School board continues public hearing on proposed closures, asks staff for advisory input and timeline

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools board on Monday continued a public hearing on proposed school closures, urging staff to develop clearer timelines and to involve families, teachers and other stakeholders in post-decision planning. Chair (speaker listed in the transcript as the meeting chair) framed the discussion around district stabilization and asked members to consider what families would need if their school closed.

Board member Ronnie said the top criteria should be “minimizing financial impact and minimizing transitions,” pointing to transportation implications and favoring options that move the fewest students possible. Board member Meredith said financial positioning has driven the review but that the savings from closing any of the three schools under consideration appeared negligible, so program continuity must also guide choices. “We can’t utilize that as the only criteria,” Meredith said, urging attention to how specialty programs — including dual-language offerings — could be affected.

Board member Melinda described the process as an opportunity to rethink programs and minimize disruption, noting she would like to explore new options such as a “no screen” elementary program. Superintendent Dr. Treis recommended creating an advisory group of teachers, parents and others most impacted to follow administrators’ work on redistricting options and to provide practical input; he said community sessions have repeatedly yielded helpful perspectives.

The chair asked board members to consider a core pair of questions for community outreach — what families would need if their school closed, and how the district should manage redistricting — and cautioned that any decision should be accompanied by supports. Board members discussed a procedural timeline: continuing the hearing and discussion at the June 4 board meeting and targeting a December decision to allow time for planning and an operational runway ahead of the 2027–28 school year.

What’s next: The board will continue the closure discussion at its June 4 meeting; the superintendent and staff were asked to develop a high-level timeline and plans for stakeholder advisory input and redistricting options. The transcript records no final vote on closures during this meeting.