to support expansion items. Several parents described classroom disruptions caused by teacher shortages and cuts to teacher assistants; a parent said her eighth-grade child has lacked a steady math classroom teacher for a full year and called that situation "not an ideal learning environment."
Speakers described the broader consequences they said follow cuts to public education: diminished program offerings that have helped the district retain students and families, rising private-school enrollment, and harm to equity as lower-income students lose services. Brian Link and others emphasized that continuation funding in recent years did not fully restore staff lost to prior cuts and said additional county support is needed now.
No formal county decision on school continuation or expansion funding was made at the hearing. Commissioners and staff said the budget will return to the board in scheduled work sessions and that commissioners may propose amendments before adoption.
