Conversations about a newcomer school are on the table in New Hanover County

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A newcomer school is an umbrella term for a school for foreign-born students who have recently arrived in the United States.  

There are newcomer schools in several parts of the country, and it’s being considered in New Hanover County. 

It’s only on the table right now but if followed through, it’s expected to take the place of the Career Readiness Academy at Mosley. 

“I want the public to be aware that this is under consideration, and I want the school administration to immediately say ‘we are backing off of this, we are not going to explore this concept,” New Hanover County Commissioner Dane Scalise said. 

The Career Readiness Academy at Mosley is a public alternative school in New Hanover County.  

In late 2023, it was announced the school would close at the end of this academic year. One idea is to reopen the school as a newcomer’s school.  

Chief Academic Officer Patrice Faison gave a presentation on a newcomer’s school at a school board agenda review meeting in November.  

New Hanover County Commissioner Dane Scalise said he is not in support of adopting this program. He says it is not a good fit for the county because of all the extra resources it would require.  

“This is not fear mongering, this is not me saying that this might be something good, this might be something bad. This is something bad,” Scalise said. “It’s not because I don’t love people who are in hard times. But New Hanover County is a small county with limited resources. We can’t take care of the eight billion people that are in the world. We have to look out for the people that are in here in our county right now.”  

Scalise said he is “going to fight every single step of the way in stopping this concept from happening in New Hanover County.”  

He referenced other parts of the state that have introduced this program. Greensboro was the originator of the newcomer’s school concept in North Carolina.  

“It was so successful that they became a destination for refugees, they become a destination for immigrants. It was so popular that they just opened another one,” Scalise said. 

Commissioner Scalise said if New Hanover County had the flexibility to help everyone in the world, he’d like to. But he said realistically, it is not possible, and his priority is the county’s current residents. 

We reached out to the New Hanover County school district. We are working to get more information.  

We also reached out to school board members. Hugh McManus responded. He said he didn’t know enough about it at this time.