Estes Hills Elementary School in Chapel Hill, NC

[W. Insinger]

Dear Orange County Board of Commissioners,

I am a resident of one of the neighborhoods along North Estes Drive in Chapel Hill.

It has come to my attention that there are plans underway to close Estes Hills Elementary School in Chapel Hill.

I am urging you to put these plans on hold immediately and carefully re-examine them, taking into account the following: 

1. Please commit to rebuilding Estes Hills Elementary School rather than closing it, so that children in this area of Chapel Hill can attend a school that they can reach on foot or by bike.  The last two years of work on North Estes Drive have fortunately created new sidewalks and bike paths which make this possible.

2. Removing the Estes Hills Elementary School from this area of Chapel Hill will be very detrimental to the sense of community that this local elementary school creates.  

3. One of the elements of the 2023 Chapel Hill Complete Community Strategy  is walkability.  Busing all the students of Estes Hills Elementary to other elementary schools in Chapel Hill is not in accordance with the "walkability" element and will increase pollution in Chapel Hill.

4. Removing an elementary school from this area of Chapel Hill will negatively impact real estate values in this area, and thus reduce real estate tax revenues.

Thank you for your attention to this very important matter.

Willemien Insinger

105 Meadowbrook Drive

Chapel Hill, NC

ewins...@gmail.com

[Jamezetta Bedford]

On behalf of the Board of Orange County Commissioners, thank you for emailing us about your concerns.

The consultant's study recommends a sequence of new schools, major renovations, and also safety and essential updates for all schools in both school districts in our county. The study provides dollar estimates as well. In NC, the county commission is mandated legal responsibility for funding school facilities.

Under project based funding the county commissioners will approve each major project such as new middle school #5 for CHCCS and a new elementary school for Orange County Schools. Specifically for CHCCS, the bond covers a new middle school, major renovation of Carrboro Elementary and Culbreth Middle, and the basic essential maintenance for every school in the first ten years.  Each school board decides the programming at each of their schools, not the BOCC. The Superintendent brings recommendations forward to the school board who make those decisions. These would include district level programs like dual language, exceptional children's system level classes and pre-k classes. The school boards also approve curriculum, school boundaries/districting and make those types of major policy decisions. Walk zones are part of the considerations of the board of education. You can email the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board at allboar...@chccs.k12.nc.us  

I add that our goal is to have a plan for which facilities are built or renovated and in what order, but we have to be flexible because major systems like HVACs don't always follow the warranty timelines and break out of order, or enrollment patterns change, a different wave of refugees may arrive, etc. 

We are happy to answer any questions about the school bond. There was a hearing on the bond, June 4, 7:00 at the Whitted Building in Hillsborough. The CHCCS Board chair spoke later in the evening on agenda item establishing a Framework for School Bond Projects and Capital Funding,  that they will be working on their plan. The BOCC committed to meeting asap should the school boards bring changes/updates. The framework calls for at least annual updates too. 

In the consultant's report, Estes Hills is recommended to be replaced. Replaced can be at the same site or a different site. "Consolidated" means closed. The school board has not made a recommendation on whether as a K-8 school or on the same site, but flipped with Phillips, or what option. Given the large number of schools that will have high index numbers over the next ten years, even with their basic high priority needs funded, the school board does have some flexibility, and the BOCC is willing to hear options that follow the concepts of the plan.  The current approval is for a new middle, replace Carrboro, close FPG and renovate Culbreth. I expect this to change after the last school board meeting June 6 when the school board asked for additional scenarios to be brought forward. They will meet June 20 and will continue their discussions at follow-up meeting(s). 

Sincerely,

Jamezetta Bedford, Chair BOCC

---

From: W. Insinger <ewins...@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2024 5:53 PM
To: ALL_BOCC_MANAGER_CLERK <OCB...@orangecountync.gov>
Subject: [EXTERNAL MAIL!] Estes Hills Elementary School in Chapel Hill, NC