Chatham County School Board owes us a refund for shortchanging our children

By Katie Henry

Pittsboro, NC – Another disappointing, but all too predictable result from last night’s special Chatham County School board meeting. The motion to return the K-5 students to Plan A, was voted down.

photo by Jordan Whitt

345 days with no end in sight. Board member Hlavac did not feel comfortable with voting yes, as she would not have made this decision for her own children. Lucky for her, she opted for virtual academy for her own children so this in fact is not even a decision she has to make. But newsflash, almost 70 percent of the Chatham County Schools student population wants in person learning and is being denied, still to this day, with absolutely no future plans.

Good thing Chatham County Schools is a not for profit organization or they would be issuing a lot of refunds for failed education experiences all around. My tax dollars are continuing to support this lockout of my children’s education and I want a refund. Three out of five days of remote learning; $9K to educate at 60% discount = my ability to send my three children to Thales Academy or any of the other private schools which are and have been open five days a week since August.

short·change

 1. To give (someone) less change than is due in a transaction.

2. To treat unfairly or deceitfully; cheat:

I know, I know, so cynical. It’s hard not to be when the Chatham County school board has approved organizations like the YMCA and East Chatham Baseball to operate in their facilities for a nominal fee, of course. Such a double standard in their voting for sports and extracurricular activities as opposed to students learning in the school buildings.

So I propose that the school board at their next board meeting on March 8, either reopen the buildings to those who want five day in person learning or start writing refund checks. We as the parents will be there and will look forward to either decision.