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Dr. Sharon Weldon, the CCSD Superintendent, gave an update on DAC (Desegregation Advisory Committee). The committee, which was formed in 2022, following a federal order to close Five Points School, Lafayette-Lanier Elementary and J.P. Powell Middle School, while converting Eastside to a magnet program, adding sixth through eighth grades. 

In January, Judge Keith Watkins, who has presided over the consolidation case and established DAC, asked Weldon to restart meetings after her predecessor, Dr. Casey Chambley, had paused the consolidation effort in March of 2024. 

The order also established the DAC, consisting of at least 12 total student and parent representatives from both Valley and LaFayette attendance zones, with regular access to the CCSD Superintendent and the Board of Education to address remaining desegregation issues and progress of the changes to the district,” according to previous reporting by the VT-N. 

DAC has also worked on the ongoing consolidation of the school system’s high schools, LaFayette and Valley. 

During Wednesday’s school board meeting, Weldon reported on the group’s most recent meeting held on Monday night. The Superintendent said the group was “really excited” about the ideas that came from the first meeting back. 

“We want to start talking about what we can do to intentionally create unity in our two communities,” Weldon said. “I want us to think about the traditions that our two high schools have that are really important to our community, so we can start working to kind of make sure that we have an intentional way of honoring those.”

DAC came up with Project Graduate. 

“Project Graduate means that we’re going to take that class that we know will be the first to graduate from Chambers County High School, and they want to go ahead and do some things to start building some unity,” Weldon said. 

Currently, the class of 2029 will be the first group to graduate from Chambers County High School, the consolidated high school, according to the district’s timeline. 

The group discussed ways to build that unity, including bringing what will likely be the inaugural graduating class together now. Many of these students will begin their high school careers at LaFayette or Valley High before coming together at CCHS for their senior year. 

One of the ideas put forward was getting Chambers County High School Class of 2029 T-shirts made for those students who will soon be going into their freshman year of high school. Another was hosting a contest to create the CCHS alma mater song. 

Weldon used the rest of her time during the board meeting to announce that the next meeting, on May 14, will honor the graduating class of 2025 and staff members retiring at the end of the school year. It will be held at the Lafayette Lanier Auditorium at 4 CT.