Parents implore Chapel Hill-Carrboro to reconsider big June vote on school closure
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Parents, students and staff urged the board to save their elementary school.
- District staff said closing a school could save $1.7 million a year.
- CHCCS enrollment fell by over 1,545 students since 2020, with 277 more empty seats next.
Over 50 Chapel Hill-Carrboro parents, students and staff made a last-ditch effort Thursday to save their elementary school from the chopping block if the board moves ahead with a planned June 4 vote.
Some urged the board to focus solely on declining enrollment and cost-savings in making a decision. Others questioned the need to close a school at all and asked for a more public debate.
“We are hearing presentations, seeing criteria and reviewing reports, but we still do not understand how those pieces connect into a clear and defensible recommendation,” said Tiffany Englert, an Ephesus Elementary School parent and PTA president.
“Honestly, when there were so few questions or discussion at the [May 7] meeting after the criteria presentation, that felt deeply concerning,” she said. “These decisions are enormous. You’re talking about closing schools permanently and forever changing CHCCS.”
Ephesus, Glenwood and Seawell elementary schools are facing possible closure after several years of declining enrollment that’s adding to district budget pressures. Earlier this month, the board got a staff report on several criteria, from future maintenance costs and enrollment trends to effects on specific groups of at-risk students.
The plan is to close a school by August 2027, and have a redistricting plan ready by winter, officials said. Board Chair Riza Jenkins encouraged everyone to think about how they can support the school that closes.
“Even if it’s another school in the district … even if you’re a high school parent, or you’re a community member, what would you need if it were your school,” she asked. And “then think about redistricting, because … it’s going to be tough, but we are in this together, all of us.”
What people said at the hearing
Scores of people have spoken and sent emails to the board since January. Here are a few of many comments Thursday:
Glenwood is not just a building or a world languages program, parents and students emphasized. It’s one of the district’s most utilized schools, and was not identified for closure in a county report, Jennifer Tang said.
Her family, like many others, chose Glenwood for the Mandarin program and the “strong focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging,” she said, contrasting it with her experience as one of only two Asian-American students in her Indiana school.
“I was ashamed of looking different, stopped speaking Mandarin at home, and tried to avoid associating with other people of Chinese descent when I was in college,” she said. “Chinese people are often viewed with disdain in this country, being told to go back to where they came from, even if they were born here, like me.”
“For these reasons, it is so meaningful to me that my son can now attend a school where his Chinese culture is celebrated and honored by people of many different colors, religious affiliations and backgrounds,” she said.
Ephesus is also a tight-knit school, surrounded by single-family neighborhoods and new apartment construction, parents said. It earned the district’s highest test score growth in 2025 and expects enrollment to reach 95% capacity over the next decade.
The school also has many economically disadvantaged, exceptional, and minority students, “who are especially vulnerable to disruption,” said school librarian Bailey Normann.
“Closing Ephesus would not just move students from one building to another, it would disrupt a functioning school community, trusted relationships, and a support structure that is working for the students who need stability most,” she said.
Seawell is also “a diverse and high-performing school,” parent Katie Holland said. She and others noted the outdoor learning environment and the proximity to Smith Middle and Chapel Hill High schools. Older students regularly engage with younger peers via programs and volunteer opportunities.
She and her husband, an incoming middle school teacher, ”adore this district,” Holland said.
“We moved back to Chapel Hill, and we’re thrilled that my oldest was able to begin kindergarten in the district,” she said, urging “the board to recognize the impact that this situation has had on all three of these school communities.”
Board says decision hard but necessary
Closing one school could save $1.7 million a year, in addition to $10 million to $15 million in maintenance and repairs, CHCCS staff members have said.
The board needs “to figure out what is best for the long-term health of our district,” member Meredith Ballew said.
“While this is painful for all of us, and I know it is for all of the public, this is something that we need to get through, so we can get to the other side and start thinking about what we want to be,” Ballew said.
The district has “amazing” schools that are “working, and each one offers unique strengths that contribute to the district as a whole,” board member Rani Dasi said. But the district is facing challenges, she and board member George Griffin emphasized.
Without action now, “we’re just going to have this discussion and the tension next year, or in two years, or three years,” Griffin said. “There’s nothing on the horizon that says things are going to dramatically get better and fill all these seats.”
What is driving the decision?
- Enrollment has declined by over 1,545 students since 2020, and 277 more seats could be empty next year.
- Each empty seat costs the district over $17,000 — a combined local, state and federal funding cut of $4.7 million.
- Carolina Demography reported multiple reasons, including lower birth rates, higher housing costs, and a change in the immigrant-born population. About 74% of the state’s 115 school districts have similar issues.
- CHCCS enrollment could level off around 2035, at roughly 9,500 students, the report said.
What happens after the June 4 vote?
An advisory group of teachers and parents could help with the transition, Superintendent Rodney Trice said.
“I just think we’re at a point where we can’t do this alone as an administration or a board, and we’re going to need a lot of advice,” he said.
Redistricting is possible regardless, so staff will also start planning new bus routes and staffing changes. Trice said the situation gives CHCCS an opportunity to be innovative and pursue “excellence.”
This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 10:55 AM with the headline "Parents implore Chapel Hill-Carrboro to reconsider big June vote on school closure."
