Around the Orange County Schools district this summer, staff members and administrators will be preparing for the upcoming school year. But there’s additional planning coming into this year – as discussion of redistricting and school reassignment advances with the goal of enacting change for the 2024-25 school year.
Orange County Schools’ evaluation of new reassignment began in 2019, as the school board and district examined different scenarios for campus allocations. Since nothing was ever decided, the district renewed conversations last fall as some schools face even more imbalance between their population sizes.
In North Carolina, state law requires students to be assigned to schools based on where their parents’ home address is located. But the service areas for those schools is dictated by the district, which aims to draft a plan based on local feedback, present it this fall and have it approved by December.
Through a series of virtual town hall events this spring, Orange County Schools leadership shared how it hopes to create a plan that best serves students while also improving operational efficiency. During the latest on June 20, Deputy Superintendent Patrick Abele said the consultant who will help draft the plan will likely mockup three options: one that most emphasizes an achievement balance across schools, another that emphasizes operational balance and a third that tries to best blend the two.
“Thinking about this, it’s a very comprehensive approach,” said Abele. “There’s not a one-size-fits-all or one right solution. There may be other potential plan options, but [these] are the three most common which is why we’re highlighting them. But they’re not exclusive or indicative of any other option or plan that could be utilized as part of the [reassignment] process.”
Abele also shared with viewers some of the student overcrowding and under-enrollment data. He said there are four elementary schools that qualify as over-capacity based on their facilities and staff – with Efland Cheeks Elementary being the most at 105 students over the limit set for available service. River Park Elementary, New Hope Elementary and Hillsborough Elementary also fall into this category, determined by the district’s own measurement system for “level of service.”
Patrick Abele shows a diagram of the over-capacity elementary schools in the Orange County Schools district during a town hall on June 20, 2023. (Photo via Orange County Schools.)
Abele displays the three plans a consultant is going to create for Orange County Schools for the community to build off of regarding student reassignment in 2024.
Conversely, data shows that there are four schools in the county – Pathways Elementary, Central Elementary, Gravelly Hill Middle, and Cedar Ridge High – that are operating noticeably under capacity. Abele said the district has used some spot reassignment over recent years to address this, which is working with individual students and families to swap schools. But he said that method cannot be scaled up to divert more students to an undercrowded school.
“That creates some issues,” said Abele, “especially trying to communicate to families in neighborhoods which student is assigned to which school. As we send buses into these developments, it can be very confusing from a safety standpoint for elementary students – [chiefly] understanding which bus is going to which school.
“Spot reassignment can assist us,” he concluded, “but it’s just not the ideal long-term solution.”
The other long-term element Orange County Schools is preparing for is an upcoming population increase in the western part of the county. With several new developments around Mebane and within the district’s purview, Abele said an estimated 650-850 new students are expected to join in the next ten years. He added that those numbers are not able to be factored into any expansion of campuses or construction of new schools until they are enrolled in Orange County – which also places an emphasis on redistricting to better prepare for that influx.
“[It] is a discussion that’s been ongoing for a couple of years now for the Board of Education, county commissions and staff,” said Abele. “How can we better prepare our schools for future needs knowing that we have new development and new students coming, but they’re not counted [in our models]?”
For its current students, Orange County says it hopes to notify families of any new assignment in January 2024 and to have students preparing for new schools over the summer before the following academic year. In the virtual town halls, the district leadership mentioned it will aim to provide stability for rising fifth, eighth, and twelfth graders during that year to best allow them to finish their time in their current schools.
Before any decisions are made, however, the district is holding several public engagement sessions over the summer to get feedback from the community. A closed meeting for the School and Parent Stakeholder Committee is set for Wednesday to discuss early impressions and feedback. Orange County Schools said more public meetings about reassignment will take place this fall as the drafts are developed and unveiled.
Abele said the district is aware of the uncertainty student reassignment can bring, but he encouraged families to provide feedback and stay aware of updates in the fall.
“Mentioning this topic can cause some anxiety, nervousness, and stress among our stakeholders – including our schools, our students, our community,” said the deputy superintendent. “So, we want to make sure that we’re communicating and keeping you up to date [on] why this process is necessary and what they intended outcomes are.”
The Orange County Schools’ webpage on reassignment and enrollment can be found here. Frequently asked questions so far through the feedback process can be found here.
Photo via Matherly Collins/The Daily Tar Heel.
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our biweekly newsletter.
