Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools superintendent takes unexpected medical leave
The superintendent of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools is taking time off for medical leave, according to an email sent Wednesday to parents.
Superintendent Pam Baldwin did not elaborate on the nature of the leave in the email.
“Despite our best intentions, sometimes life gets in the way and modifies our plans, our calendars, our goals and our aspirations,” she wrote. “I have been reminded of that again recently as I met with my doctor.”
Patrick Abele, the district’s assistant superintendent for support services, will serve as acting superintendent in her absence, Baldwin said. The district is expected to begin at-home learning next week, as students stay at home to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
The school board and administrators also are wrestling with how to rebuild public trust amid questions about a $767,070 professional development contract that was canceled in January. The board is planning an external review and changes to the district’s contract policy, as well as the draft of a new whistleblower policy.
Conversations about those issues were postponed at the board’s March 19 meeting. Baldwin did not say when she will return, nor if she’ll be back by the board’s rescheduled discussions in April.
“It is my intention to return as soon as my doctor will release me,” Baldwin said.
This story was originally published March 25, 2020 at 6:20 PM.
