The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools is welcoming back a former staff member to play a new, key role for the district.

At its meeting Thursday night, the CHCCS school board approved Dr. Rodney Trice as its new Chief Equity & Engagement Officer. Trice, who worked with the district for eight years, is currently the Assistant Superintendent of Equity Affairs with the Wake County Public School System.

“We are very fortunate to bring Dr. Trice home to CHCCS,” said Superintendent Dr. Nyah Hamlett in a release Thursday night. “His experience, expertise, relationships and connection to the community make him uniquely qualified for the hard work ahead.”

The Chief Equity & Engagement Officer for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools works with the superintendent while leading the district’s efforts on improving “a culture of equity and family and community engagement (FaCE) that is welcoming and affirming for all students, families, employees, and the community,” according to the district.

A top-rated school district in North Carolina and across the country, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools also faces an achievement gap among its students. According to a 2018 study by the Center for Education Policy Analysis at Stanford University, the school system had the second-largest achievement gap in the United States between its Black students and white students.

Before leaving CHCCS for his position with Wake County schools, Trice worked first as the Executive Director for Curriculum, Instruction and Technology and then as the Associate Superintendent for Student & Social Services and Equity Oversight. He also spent time as a policy advisor for the North Carolina Depeartment of Public Instruction, an associate principal in Orange County Schools and department chair in Detroit, Michigan. Trice graduated from Morehouse College in Georgia for his undergraduate degree and received a masters degree in school leadership from the University of Detroit Mercy before completing a doctorate in educational leadership from UNC. In addition to his school district work, Trice also currently serves as an adjunct assistant professor in educational leadership with the Chapel Hill university.

Trice is slated to begin in his new role with CHCCS on July 7.

Photo via Town of Chapel Hill.

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