By Rose Laudicina
Staff Writer
Since opening in 1962, Frank Porter Graham Elementary School has been educating all types of students in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools District, but starting in the 2013-14 school year it will be dedicated to educating solely those enrolled in the Spanish Dual Language Program.
In a 5-1 vote, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education voted to approve a recommendation of transitioning Frank Porter Graham Elementary (FPG) into a Spanish dual-language magnet school starting in the 2013-14 school year.
Despite an outpouring of opposition to the recommendation from FPG teachers, parents and students, the board chose to house the district’s first magnet school at FPG after considering five options presented at Thursday night’s meeting.
Board member Annetta Streater opposed the recommendation, while board member Gregory McElveen was unable to attend the meeting.
Streater said she would prefer having four schools with two Spanish dual-language classes each, citing concerns that not enough families would want to leave the dual-language program at their neighborhood school to be bused to FPG.
“I do still believe in my heart that [the four-school model] is a format or a model that could potentially reach a lot more students and provide access to them,†Streater said.
The dual-language administrative team, comprised of school principals and district administrators, recommended expanding the districts Spanish Dual Language Program by creating a dual-language magnet school at FPG while maintaining two Spanish dual-language classes at Carrboro Elementary School.
The administrative team said one of the main reasons they recommended FPG was because of the school’s small walk zone.
Although McElveen was not at the meeting, he sent a letter to the board expressing his preference, proposing making Carrboro Elementary the magnet school, while adding new tracks to both FPG and Scroggs. He urged the board to focus on the number of kids affected rather than walk-zone sizes.
Some parents at the meeting also supported Carrboro Elementary becoming the magnet school, since it is where the dual-language program started.
“I would like for you to take into consideration the idea of Carrboro Elementary as a magnet school because that is the school where it was born and gets stronger every day,†Carrboro parent Karina Bautista said in Spanish.
Bautista, along with other Carrboro parents, expressed her concern with finding ways to get her kids to FPG.
Other parents told the board they were worried about the development of an implementation plan for transitioning FPG to a magnet school.
“I have serious concerns about my child continuing in the dual-language program at a magnet school in the way that the magnet at FPG has been planned,†said Laura Terry, a Scroggs parent.
School board members told staff they would like frequent updates on the implementation plan and how to successfully transition the students, including the large population of Burmese and Karen refugees at FPG.
“We really owe this to the public … to make sure this is done right,†board member Shell Brownstein said.
Superintendent Tom Forcella said the FPG School Improvement Team wanted to make the school’s final year a celebration.
“The school isn’t going to go away; it is just transitioning into something new,†Forcella said.
The board also voted 6-0 to continue the Chinese Dual Language Program at Glenwood Elementary, while focusing on the long-term sustainability of the program.