We haven’t heard much about it for several weeks, but now comes this blog from the News & Observer’s Orange Chat that confirms talk of merging two Orange County elementary schools is still very much alive. Readers of my posts may recall that Orange officials think merging the county’s lowest performing school (Central) and highest performing school (Hillsborough) will lead to higher achievement. I maintain it is a not-so-transparent way to circumvent accountability standards for all subgroups in the No Child Left Behind law. Next up in the debate: “community listening sessions.” But at least one person who responded to N&O reporter Lisa Hoppenjans’ blog illustrates the emotion involved in this issue. Writes Allan, in part, about mistrust of the school board:

Maybe if they had been actually listening to parents at every Board of Education meeting since February, they wouldn’t need to schedule “listening sessions.”