Carrboro students walk out of class to protest principal, advocate for their teachers
The story was updated on June 3, 2025.
About 100 Carrboro High School students and parents challenged city schools leaders Thursday to act on discrimination, security issues and declining teacher morale.
The problems have gone on since Principal Helena Thomas was hired over a year ago, speakers said, walking out of the school to the Lincoln Center administrative building roughly two miles away. Issues range from no soap in the bathroom to bullying that is ignored and teachers who feel they are not supported.
Speakers told Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Superintendent Nyah Hamlett, who stood listening, that school officials tried to keep them from walking out, and then scheduled a last-minute forum to discuss their concerns at the same time as the walkout.
Hamlett and district spokesman Andy Jenks said later that the forum was scheduled before the walkout, because Thursday was the last day all students would be on campus. Staff might have routed students to one door so they knew who was leaving, Jenks said.
A parent later shared an email with The News & Observer from Brandy Reeves, chief of staff and school leadership, that showed the district planned meetings with student groups for May 28, and an open session for all students on May 29. The email, which was sent at 7 p.m. on May 27, did not say what time the meetings would take place.
The walkout was planned more than a week before the meetings were announced.
Hamlett told the crowd the district’s strategic plan focuses on safety and wellness, and there is an open-door policy for grievances. She praised the students for using their “collective voice to hold the school and the administration accountable.”
The crowd challenged her, shouting more questions and concerns.
“So you don’t have a plan,” one parent said. “You’re not addressing any of the multiple, repetitive issues that students have brought up to you.”
“This is not the venue for me to offer a plan,” Hamlett responded. “This is the venue for students and parents to come and share their concerns.”
“It’s been a year,” a student interjected as she continued to speak.
The district is still deciding whether an investigation is warranted, Hamlett said after the event.
Security, respect and other concerns
Thomas was hired in August 2023. Speakers accused her of harming staff morale and increasing turnover among teachers, who fear speaking out due to harassment, bullying and retaliation.
A letter included a 12-page report detailing concerns with teacher working conditions, school safety, student support, a lack of communication, and inconsistent practices and policy violations.
“Overall, the [report] paints a picture of an administration whose actions are reportedly creating a toxic work environment and potentially jeopardizing the safety and well-being of both staff and students,” said the letter signed by “Concerned Carrboro High School Faculty and Staff.”
Walkout organizer Kaye Herr, a sophomore and co-leader of the Community Outreach Club, outlined multiple grievances, including sexual harassment incidents that “were not taken seriously.”
“Admins behavior in these situations demonstrates a blatant disregard for the well being of students,” she said. A similar disregard for teachers are causing many to leave the school because of the principal’s behavior, she said.
The report includes anecdotes and the results of teacher working conditions and exit surveys from Thomas’ first year at Carrboro High, as well as teacher survey results when she was principal at Walter M. Williams High School in Burlington.
Roughly three-quarters of the Alamance County teachers who responded to that survey said they didn’t experience mutual trust and respect under her leadership, or an atmosphere that welcomed their input.
The issues cited in the Carrboro High letter include:
▪ A lack of communication and transparency from the principal, including during power outages, a 2023 bomb threat that evacuated the school, and a tornado warning in September. Staff reported being left to fend for themselves.
Jenks said the district handled communication about the bomb threat, because Thomas could not communicate changes effectively as students were being moved from one school to another. The tornado warning was during a remote workday when students were absent, he said, and the principal was not in a county affected by the warning.
▪ Concerns about whether the principal has addressed boys getting into the ceiling of a girls’ bathroom and watching female students. “Many girls report not feeling safe using school restrooms,” the report says. School board Chair George Griffin said Thursday the issue has been temporarily fixed, and a more permanent repair will be made over the summer.
▪ Hourlong faculty meetings moved to teacher planning time without consulting teachers, the report says. The move reduced the time needed to grade papers, contact parents, and complete planning and paperwork, it says. Jenks said the school administration changed the faculty meetings in response to feedback.
▪ Decisions that “attempt to sow discord among colleagues” and employee evaluations that are flawed, inconsistent and unfair, the report said.
▪ Limiting school resource officer access to security footage and information about potential safety issues. The report alleges security cameras are used to monitor and target staff members.
Griffin said the district’s agreement with law enforcement requires officers to work with school administrators. Allegations about security footage being used to target employees are more serious, he said, and anyone with evidence should send it to the board.
“We just would reject that out of hand unless someone presents us with some compelling evidence or facts,” Griffin said.
▪ Discipline is inconsistent and some students are treated differently, it says, while bullying incidents are dismissed.
Melinda Manning, a Carrboro High parent, said the problems inspired her to join the School Improvement Team in September, because she wanted to be part of the solution. It “became immediately obvious” Thomas wasn’t interested, she said.
The principal kept meetings short and blocked the election of co-chairs, she said. The parents were finally able to start their work in February, after taking their frustrations to district leaders, who spoke with Thomas, Manning said.
But in April, she said, after asking to see student and teacher survey results, Thomas said it was their last meeting.
“It really appeared that she was just trying to do everything she could to keep us from talking about the real issues,” Manning said.
Block scheduling, teacher turnover fears
The school board is monitoring the situation, which has “kind of reached a boiling-over point in the last couple of weeks,” Griffin said. The board typically leaves employee issues to the superintendent and her administration, he said, and Reeves has been working with Carrboro students, parents and staff.
District data shows just under half of Carrboro High School’s 885 students are white, while another 31% are Latinx, 9% are Black and nearly 5% are Asian.
Since 2022, state data shows the school’s overall performance has fallen. Last year, the school met but did not exceed academic growth expectations for the first time in 10 years.
The district’s other high schools — Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill — continued to exceed academic growth expectations. They also surpassed Carrboro’s four-year graduation rate of roughly 91%.
District surveys show fewer students feel positive about their relationships with teachers, school safety and the school climate.
Fewer parents are involved, too, Manning said, echoing the report’s allegations that Thomas was “outright rude to parent volunteers.” It notes the Parent-Teacher-Student Association didn’t have a board or funding in September, “because the previous members were unwilling to continue working with admin.”
Thomas responded to the allegations in two May emails, which the district shared Thursday. Thomas, in the emails, thanked those who raised concerns at the May 15 school board meeting and later met with her. She pledged to hold more conversations in June and “remain committed to fostering positive relationships.”
Parent Jennifer Bienstock said it came across as “very dismissive.”
“Maybe she’s really good at some aspect of her job, and that’s what got her there, but a major piece of this is getting information out to parents,” she said. “The point I kept trying to reiterate was, it’s not about the words they’re writing. It’s about the feeling behind the words.”
Her worry is that continuing lack of communication will create serious consequences when the school moves to a 4X4 block schedule in August, Bienstock said. The change will let students take four classes in the fall and four classes in the spring, instead of attending seven classes for a full year.
Some parents worry that students who take Advanced Placement classes in the fall may not recall the information when they take A.P. exams in May. Others want to know how the district, which has struggled with transportation, will get students to cross-district classes at nearby high schools or to Durham Tech’s dual enrollment program.
Parents have not been told what the plan is at this point, and it’s creating anxiety for students, teachers and families, Bienstock said. They want the district to delay the change for at least a year until Hamlett’s replacement can get settled. The board is expected to make an announcement before she leaves June 27, Griffin said.
Parents also fear losing more good teachers, Manning said.
“I’ve had some private one-on-one conversations with teachers who said, yes, they are looking, because they just cannot work with this administration,” she said.
This story was originally published May 29, 2025 at 5:04 PM.
