merger

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA (CHCYMCA) is still considering entering a management services agreement (or merger) with the YMCA of the Triangle Area (YOTA), as evidenced by its recent passage of a motion to allow the chair of the board of directors to form a small committee to define how the CHCYMCA will work with YOTA. This is very concerning considering YOTA's lack of inclusive nondiscrimination policies, not to mention the lack of transparency being shown by the CHCYMCA board of directors, which was set to vote on a motion to begin negotiating the management services agreement before things got too hot and they opted for this motion instead.

I know I'm stepping into a hornet's nest with this one, but what is it about this one little word ("merger") that sends parents in both school systems into such a tizzy?

After nearly two hours of grappling with its options, the school board for the Orange County Schools modified its enrollment plans for the district's only year-round elementary school Monday night.

In a 4-2 vote, the board approved changes recommended by district administration that will allow 30 students already at Hillsborough Elementary School to re-enroll there next year.

Some parents who had feared their children might be among those not allowed to return had dressed in orange shirts and spoken at board meetings, posted to a blog devoted to challenging the changes, and even hired an attorney to challenge the board.

[...]

Board member Liz Brown voted against modifying the plan because she felt it didn't do enough to help Central and Efland-Cheeks elementary schools retain middle-income students.