Concerned Parent

[Susan Acker-Walsh]

Dear Orange County Board of County Commissioners:

This is my first time writing to the Orange County Board of County Commissioners.  I’m doing this on Sunday, May 8th - Mother’s Day because I cannot think of a better way to spend this day than to advocate for the safe education of my child.  Until this afternoon, I’ve been at a complete loss for what to do and who to reach out to regarding the deeply concerning incidents at ECHHS this past week.  

For those of you who may not be familiar with the situation, the ECHHS student body was placed on lockdown — both hard and soft due to a serious fight between students which resulted in the Chapel Hill Police Department responding. This is not the first or second fight this year … rather the 5th or 6th incident involving a similar group of kids.  To date, we have received limited information on the situation and the safety of our students.  As a tax payer in this community, I’m extremely concerned with what is going on at the school and the lack of leadership shown by the Principal, Superintendent and Board of Education in resolving this issue. This has been happening since the earliest weeks of the school year and disrupting the education of the entire student body.

We moved to Chapel Hill 18+ years ago before starting a family so that our child could go to the Chapel Hill school system as it has been known for high academic quality and achievement.  While we have all dealt with Covid and the stress and strain that has brought to our homes, we understand it has impacted some families more than others.  We realize the school year has been dramatically effected by a myriad of factors including the lack of staff, teachers and budget to properly outfit them for success. We have all done our best to work within these circumstances.

I wholly support equitable treatment of our students and I simultaneously hold a space where consequences for actions that impact the learning and potentially endanger the remainder of the student body are enforced.  I’m frankly disgusted with the lack of clarity, action and communication to date from the school system, the Superintendent and the Board of Education.  From my perspective there is a complete lack of leadership, staffing and resources at all levels to adequately address this matter.  I’m very concerned that if this issue isn’t addressed properly and soon, it will continue to escalate until something terrible happens. At a minimum, our schools need to be FULLY staffed to ensure safety, to deliver the educational curriculum and our teachers need to be paid in this competitive environment if we would like to retain them.

I would welcome an opportunity to speak with you and to find ways to productively support/help with this critical situation.  I am deeply concerned and would appreciate any guidance you have to offer in your formal roles as the Orange County Board of County Commissioners

Thank you for your consideration as I’m sure you are inundated with requests like this.  I look forward to hearing back from you.

Sincerely,

Susan Acker-Walsh

919-450-7885