Community rallies to keep CRA at Mosley open during New Hanover County School Board public hearing

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — It was a fight to keep the doors open at the Career Readiness Academy at Mosley during a public hearing held by the New Hanover County School Board.

The Career Readiness Academy at Mosley is a public alternative high school. It has 63 students and 15 staff members.

Dr. Patrice Faison, the chief academic officer for NHCS, shared a statement last month announcing the school would not reopen after this school year. According to the statement, Mosley has been an underutilized space in the district for “quite some time.”

It came without prior vote or public discussion from the school board, which left many people — including school board members, questioning why. This led to the board calling Tuesday night’s public hearing.

The meeting began with Dr. Faison and Julie Varnam, assistant superintendent of student support services, presenting data comparing Mosley to other high schools in the district.

The data presented revealed Mosley’s graduation rate is consistently lower than the district overall. Mosley’s cost-per-pupil is also more than double any other high school, including the specialty schools like the early college high schools and SEATech.

After the data was presented, the meeting turned to public comment. Some people expressed concern that the data presented was skewed negatively towards Mosley, neglecting to include information that would support it remaining open.

Each person who spoke during public comment spoke in favor of Mosley remaining open. Among the speakers, several Mosley students.

“We get the support, the attention. They always help us. We’re like a small family. We love each other,” said Esmeralda Avalos, a sophomore at Mosley. “Since I started to go to Mosley, I have seen that I have changed. My grades have been going up. I think it really helps me because I’m not fluent in English and I think they have helped me there.”

Each advocating for why they believe their school is important and essential to their success, from small class sizes to feeling safe and accepted.

“It is not a behavior school. It is a school for people who need different environments and thrive differently and just all around need a place to be accepted,” said Alex Finley, a junior at Mosley. “Everybody loves everybody and our differences are what makes us, us and we appreciate them.”

Following public comment just before the conclusion of the meeting, Hugh McManus asked Superintendent Dr. Charles Foust how long he had been planning the closure of the school before the board found out, to which Foust replied that it had been going on behind the scenes since 2021.

The board did not make a decision during Tuesday’s meeting. They could hear a presentation on the cost benefit analysis as early as the agenda review meeting on January 30. The board is expected to make a decision regarding Mosley at its next regular meeting on February 6.