Traditional Calendar for 2026-2027 approved
The New Hanover County Board of Education unanimously approved next year’s traditional school calendar, but district leaders concurred that it’s not the best option.
While the final decision was unanimous, with Democrat Judy Justice absent, there was an earlier motion from Democrat Tim Merrick to switch a planned teacher workday from February 15, the day after the Super Bowl, to September 21 in honor of the Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur. That failed in a tie vote, leaving many in the Jewish community disappointed. Republican members David Perry, Pete Wildeboer, and Merrick voted for the change, while Republican members Josie Barnhart, Pat Bradford, and Melissa Mason did not.
Barnhart said taking the February workday away would mean that teachers would go a while without having that time. She also added that honoring this holiday would then be a “slippery slope” toward the district officially acknowledging other holidays. However, she said she wanted families and staff who celebrate Yom Kippur to receive an exemption from school and work, which the district said it would accept.
In general, Superintendent Dr. Christopher Barnes conceded that the traditional calendar for next school year does not align with what’s best for students.
“An ideal calendar would start earlier in the year, would match the community college calendar more closely, and finish up our fall semester before winter break,” he said.
Barnes said the public should expand their advocacy for a better calendar beyond the school board and implied they should take their concerns to state legislators.
Many school districts across the state have voiced concerns about the current law, but a bill sponsored by Senator Michael Lee would allow lawsuits and/or impose a $10,000 penalty on local districts that defy it. The bill passed the Senate but has not yet passed the House.
The board has yet to approve calendars for non-traditional schools, such as year-round campuses.
The new calendar and the district’s rationale for its adoption are available here.
MOU with non-profit, 100 Black Men, passes with dissent from Perry
While the memorandum of understanding with 100 Black Men of Coastal North Carolina was up for renewal, and those who work with the non-profit have already been operating in the schools, Perry said he thought the MOU was vague and wanted to understand whether the group worked with other students “regardless of their race.”
Barnes responded that he could follow up, but he believed the non-profit mainly works with African American youth. He added that his staff would not bring an unvetted MOU to the board.
Bradford said she had heard positive things about the group, and Barnhart agreed that having additional adults in the building to mentor students was a good idea.
Merrick said that this group honors cultural differences and supports those students academically. He also mentioned the achievement gap—and that anything they can do to help close it is worth pursuing.
After the discussion, the board voted 5-1, with Perry dissenting, to pass the three-year MOU.
Perry later wrote in a Facebook post about the vote that it was “very disheartening. We have students of all skin colors and ethnicities who are at-risk and struggling and who are in equal need of support. It just bewilders me that 160 years have passed since the end of the Civil War and yet we are still judging our children by the color of their skin.”
He added in the post that the community would be upset if there were an organization volunteering in the schools called '100 White Men.’
Future of pre-K funding and The Endowment
With the recent loss of a federal Head Start grant, worth $5 million over three years, Barnes said the district has gotten creative in how it bills NC Pre-K, the state program for pre-kindergarten education. For example, they adjusted the coding to account for a student who is in a special education classroom but also attends a regular classroom. However, the district can’t make a larger funding request for three-year-olds; only four-year-olds are eligible for NC Pre-K.
Barnes said it’s also an issue that some preschool classrooms are not up to NC Pre-K standards. It’s an issue the district is working on, but likely, they won’t get certification until 2027. The agency has standards for buildings, such as playgrounds built to specific criteria and classrooms equipped with sinks and/or bathrooms.
Barnes also mentioned that private childcare sites receive higher reimbursement rates than public sites.
For Barnes, that means it’s challenging to sustain the program they have now, which includes three-year-olds; hence, the board’s suggestion that they make the ask of The Endowment. For this school year, they had to redirect Title I funds due to the loss of preschool money from the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners.
Merrick gave the figure of 334 students on the waitlist, including three- and four-year-olds. He, along with his colleagues, made the case that investing in preschool would help the district with later academic performance, such as increases in proficiency rates in third-grade reading and Math 1, and in graduation rates, bellwether statistics they closely track. Barnhart mentioned this funding would help to close the achievement gap between student groups.
Merrick also cited The Endowment’s Asset Purchase Agreement, which included illustrative examples of possible investments in education. At the top of that list is “high quality universal pre-kindergarten with wrap-around services.”
Merrick asked Barnes if he could bring a proposal by January, to which the superintendent responded that he was in close contact with Endowment staff and would update them when they would like. Bradford suggested they hold a workshop with them to understand the process better, as there was “a lot of mystery” around The Endowment’s decisions.
The conversation also turned to how many preschool spots are available and how much they should request for them. Barnes responded that he couldn’t know that until the New Hanover County budget process begins next year.
Barnhart suggested that they be notified earlier about the potential spots so they could submit their requests to The Endowment and avoid receiving grants after the school year had started.
The board also wanted the public to know when preschool applications open. Barnes said it’s typical for them to open around February or March, once they know how many spots they can support financially.
Perry said he would feel more comfortable asking The Endowment for capital funding for preschool programs.
A new source of funding for some of the district’s low-performing schools
Jared Worthington, the executive director of school support, announced that additional state funding was available for Forest Hill Elementary, Rachel Freeman Elementary, and Williston Middle School. However, he said he didn’t ultimately know how much. It’s a grant from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction called the Comprehensive Support and Improvement grant.
Worthington said that, based on their conversation with staff, they want to invest in human capital. He said they wouldn’t likely pursue instructional software or materials with the money.
Regarding staffing funding, it’s still unclear what they will invest in. Options included providing bonuses tied to student growth or allocating funds to support the recruitment and retention of staff at those schools.
He mentioned that, in the past, using math tutors at Forest Hills Elementary helped them improve their scores on end-of-year tests. The school has earned a ‘D’ (previously labeled an ‘F’ in 2022-2023) and has met growth standards for the last two academic years. They also enhanced their proficiency scores by a fairly significant amount.
There was debate among the members about how to use the money: whether to hire coaches, teacher aides, or tutors, as the grant stipulates that any position must be locally sustainable beyond the three-year grant cycle.
Barnhart mentioned the idea of following the Advanced Teaching Roles model, in which some teachers could be diverted to coach other teachers, such as beginning ones. Worthington agreed that it was worth pursuing.
Future of the Board of Education scholarship
The district introduced the idea to change the structure of the Board of Education scholarship program. The New Hanover County Commission started it in 2011, allocating $100,000 each year to about four NHC high school students.
It had been that those recipients received $28,000 loan for school for four years. They would then earn a degree and a teaching license and be employed by NHCS for four years.
Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Jennifer Geller said that since 2011, they have awarded 32 scholarships, but only 12 of those students fulfilled the loan terms. Some of the earlier recipients are also in default.
Based on the data they compiled, the district needs more teachers to fill positions in departments such as exceptional children. They are also spending a good amount of money on contractual services for jobs like educational interpreters and speech-language pathologists, who charge up to $70 an hour.
Mason said these contractual costs have become “exorbitant,” implying it’s more cost-effective to hire for the position.
Some ideas for revamping the scholarships include awarding them to those who would work in hard-to-fill positions, using them to reimburse testing and licensure costs when employees arrive without those credentials, and offering loan forgiveness for current employees working in the district. They could also provide tuition for college juniors and seniors completing their degrees; they would then teach in NHCS for two years.
While Barnes said New Hanover County manager Chris Coudriet is amenable to reworking the scholarship program, they haven’t yet landed on which initiatives to present to the commissioners.
