OC School Board Affirms Leadership Moves, But Divisions Remain

Monday night, the Orange County School Board reaffirmed the leadership decisions it made in a heated meeting two months ago, voting again to appoint Will Atherton as board chair and Tony McKnight as vice chair.

Monday’s meeting took only eight minutes – a far cry from May’s meeting, which featured an abrupt and unexpected vote to oust Brenda Stephens as board chair just two months before her term was set to expire. It was also a narrow vote of 4 to 3 in May, with the two sides splitting along gender lines: the four men on the board (Atherton, McKnight, Stephen Halkiotis, and Matthew Roberts) voted to replace Stephens with Atherton, while the board’s three women (Stephens, Hillary MacKenzie, and Sarah Smylie) voted for Stephens.

Atherton has said that the vote was triggered by concerns about a conflict of interest in an investigation of racial discrimination in the schools, but some opponents of the move called it a power grab.

Stephens, for her part, tried to reassure the public at that May meeting, saying, “They can take the chair, but they cannot take (my) voice.”

Monday’s meeting was quicker and quieter, but the divisions between board members were still apparent. With Smylie absent, Stephens and MacKenzie immediately called for the board to vote by show of hands, but the four male members rejected that motion, moving instead to vote by ballot.

Because the board voted by ballot, the individual members’ votes were not announced publicly on Monday – but Atherton and McKnight each received four votes.

‹

Local Government Meetings: September 23-27, 2024

This week's local government agenda includes the Co-Gen Rail Transformation Project in Chapel Hill, plus the upcoming school bond referendum.

Familiar Topics, Concerns Shared at Joint Orange County School Board Meeting

Orange County Commissioners heard updates from Orange County Schools and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools leaders' at a recent meeting.

Local Government Meeting Schedule: August 29-September 2

This week, Chatham County Commissioners weigh in on VinFast plans, and the Orange County School Board considers raises for bus drivers.

Local Government Meeting Schedule: March 21-25

Here's a rundown of the agendas for this week's local government meetings in Orange, Durham, and Chatham Counties.

OCS Approves River Park Elementary and Orange Middle to Replace Cameron, Stanford Namesakes

The Orange County Schools Board of Education approved new names for two of its schools on Monday night: River Park Elementary School and Orange Middle School. Both names passed in a single, unanimous vote by the school board. The new names update the schools known as Cameron Park Elementary School and C.W. Stanford Middle School. […]

Orange County Schools to Rename Elementary School With Slaveholder Namesake

An elementary school in Hillsborough is set to see its name change in the coming months. The Orange County Schools Board of Education voted at its Monday meeting to change the name of Cameron Park Elementary School. The unanimous vote drops the namesake of Paul Carrington Cameron, who had a documented history as a slave […]

2020 Election Candidate Intros: Orange County Board of Education

Six candidates are vying for three available seats on the Orange County Schools Board of Education. One incumbent is running for re-election while five others are looking to fill seats left by board members Dr. Stephen Halkiotis and Matthew Roberts. Listen to the candidates running for Orange County Board of Education (Three seats): Carrie Doyle https://chapelboroaudio.s3.amazonaws.com/2020/February/11/DOYLE%20EDITED.mp3 […]

Website Highlighting Orange County School Board Candidate's Court Record Surfaces Online

A previous version of this article failed to address the website’s reference to all the listed cases as being “convictions.” This is not true, as some cases are citations and were later dismissed. A direct link to the website has been removed. The website later updated its language to no longer say “convictions.”**** A […]

Filing Period Has Ended for 2020 Primaries: Who's Running?

Filing period for the March 2020 primaries closed Friday at noon after being open since the first week of December. Races for the Board of Orange County Commissioners and a seat on the county’s district court will be contested going into the primaries, while the state-wide races saw fewer candidates file to compete in primaries. […]

OC School Board Affirms Leadership Moves, But Divisions Remain

The board voted to appoint Will Atherton to a full term as chair, but the members split along the same lines that were apparent at May's heated meeting.

›