Fwd: Bond proposal and Morris Grove Elementary

[J Barham]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: J Barham <jbarh...@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Jun 25, 2024 at 10:06 AM
Subject: Fwd: Bond proposal and Morris Grove Elementary
To: <cou...@carrboronc.gov>

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: J Barham <jbarh...@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Jun 25, 2024 at 10:05 AM
Subject: Fwd: Bond proposal and Morris Grove Elementary
To: <mayoran...@townofchapelhill.org>

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: J Barham <jbarh...@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Jun 25, 2024 at 10:04 AM
Subject: Fwd: Bond proposal and Morris Grove Elementary
To: <jand...@townofchapelhill.org>

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: J Barham <jbarh...@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Jun 25, 2024 at 10:03 AM
Subject: Fwd: Bond proposal and Morris Grove Elementary
To: <bmfo...@carrboronc.gov>

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: J Barham <jbarh...@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Jun 25, 2024 at 9:59 AM
Subject: Bond proposal and Morris Grove Elementary
To: <allboar...@chccs.k12.nc.us>

When I was eleven years old and my sister was ten years old, we moved to Chapel Hill.  Our parents chose a house in a neighborhood with lots of children who were all districted to Seawell Elementary.   Having your neighbors as classmates and your classmates as neighbors is especially great when a child has a disability. ALL kids get to know each other, be included in neighborhood and school activities and build social relationships.  It builds inclusiveness that just doesn’t happen when neighbor kids go to different schools.  Do kids with disabilities get excluded and isolated when there isn’t a strong social network such as a neighborhood school?  Absolutely!  This is why my parents got upset when the Chapel Hill school district told them my sister couldn’t go to our districted school, our neighborhood school.  They said the disabled kids could all go to one of the other elementary schools.  I could go to Seawell, but my sister couldn’t because she used crutches and braces to walk.  Well, as you can imagine my parents fought this decision.  They knew how important is was to go to school with your neighbors, be around them and build social connections with them.  My parents won out, and my sister was allowed to go to Seawell.  There she built lifelong connections and was very successful there and in life.  This was 1988, before the Americans with Disabilities Act and before today’s push for inclusion for kids with disabilities.  This could never happen today, right?  The Chapel Hill school district wouldn’t take away disabled kids’ neighborhood school and bus them off to a school different from their neighbors, right?  Aren’t we better than this now?  

My two oldest children went through Morris Grove Elementary.  Their classmates were their neighbors and their neighbors were their classmates.  They rode their bikes to school, walked and rode their bikes to friends’ houses who were friends from school and also neighbors.  This was crucial for my oldest son who has autism and is in special education.  If he had been bussed to a different elementary school, he wouldn’t know his neighbors and they wouldn’t know him.  The proximity to other kids is crucial for these kids’ success.  It would be cruel to take this away.  My youngest child is entering first grade in the fall at Morris Grove.  She sees her classmates in the neighborhood and is working hard to get fast enough on her bike to be able to ride her bike to school.  Please don’t take this away from her.  Thank you for reading and for reconsidering this bond proposal option.  

Sincerely,

Jill Barham

[Jamezetta Bedford]

Hi Jill,

I have a similar story to yours. When we moved here in 1992 with our daughter with autism and two other sons, the district was holding a space for her in a self-contained classroom at Ephesus. We finally found a home in Ephesus' school district because we wanted all of our children in the same school with the neighbor kids. And, the students did support Shannon through elementary school. Of course the district could have moved the self-contained classes any year though they try to do so infrequently. 

Anyway, I just read today's WCHL/Chapelboro  story about the various options the school board is considering which reports that the school board is considering input like yours very seriously.  https://chapelboro.com/news/pre-k-12-education/chccs-board-narrows-school-replacement-renovation-preferences-for-bond-funding   The school board will have additional work to review before bringing an updated plan to the BOCC.  

Sincerely,

Jamezetta Bedford, BOCC Chair

---

From: J Barham <jbarh...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 25, 2024 10:07 AM
To: ALL_BOCC_MANAGER_CLERK <OCB...@orangecountync.gov>
Subject: [EXTERNAL MAIL!] Fwd: Bond proposal and Morris Grove Elementary