If you have children in the CHCCS schools or have been following the situation regarding the condition of some of the schools, you are probably aware that a planning process has been taking place. As we wrote about a year ago, some of the schools are in bad shape, and either need refurbishment or replacing. Last March, we wrote about a project plan the board of education approved to plan for a significant investment in the school system.
Fast forward to last week, and parents and staff received a memo from the CHCCS regarding three specific schools: Carrboro Elementary, Estes Hills Elementary and FPG Bilingüe communities. There had been discussion to consolidate and potentially eliminate some of these schools. It would have been a shame to remove them, as some of the schools currently sit in residential areas where many children can walk or bike to school. This plan takes advantage of land on the existing property of three schools, currently occupied by sports fields and other uses. The idea being to permit the construction of replacement schools without disrupting classes in the existing structures, here is an outline of the plan from the email sent from the district on February 10:
- A new two-story Carrboro Elementary School would be built on land next to the current school, and students would not be moved during construction.
- A new two-story Estes Hills Elementary School would be built on land next to the current school (to include a portion of the Phillips Middle School track/field.) Students would not be moved during construction.
- A new two-story FPG Bilingüe was proposed to be built in what is currently the wooded area in front of Culbreth Middle School. No students at either school would need to be moved during construction.
Here are some maps from the document the district published (and worth your attention) that outline how this might look. Yellow is the site of the replacement structures:
More details are in the email, of which we will simply attach a piece of here
So what’s next? The CHCCS Board of Education authorized staff to continue discussions with Orange County government, which must allocate the funding for bond projects in both CHCCS as well as Orange County Schools. It is important to keep in mind that timelines for school construction have not yet been finalized, because the funding is not yet available, but CHCCS staff has worked diligently to prepare these possibilities:
- Staff and community involvement with the design of a new Carrboro Elementary could begin in late summer/fall of 2025.
- Staff and community involvement with the design of a new Estes Hills Elementary could begin in late summer/fall of 2025.
- Staff and community involvement with the design of a new FPG Bilingüe could begin in the late summer/fall of 2027 or 2028.
So is that the order of the three projects? That is our proposal, yes. CHCCS proposes to build Carrboro Elementary first, followed by Estes Hills Elementary and then by FPG Bilingüe.Why that order? Several reasons. This was covered in more detail during the Board meeting (view recording on our YouTube channel.) This question was addressed starting at the 25:21 timestamp.