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Glenwood Elementary School students will move to different schools next August following a school board vote Thursday to split the school’s Mandarin language program.
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The Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board’s 5-2 vote moves the Mandarin dual-language track to Rashkis Elementary, displacing roughly 85 students at that school.
A separate vote to keep the Mandarin dual-language and world language tracks together failed, with board member Melinda Manning casting the only vote in support of that move. Manning also joined board member Rani Dasi in voting against the dual-language program’s move to Rashkis.
“I’ve actually changed my mind,” Manning said before the vote. “When I originally went into this, I really thought we would be separating the two programs, but I learned a lot over the last two months, and I think that would be a big mistake.”
The Mandarin world language track will move to Mary Scroggs Elementary School, which could displace roughly 63 students. But, after a discussion about the program’s future as a magnet, the board pushed any additional decisions to September.
Board member George Griffin questioned maintaining the magnet program, saying the district needs to “structurally look at what are we doing with elementary world languages, because we either need to do it right, or we need to look at alternatives.”
“This isn’t going to be very popular, but I’m not sure it should be a magnet status,” Griffin said. “Maybe we should suspend it for a year or two and really look at: Do we want to have a magnet program that does Mandarin and also Spanish in the same school? And if so, what does that even really look like?”
The remark, after most attendees had left the meeting, prompted one Glenwood parent to tell the board before walking out and slamming the door behind her that the magnet program’s demise is what the Glenwood community feared would happen all along.
Some board members agreed it’s not what parents expected, including board member Vickie Feaster Fornville, who said the public should have an opportunity to weigh in before changing the options on the table.
“I think we need to move through the process as we said we planned to do, and then you can think about how to change, build, expand and grow,” she said.
District staff will bring information to the September meeting about how the Mandarin world language program would work alongside Scroggs’ existing Spanish dual-language program.
Staff will now begin drafting an elementary school redistricting plan for the board to consider later this year. The redistricting plan will also be implemented in the 2027-28 school year.
The board has not yet decided what to do with Glenwood’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) curriculum. Board members expressed support Thursday for keeping and expanding STEAM education in more schools as the district reshapes itself to be more innovative and nimble.
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Glenwood’s closure at the end of this school year and the decision to split its programs is a result of falling enrollment — more than 1,500 students since 2020 — and tighter budgets.
But it’s not just a local problem. Other school districts around the state face similar state and federal budget cuts, rising costs and falling enrollment, which leads to bigger budget cuts, because school funding is based on enrollment.
Since 2022, roughly 60 public schools have closed statewide, according to N.C. Department of Public Instruction data. That’s due in part to declining birth rates, higher housing costs and changes in the immigrant-born population, Carolina Demography reported.
The state’s Opportunity Scholarship voucher program is also having an effect, experts say. The N&O reported in March that voucher program spending reached record levels, with $579.3 million in private school vouchers for 106,587 students.
Thursday’s meeting marked the first time that Scroggs and Rashkis parents and staff addressed the board about its options, which were presented in mid-July, while families were on summer break.
Many supported splitting Glenwood’s students and programs between their schools, rather than sending them to one school, which could have displaced over 300 students.
Glenwood parents echoed comments shared with The News & Observer earlier this month about the loss of a tight-knit school community, fear that their students could be blamed for displacing other students, and potential damage to the Mandarin and STEAM magnet program’s reputation.
Roughly 41% of Glenwood families who responded to a PTA survey said they might leave the district if the program is split.
The short turnaround between the June 4 vote to close Glenwood and Thursday’s decision about its students and programs also prompted Glenwood parents to ask for a delay. They urged the board to consider a third option: Move both language tracks to Rashkis, and fold in existing Rashkis students who live within the school’s immediate attendance zone.
Others asked for more investment in STEAM and bilingual education programs. That includes more resources for school leadership, staff and afterschool programs, Glenwood parent Calvin Cheung-Miaw said.
Rashkis parent Tateona Henderson, who said she only learned about the plan when a teacher reached out, suggested the district use its Lincoln Center administrative building on Merritt Mill Road for Glenwood students and programs.
“As I walked through the halls coming in here tonight, this would actually be a great location for Glenwood Elementary … and if space is truly a concern, perhaps the district administrators could lead by example and relocate their offices to the schools around the district,” she said to loud applause and cheers.
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This story was originally published August 21, 2026 at 7:55 AM.