New Hanover County

Schools: The impact

of neighborhood
schools
Intro to the Community Relations Advisory Committee

Purpose
• Address Community issues involving prejudice or discrimination
on the basis of race, national origin, creed or religion, age,
gender, sexual orientation, disability or medical condition;

• Inform City Council, NHC Commission, and other organizations

of findings;

• Make recommendations in advisory capacity, to City Council,

NHC Commission, and other organizations, as necessary

If you have a comment, concern of issue to share with the C-RAC,

please contact Suzanne Rogers, City of Wilmington, at 341-5809
Committee Appointees:
New Hanover County Members:
Member Category Term
Expires
Evelyn Bryant, Chair Civil Rights Community 9/30/21
Jeff Hovis Business Community 9/30/20
Scott Whisnant At-Large 9/30/2022
Elise Rocks Faith Community 9/30/20
At-Large 9/30/21
Lewis Stroud Education Community 9/30/2022
Committee Appointees:

City of Wilmington Members:

Member Category Term
Expires
Charles E. Davis, Jr. Faith Community 9/20/20
Florence Warren Education Community 9/20/21
Courtney Horton At-Large 9/20/21
Jen Johnson Business Community 09/20/20
Kathy King Civil Rights Community 9/20/20
Lori Wainwright At-Large 9/20/2022
Some background

• The New Hanover County Schools in the mid-90s

were forced, by the Department of Education’s
Office of Civil Rights, to have between 15% and
50% African-Americans in each school

• The philosophy of diverse schools continued after

the order expired in 1997.

• Then-Superintendent John Morris said in 2004

that diversity was driven by a “moral
responsibility” to avoid re-segregation.

• “Our students will not live and work in a

segregated world and shouldn’t attend segregated
schools,” Dr. Morris said
A new directive
• In the mid-2000s, mostly suburban parents sought
a return to “neighborhood schools.”

• This faction won control of the School Board.

Redistricting started in 2006.

• Schools that were already racially misaligned

remained so. Others quickly fell out of balance.

• By 2010, middle schools were also redistricted.

• What impact has neighborhood schools had

on our schools?
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
 Before redistricting …
2005 FRL White A-A Rank
(1,276)*

Parsley 16.8% 87% 8.8% 37

Ogden 27% 83.5% 13.7% 81

Wrightsville 9.3% 93.6% 5.4% 63

Beach
Holly Tree 25.1% 70.7% 24.3% 52

Codington 13.8% 86.4% 11.9% 14

Forest Hills 52.9% 47.5% 45.9% 706

Gregory 41.3% 48.2% 49% 180

Snipes 88.4% 28.4% 64.8% 1120

Freeman 70.8% 44.3% 44.1% 1013

* Rankings date back to 2006. Ogden ranking is from 2008
 How that was addressed?
2005 FRL White A-A Rank 2019 FRL White A-A Rank (1,461)
(1,276)

Parsley 16.8% 87% 8.8% 37 18.7% 83% 2.2% 4

Ogden 27% 83.5% 13.7% 81 19.3% 86.6% 1.9% 6

Wrightsville 9.3% 93.6% 5.4% 63 12.9% 89.4% 1.3% 9

Beach
Holly Tree 25.1% 70.7% 24.3% 52 30.3% 79% 6.5% 58

Codington 13.8% 86.4% 11.9% 14 27.5% 79.8% 5.5% 61

Forest Hills 52.9% 47.5% 45.9% 706

Gregory 41.3% 48.2% 49% 180

Snipes 88.4% 28.4% 64.8% 1120

Freeman 70.8% 44.3% 44.1% 1013

 How that was addressed?
2005 FRL White A-A Rank 2019 FRL White A-A Rank (1,461)
(1,276)

Parsley 16.8% 87% 8.8% 37 18.7% 83% 2.2% 4

Ogden 27% 83.5% 13.7% 81 19.3% 86.6% 1.9% 6 * Gregory figures

are from 2016. The
Wrightsville 9.3% 93.6% 5.4% 63 12.9% 89.4% 1.3% 9 school took over the
Beach Spanish Immersion
Holly Tree 25.1% 70.7% 24.3% 52 30.3% 79% 6.5% 58 program in 2017. In
2019, it had 36.2
Codington 13.8% 86.4% 11.9% 14 27.5% 79.8% 5.5% 61 white students,
38.4% African-
American and
21.3% Hispanic.
Forest Hills 52.9% 47.5% 45.9% 706 95.9% 22.4% 56.5% 1290 The free/reduced
lunch percentage
Gregory 41.3% 48.2% 49% 180 99.2% 8.8% 84% 1396*
was at 99.4%
however. Its ranking
Snipes 88.4% 28.4% 64.8% 1120 99.2% 10.5% 79% 1386 had recovered to
1118th, or the 23.5
Freeman 70.8% 44.3% 44.1% 1013 98.9% 5.6% 81.4% 1428
percentile of N.C.
elementary schools.
What just happened?
The school board’s response to inequity was to create “magnet
schools” without adequate planning, leadership or trust-building

Parents – most of them white - were able to choose schools, and

they did. In 2016, Codington and Eaton had 180 and 172
kindergarten applications, respectively – about twice the capacity.
Snipes and Freeman had nine and four.

Forest Hills was at the 44.7 percentile in 2005. It dropped to 11.7 by

2019

Snipes was at the 12.2 percentile in 2005. By 2012, that had fallen
to 0.9th percentile. In 2019, it was 5.1

Freeman was at the 20.6 percentile in 2005. In 2019, it was 2.3

Gregory’s percentile, 85.9 in 2005, dropped to 2.0 by 2016.

 Let’s look a little deeper
2018 Can’t Teacher Teachers Teachers 2018 Ready for 2019 Ready for
read at turnover 0-3 yrs 10+ yrs Kindergarten Kindergarten
grade

Parsley 13% 9.9% 12.2% 61% 78.4% 71.8%

Ogden 11% 8.4% 15% 65% 72.3% 69.3%

Wrightsville 12% 14.1% 9.1% 55% 91.3% 91.7%

Beach
Holly Tree 17% 6.2% 8.8% 58.8% 57.9% 85.2%

Codington 22% 2.8% 5.9% 67.6% 77.8% 88.6%

 Let’s look a little deeper
2018 Can’t Teacher Teachers Teachers 2018 Ready for 2019 Ready for
read at turnover 0-3 yrs 10+ yrs Kindergarten Kindergarten
grade

Parsley 13% 9.9% 12.2% 61% 78.4% 71.8%

Ogden 11% 8.4% 15% 65% 72.3% 69.3%

Wrightsville 12% 14.1% 9.1% 55% 91.3% 91.7%

Beach
Holly Tree 17% 6.2% 8.8% 58.8% 57.9% 85.2%

Codington 22% 2.8% 5.9% 67.6% 77.8% 88.6%

Forest Hills 63% 21.7% 46.9% 31.3% 32.1% 18.2%

Gregory 48% 18% 40.9% 27.3% 21.6% 63.5%

Snipes 70% 21.5% 21.6% 29.7% 38.1% n/a

Freeman 70% 20.4% 33.3% 25% 25.5%

 Let’s look a little deeper
2018 Can’t Teacher Teachers Teachers 2018 Ready for 2019 Ready for
read at turnover 0-3 yrs 10+ yrs Kindergarten Kindergarten
grade

Parsley 13% 9.9% 12.2% 61% 78.4% 71.8%

Ogden 11% 8.4% 15% 65% 72.3% 69.3%

Wrightsville 12% 14.1% 9.1% 55% 91.3% 91.7%

Beach
Holly Tree 17% 6.2% 8.8% 58.8% 57.9% 85.2%

Codington 22% 2.8% 5.9% 67.6% 77.8% 88.6%

Forest Hills 63% 21.7% 46.9% 31.3% 32.1% 18.2%

Gregory 48% 18% 40.9% 27.3% 21.6% 63.5%

Snipes 70% 21.5% 21.6% 29.7% 38.1% n/a

Freeman 70% 20.4% 33.3% 25% 25.5% 4.3%

MIDDLE SCHOOLS
 The heart of redistricting
2005 FRL White A-A 2006
Rank
(598)

Roland- 36.7% 69.9% 25.8% 125

Grise
Myrtle 33.1% 71.5% 21.4% 102
Grove
Noble 32% 70.7% 26.3% 119

Williston 59.2% 39.8% 52.1% 386*

 The heart of redistricting
2005 FRL White A-A 2006 2019 FRL White A-A Rank (723)***
Rank
(598)

Roland- 36.7% 69.9% 25.8% 125 36.4% 74.3% 6.5% 133

Grise
Myrtle 33.1% 71.5% 21.4% 102 48.8% 58.5% 17.3% 213
Grove
Noble 32% 70.7% 26.3% 119 35.2% 72.8% 10.7% 80

Williston 59.2% 39.8% 52.1% 386*

 The heart of redistricting
2005 FRL White A-A 2006 2019 FRL White A-A Rank (723)***
Rank
(598)

Roland- 36.7% 69.9% 25.8% 125 36.4% 74.3% 6.5% 133

Grise
Myrtle 33.1% 71.5% 21.4% 102 48.8% 58.5% 17.3% 213
Grove
Noble 32% 70.7% 26.3% 119 35.2% 72.8% 10.7% 80

Williston 59.2% 39.8% 52.1% 386* 97.1%** 20.1% 49.7% 643

 The heart of redistricting
2005 FRL White A-A 2006 2019 FRL White A-A Rank (723)***
Rank
(598)

Roland- 36.7% 69.9% 25.8% 125 36.4% 74.3% 6.5% 133

Grise
Myrtle 33.1% 71.5% 21.4% 102 48.8% 58.5% 17.3% 213
Grove
Noble 32% 70.7% 26.3% 119 35.2% 72.8% 10.7% 80

Williston 59.2% 39.8% 52.1% 386* 97.1%** 20.1% 49.7% 643

* This ranking for Williston was at the 35.5 percentile. By 2019, the ranking stood at the 11.1 percentile
** The average FRL percentage for the six public middle schools besides Williston: 46.1%
*** 2019 rankings for NH County Middle Schools: Murray 59, Noble 80, Roland-Grise 133, Trask 195, Myrtle
Grove 213, Holly Shelter 371, Williston … 643
Where was D.C. Virgo?
• The redistricting of 2010 led to it being woefully under-
enrolled – and it closed in May 2011. Reopened in 2012 as
D.C. Virgo Preparatory Academy

• Closed in 2018 – still under-enrolled – and ceased to be a

New Hanover County public school. In July 2018, opened
as one of five “lab” schools in N.C. Operated by UNCW

• Last year: 86.4% African-American; 6.2% White

• 90.9% Free/Reduced lunch

• Ranked 1377th (1461) among elementary schools and

680th (723) among middle schools. Less than 6th percentile

• Incoming 6th graders ready at grade level: 6.5%

 Did it help the district overall?

New Hanover County School District Rank Percentile

2006 49 (157) 68.8

2019
 Did it help the district overall?

New Hanover County School District Rank Percentile

2006 49 (157) 68.8

2019 91 (235) 61.3

What did we learn?
• According to the UNC Center for Civil Rights in 2016, which studied NHCS,
28 of 42 schools are “racially imbalanced.”

• In 10 years, Gregory went from outperforming the district’s overall end-of-

grade success to falling behind the county average by 20 percentage
points

• Environment created where schools score in the 30s on EOG tests and
less than 5% of incoming students at one school were ready for
kindergarten

• Educational research consistently finds that racially balanced schools not

only lifts students from lower-income, minority homes, but has no impact on
the majority

• U.S. Dept. of Education notes: “where schools lack a diverse student body
or are racially isolated (i.e. are composed of students of one race) they may
fail to provide the full panoply of benefits that K-12 schools can offer.”
Where do we go from here?
• Solution is not at simple as moving white kids
into inner-city schools

• “Integration” can mean different things to

different populations

• Is creating the “bubble” the answer?

• Need to educate ourselves, find out what

parents in our downtown schools actually want
and what teachers actually need

• And we need leadership with the courage to redistrict in a way that fairly
balances our children’s needs