Chapel Hill-Carrboro school principal on leave after walk-out to support teachers
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Carrboro High principal placed on paid leave amid toxic workplace allegations.
- Student walkout and staff report prompted investigation into school leadership.
- Teacher and student surveys show declining trust, despite favorable comparisons.
Carrboro High School’s principal has been put on paid leave while the district investigates complaints her leadership created a toxic environment lacking in trust, transparency, and support for students and teachers, the school district confirmed Tuesday.
Helena Thomas, who was hired in August 2023, was put on paid administrative leave temporarily June 2, according to Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools spokesman Andy Jenks. She also will not attend the high school’s graduation ceremony Saturday.
“This is neither a disciplinary measure nor a change of assignment,” Jenks said in an email. “It is a temporary status so that these matters can be investigated impartially. We informed the CHS staff earlier this afternoon, though Dr. Thomas has been out of the office since last week.”
The NAACP’s executive committee met with Thomas on Monday and learned the district’s human resources office had put her on leave just days after a May 29 walkout at Carrboro High School, he said. Students marched to the Lincoln Center district office to protest what they called inaction by the district in response to their concerns.
The group will hold a news conference Wednesday at Lincoln Center. Thomas is not speaking publicly at this time, Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP President Herman Foushee said.
“She cannot go on school property. She cannot be around students or anything,” he said Tuesday. “That’s why we are protesting. It’s very devastating.”
The group wants to see “an equitable and fair process to determine the facts and whether any action is, in fact, warranted” before corrective action is taken, he said.
“We didn’t think that she was being treated fairly, and it doesn’t fall in line with general practices of human resources. If someone is investigated or whatever … the person will work until they are proven guilty,” he said. “She hasn’t even been investigated yet.”
School district officials “agree and appreciate that the NAACP recognizes the need to investigate legitimate complaints, which we are doing carefully and responsibly,” Jenks said in the email.
Staff is reaching out to parents and students to get more information, which will take time, he said. The Dispute Settlement Center in Carrboro is also setting up conversations with staff and students, which they had requested, he said, including voluntary and one-on-one staff meetings, student group meetings, and an open session at the school for students.
“As we near the end of the year, these measures have been in place to support improved communication, positive reflection and constructive feedback for Carrboro High School’s administration,” Jenks said. “We have found the process to be beneficial in the past as we have worked with other schools in the district that have faced similar challenges.”
Parents, students seek answers to concerns
Carrboro High School students, staff and parents said they have raised concerns for two years “about the dangerous and demoralizing direction that our school has taken under the current administration,” former Carrboro PTSA president and parent Patti Martzloff said at Thursday’s school board meeting.
The recent student walkout was met with “silence, no investigation, no administrative leave, no plan, nothing,” she added.
“Your silence speaks volumes, and it is unacceptable. This is not a matter of politics or personnel. This is a matter of student well being, teacher retention and community trust. Every day you delay action, more and more damage is done to the culture and the climate of our school,” Martzloff said.
Sherika Hill, leader of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP education committee, also spoke. Her heart goes out to students who felt they had to choose between walking out and staying for a student assembly to address the concerns, she said, in reference to an assembly held at the same time as the student walkout.
District emails shared with The News & Observer show the assembly was announced May 27, but Brandy Reeves, chief of staff and school leadership, did not share a time for the meeting. The student walkout was planned more than a week earlier.
Hill also defended the district’s slow response, saying “you’re being careful and you’re being thoughtful and you’re being inclusive.”
“I hope we all recognize that this is a sensitive time and that there are those of us who know more than others, who have certain sets of data that other people may not have,” Hill said. “I just don’t want to discredit the role and the responsibility and accountability that we have given to our board and to our leadership. We voted for you because we trust your judgment and I appreciate your patience.”
The school board did not acknowledge that any action was being taken at Thursday’s meeting. Board member Rani Dasi reminded the crowd that the issues being discussed “impact people’s lives, like our students, like our staff, like our faculty.”
“I think you’ve heard communication from the administration that we have been making progress with exploring some of the concerns that have been brought forward. I just didn’t want to leave the perception that nothing is being done,” she said.
On Tuesday, board Chair George Griffin also noted the impact that this has had on Thomas and the community. Temporary leave is not uncommon, and “is to protect the employee as much as find out what’s going on,” he said.
“This is an incredibly difficult thing for a school principal who already has a difficult job. We recognize that, and our heart goes out to her,” Griffin said. “We (also) realize it involves students, it involves teachers, it involves parents.”
He also acknowledged that how the situation was handled should be examined.
“When this is all resolved, we would definitely want to sit down and say, very seriously, what can we learn from this and what could we have done differently, if anything, because when it gets to a point like this, it’s not because somebody thought this was a good way for things to be handled,”Griffin said.
Faculty letter, teacher survey results
The letter from Carrboro faculty and staff, and remarks made by students at the walkout, accused Thomas of harming staff morale and increasing turnover among teachers, who fear speaking out due to harassment, bullying and retaliation.
It also cited concerns about school safety, student support, a lack of communication, and inconsistent practices and policy violations.
A 12-page report included with the letter also cited anecdotes and exit surveys from Thomas’ time as the 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.
“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.”
An NAACP release Monday countered the report, saying Carrboro High and its students have “continued to excel.” The school board approved a new, four-year contract for Thomas on April 17, the group said.
The NAACP release also cited data from the N.C. Teacher Working Conditions Survey posted on the district website. The data shows teachers gave Carrboro High School an overall score of 75%, compared with 72.2% for East Chapel Hill High and 87.2% for Chapel Hill High School.
But a closer look at the 2024 teacher survey showed that while 94.2% of Carrboro High School teachers think the school is a good place to work and learn, only 68.1% said there is an atmosphere of trust and respect, down from 85.1% in 2022. Those who said they were comfortable raising important issues fell from 70.2% in 2022 to 56.5% in 2024, it showed.
Historical survey results show teacher opinions about the school’s leadership rose when former Principal Beverly Rudolph took over in 2018, with 70% to 95% of teachers agreeing in 2022 that administrators support teachers, assess performance objectively, and provide helpful feedback.
By 2024, Carrboro results showed between 52% and 60% of teachers thought leadership was doing poorly on nine different survey questions, with only 30.4% of teachers saying there is a culture of trust and 42% saying the school leadership knows what is going on in the classroom.
A district survey of students showed fewer are responding favorably to three of four social and emotional learning questions, including teacher-student relationships, school safety and school climate. The favorable response to a fourth question — about the sense of belonging — fell from 45% to 43% this year, after rising from 39% in the spring of 2024.
However, Carrboro students responded more favorably to the survey questions than Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill high school students in nearly all cases, the results show.
This story was originally published June 10, 2025 at 6:07 PM.
