As the 2019 school year approaches, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools face the task of solving overcrowding in Smith Middle School.

Thanks to a large cohort of 5th graders moving into middle school this year, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education must come up with a plan to address the increase. Smith Middle is projected to have 165 more students than its 732 capacity, according to the district.

During their meeting on July 18, the board took steps to address ways to prepare for this overcrowding. They passed a cap on future enrollment at Smith Middle until further notice, a limit on how many staff can transfer their children to the school and a reassignment of neighborhoods being constructed in Smith’s district to Phillips Middle School.

Patrick Abele, the assistant superintendent of support services, said the board of education’s decision to have the problem resolved before the start of the school year means they are not relying on typical methods.

“Mobile units were brought up in public comments, but we really couldn’t use that as an option in 90 days,” said Abele. “We’re still exploring that and looking at it for all our facilities, but we just couldn’t do that in the time frame allotted.”

The board avoided any options where students already enrolled in Smith were forced to change schools. Board vice chair Mary Ann Wolf said she asked for those options to be removed because she worried about the emotional toll it could take on the reassigned students.

“I think [about] the potential stress and anxiety around it for the students who already see themselves going there in five weeks,” Wolf said. “I don’t think [this option] does enough to help [the overcrowding] to balance that.”

One option the board has been considering is using the space in Smith Middle that houses UNC’s Carolina Center for Education Excellence. The three classrooms are used for the university’s School of Education master’s degree programs and occasionally CHCCS classes. During the meeting, Abele said he was unsure if the board could count on Smith Middle receiving those rooms for the year.

“I still have a meeting planned with UNC,” he said. “We’re still working on the space and agreements that were previously in place. We’re still pursuing that as an option, but I don’t know yet if that would be available prior to the start of the school year.”

When asked by a board member about how considerable the change would be getting permission to use these rooms, Abele responded with “it would help capacity tremendously.”

The board is considering doing a full redistricting of their map suggesting which middle school students go to depending on where they live in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. The soonest changes could be enacted is the 2020-2021 school year.

Classes begin for CHCCS schools on August 27.

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