On Tuesday night, Barnes held separate listening sessions, one for teachers and one for parents, to ask how they thought funding in the budget should be allocated. Barnes asked the groups to identify priorities that could translate into measurable data points.
Both groups offered unique insights to help bridge the gap between what parents and teachers want to see done for students.
Drawing upon their day-to-day experience of working in public education, staff said they wanted to improve attendance, student support services, mental health, and safety.
Breaking into smaller groups, staff members discussed specific issues and what measurable outcomes would look like. One group, focused on individual academic support, came up with several suggestions they felt were realistic.
“For a lot of these, we would want to increase arts enrollment by three to five percent in the year, increase CTE [Career and Technical Education] credentials by three to five [percent]. I feel like all of these are going to be increased by three to five percent with maybe the school at Risk Report decreasing by three to five percent,” one staff member said during the discussion.

When one curious dissenter asked why they aimed to be within the three-to-five percent margin for these goals, the group agreed that in terms of student growth that is generally a sweet spot to land in.
“As a principal, I go for five percent. I mean, like my wish is 10, I'm doing good if we get five,” one principal in the break-out group said.
While the teacher session seemed to go smoothly, the planning exercise did not go as planned in the parents’ group. One concerned parent, Sandy Eyles, posed a question that sparked a conversation about the school system’s overall culture.
In a roundabout way, Eyles asked if defining the culture within the schools was the key to improving student achievement rates and acquiring more funding from the county.
“I'm gonna put that question back to you folks,” Barnes said. “I agree that it starts with culture, and I would tell you that culture is sort of my bread and butter. So, how do I move that needle?”
Barnes said that the conversation of culture within the school system is so broad that it is hard to zero in on one thing that could solve a wide array of issues within New Hanover County schools.
“I'll just tell you a couple things,” Barnes continued. “One, I believe that there's more to a kid than academics, and I believe that the way you treat people matters. And I try to make sure that I'm doing that all the time. I think you guys are talking about, how do you make [a positive culture] be a district wide attitude, and belief? It takes time.”
Barnes will continue to receive input from the community in the meantime. Once enough feedback is collected, those findings will be included in the district’s budget proposal and presented to the county commission.