Thursday’s vote by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education ended months of speculation and anxiety of which of three elementary schools may be discontinued. But the decision to close a school at all – which was, ultimately, Glenwood Elementary School – does not shift the reality from being emotional and complex for community members to navigate.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Superintendent Rodney Trice and Board of Education Chair Riza Jenkins spoke with 97.9 The Hill on Monday, when feelings around the school closure selection were still fresh in the community. The pair and other district leaders heard emotional testimony for months from parents, students, staff and alumni of Glenwood, Ephesus and Seawell Elementary Schools about why their schools ought to be preserved in this choice.
“It was a tough decision – but a decision we had to make to secure the long-term stability of our school system,” Trice said, alluding to the district’s enrollment trends and financials.
Part of the anxiety around the threat of closure at Glenwood is the future of its dual language programs, which turned the elementary campus into a magnet school less than a decade ago. Board of Education members said in their vote, however, they are confident the district can find new homes for those programs in an easier way than breaking up Ephesus or Seawell elementary students onto new campuses. The board passed a resolution tasking Trice’s staff with putting together options for keeping Glenwood’s Mandarin programs going – and the superintendent reaffirmed that maintaining the programs is a top priority.
“Glenwood is open for business next year, and we anticipate that parents will continue to support the dual language program, the world language program, the STEM program,” Trice said Monday. “And we fully support and anticipate the growth of – and possibly, the expansion of – those programs.
“We’ll be looking at and studying where those programs can be placed,” he added. “So, the parent of a second grader can be assured that we’re going to do all that we can to make sure that [their] program operates and functions at a very high level, as it has been…but at a new school.”
CHCCS Superintendent Rodney Trice (right) and Board of Education Chair Riza Jenkins speak with 97.9 The Hill’s Andrew Stuckey on Monday, June 8. (Photo via Andy Jenks/Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.)
In the aftermath of Thursday’s vote, the Glenwood Parent-Teachers Association shared a message thanking parents and students for their “fierce, loving and unwavering” advocacy for the school during the closure deliberation. The note, signed by PTA President Emily Kreutzer, said she felt like “words feel inadequate right now,” when trying to acknowledge the work done by educators and Glenwood’s administration to make the school what it has become.
“I know you all have poured your hearts into these classrooms, these hallways, and these children every single day,” wrote Kreutzer. “Your dedication has shaped lives in ways that will last long after the building closes. Please know how deeply seen, valued, and appreciated you are.”
Hours earlier, the Glenwood PTA also sent a message to the CHCCS Board of Education and other district decision-makers. The email laid out a list of questions and requests the parents had for moving forward in the wake of Glenwood’s selection for closure and largely echoed sentiments Kreutzer shared at a public hearing in May.
“I would really love to see the board and the district working together – if you all decide to close the school – to really reach out to those communities, and to see what they need and figure out how we can work together and become stronger together,” the PTA president told the Board on May 21.
Kreutzer and the rest of the Glenwood PTA also asked for district leaders to address the school’s future before diving straight into redistricting talks. Many of their questions included how teachers and staff will be prioritized for retention and how Glenwood’s seven-decade history in the area will be preserved.
Trice said both during the board meeting and in Monday’s interview that his team wants to honor Glenwood Elementary’s history and culture in several ways before the building is closed. He also said he plans to establish a group of parents, teachers, administrators and central services leaders to help with the transition and for the district to create a bigger redistricting committee to drive engagement.
Much of that, however, will happen later in the summer and at the start of next school year – which will be Glenwood’s last. In the meantime, families, students and staff need time to both celebrate the end of the current school year while processing the future.
“I’m taking time to grieve but know that our wonderful PTA is already planning ways we can uplift our community and our teachers/staff,” Kreutzer wrote to the elementary school’s families. “Glenwood has celebrated many milestones big and small in the past 73 years. We plan on making our 74th year our best year yet!”
As the board liaison to Glenwood Elementary, Jenkins said she heard much from the school’s stakeholders in the months leading up to the “tough decision” for the board. She thanked all community members who shared thoughts with the board and the district staff – and encouraged people to remember that this choice is just step 1 in helping reimagine CHCCS’ future. Jenkins encouraged families of all students to be mindful and supportive as the district undergoes further changes in the next year with redistricting and Glenwood’s closure.
“[Students] and families whose students go to Glenwood [will] be going to one of our schools in our district, if not two,” Jenkins said. “So, what I would say to school communities… let’s start thinking about how we can welcome any of these students and families into our schools. I hope I don’t see in our communities, ‘Well, this is our culture here, and now you have to join our culture.’
“I hope we think about,” she added, “as we bring school communities together and as part of the greater redistricting process — whatever students, whatever school communities are coming into those schools —what are those community cultures, what are those things they’re doing, and how can we blend those together? Because at the end of the day, we are all Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, and I want to make sure that every single student, every single family member [and] community member feels welcome at any school [where] students may end up.”
Featured photo by Brighton McConnell/Chapel Hill Media Group.
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