Last November, parents of 63 high school students at the Career Readiness Academy were told the program was shuttering at the end of the school year. For years, CRA had functioned as a school within a school, offering students extra help with graduating in a smaller environment that, as students said, felt like a family.
In January, Superintendent Dr. Charles Foust announced that the program would stay open after harsh public pushback.
Foust’s staff had also proposed a newcomers school — for families and students who had recently arrived in the U.S. and were new to the American education system.
At Tuesday night’s meeting, Dr. Foust noted that Board Member Pat Bradford had initially approved of the idea, "calling it fabulous." That was during the November 28, 2023 agenda review meeting. Foust actually called out the specific time stamp as well: two hours and five minutes into the meeting video.
Below: Board member Pat Bradford congratulates staff on the proposed newcomer school and calls it "fabulous."
Since then, however, Bradford, school board candidates like Natosha Tew, and other conservatives, have vehemently opposed the idea of a newcomers school. Referring to it at times as a refugee center or facility, some tied the potential school to the current border crisis, and suggested it would generate an influx of unlawful immigration to New Hanover County. And, last month, County Commissioner Dane Scalise spearheaded a resolution, signaling county opposition to the idea.
On Tuesday night, board member Josie Barnhart formally closed the door, successfully leading a motion to prohibit any planning of a newcomers school.
“I think it’s in the best interest of this board that we direct the superintendent to staff to cease all planning of a newcomer center in New Hanover County schools moving forward," she said.
The motion also keeps the CRA program at Mosley open for the foreseeable future. The board approved it unanimously.
