The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) Board of Education voted last night to approve the 4×4 block schedule, which will take effect in all district high schools during the 2025-26 school year.
The decision was unanimous: board members, excluding Rani Dasi, who was absent, voted 6-0 in favor of the new schedule.
Starting in the 2025-26 school year, high schools will offer four 80-minute class periods and one 35-minute flex period. Students will take four courses in the first semester and four new courses in the second; each semester-long course will earn students a full year’s credit.
The vote comes after months of consideration: the Board assembled a “Guiding Committee” composed of teachers, students and administrators from across the district in November 2023 and gathered feedback from the committee through January before presenting the committee with various scheduling options.
Ultimately, the committee recommended the 4×4 schedule in April, and the Board deliberated through May amidst an increasing push from the community against the 4×4 schedule.
Activism among community members was particularly pronounced at a Board meeting on May 2, wherein the public comment portion ran several hours later than expected due to the volume of speakers, including several Chapel Hill High School students and faculty.
The district sent an email to middle and high school staff and families immediately after the vote, sharing that administrators will continue to monitor community needs following the implementation of the new schedule.
“High school principals and district administrators have been directed to use the model’s flexibility, collaborating with teacher groups, to address instruction and program continuity needs outlined by the High School Schedule Assessment Guiding Committee,” the email read.
