Priorities
To keep the focus on excellent and inclusive schools and move Orange County Schools (OCS) forward, board members should:
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Continue academic improvement efforts: OCS students are improving in reading and math faster than students across the state, thanks to hard work and smart investments. However many students need even more support to succeed. The district should keep up and expand its work to reach all students, such as investing in tutoring and improving the support for multilingual learners and students with disabilities.
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Improve infrastructure and resources: With possible bond funding on the horizon, OCS will have a chance to make improvements to aging school buildings. There are profound needs in the district, including classrooms, bathrooms, and cafeterias that meet students and staff’s daily requirements. Leaders must collaborate well with staff, each other, and the community to prioritize what matters. The school board should ensure all students, including disabled students, have access to the essential resources for learning.
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Maintain the commitment to inclusive, safe, equitable schools: At a time when students’ rights are actively threatened in North Carolina and throughout the country, we need leaders who have the courage to advocate for LGBTQ+ students, African American students, Hispanic students, and other historically marginalized groups, and who will stay focused on valuing every student and giving all students what they need to succeed. Policies that support inclusive learning environments benefit students and aid in teacher retention and attracting culturally competent educators.
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Support teachers and staff: OCS should keep improving pay and working conditions for teachers and support staff, and build a collaborative culture that listens to staff insights and solves problems together.
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Support families: OCS should emphasize and expand its efforts to create and nurture positive relationships with families. This is especially important for families of English Learners and those who have been marginalized in the past, but every family in the district deserves to feel connected. With the recent loss of the district equity officer, the transition to a new superintendent, and redistricting on the way, a focus on trust and effective communication is critical to helping the district move forward.
How We Think About...
Students
Student needs should be at the center of decision-making. We believe in young people and their ability to engage in a comprehensive curriculum, including ideas that they find challenging. We value access to information as essential for our students to learn, grow, think critically, and succeed.
Families
Learning communities should welcome and serve all families. Communication and community engagement from the district are critical, including meeting people where they are to understand the needs of the wide variety of Orange County Schools (OCS) families. Our public schools are a first line of defense in our society’s safety net, and when we are serving and supporting families, students are better equipped to learn and thrive.
Teachers
Teachers are essential workers, and to the best of the district’s ability, should be compensated as truly essential. Their voices are also essential when it comes to understanding what they need. Even as the state creates challenge after challenge to fairly compensate and value teachers, we support creative solutions to attract and retain the highest quality educators in the state.
Support Staff and Administrators
Custodial staff, nurses, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, guidance counselors, front desk greeters, and more - are all critical to the success of our students. They allow us to get to work on time, they make sure our children are nourished with food and emotional support, and they tend to them when they are injured or sick. They deserve support and compensation that matches their importance to our school communities.