The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools system is entering its summer with a new superintendent in charge, as the district finalized its promotion and hiring of Rodney Trice on Thursday.
A 12-year veteran to the district, Trice most recently served as CHCCS’ Deputy Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, Systemic Equity and Engagement and has spent nearly three decades in a variety of public education roles. Now, he’ll look to hold his highest position yet as he succeeds the outgoing Nyah Hamlett — and gets an early taste doing so, as he was named interim superintendent for the rest of June.
During his first day on the job, Trice joined 97.9 The Hill’s Andrew Stuckey on the “Speaking of Schools” segment Monday for an initial interview about his hire, his professional approach and top priorities for the Chapel Hill and Carrboro schools.
Below is a transcript of Trice’s conversation with Stuckey, which has been shortened from the full segment and lightly edited for clarity.
Andrew Stuckey: You’ve got a long background in school administration, both in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and in Wake County Schools. As you have reached this career milestone, was there a moment in which you thought for the first time, ‘I’d like to have that job?’
Rodney Trice: Well, I don’t know if there was a moment… certainly when you’ve been around the block like I have, I’ve had the opportunity to work with some great leaders. So, when the opportunity became available, it certainly piqued my interest. I lived in the community for almost 20 years. I’ve worked in the community for a little more than 12 years in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, so I kind of know the players. But at the same time, I think there’s a great opportunity to take a step back and begin to listen a bit more to our teachers, our parents, community members about their hopes and dreams for our community. I’m excited to get to that level of work.
Stuckey: One of the obvious questions here is in what ways will your goals and visions be different from your predecessors. But I wanted to ask that through the lens of your background has an expertise in equity work, and specifically, working for the district’s Office of Equity and Engagement. Knowing that that was one of Dr. Hamlett’s priorities as well, will there be a different approach — generally speaking, but in that field specifically?
Trice: I think the way I would address that [topic] is… I was very much a part of the development of our strategic plan. I believe in our strategic plan, and we certainly have goals and metrics that we’d love to meet as the strategic plan unfolds over the next course couple of years. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have my own ideas about what is possible for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, and what would take us to the next level. Innovation in our curriculum is something that I’m very interested in. Post-secondary graduation options for students is something I’m very interested in, that aren’t necessarily articulated in our plan but I know that our community is very much interested in. And so, I look forward to diving into those topics and others in the near future.
Stuckey: One of the things that you want to focus on is listening to the teachers, which I particularly appreciate as a former classroom teacher. When I hear administration talk about listening to teachers directly, listening to the community, one of my mantras when I was teaching was I always felt like every decision should be made through the lens of what’s best for the students. When you think about your goals as the superintendent and what kind of district you want to be leading, what does that look like? Listening is obviously a pillar of that — but how does that listening get applied and what are some of the other things that you look to be implementing as you go forward?
Trice: So, my leadership is from the classroom [outward], not the central office down. It really does focus on elevating the voices and experiences of our teachers. To me, it’s a very simple equation. If our teachers aren’t taken care of, then our students aren’t taken care of. I want to take a step back and just be sure that I don’t bring some preconceived notion of what it looks like to receive teacher voice and input. I want to take some time to be in space with teachers and really understand what they need to be heard and to be seen, and then develop a plan on how to move forward.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Superintendent Rodney Trice with 97.9 The Hill’s Andrew Stuckey in the Chapel Hill Media Group studios on Monday, June 9, 2025. (Photo by the Chapel Hill Media Group.)
Stuckey: What else? Obviously, it’s day one, you’re kind of being shepherded around, some other things [are going on]. But when you sit down and you’re like, ‘This is what I want to do going forward here,’ what are your immediate priorities as superintendent?
Trice: That’s a great question — I think continuing the work to make sure that our district is on sound fiscal standing is very much at the forefront of my mind. The last five years, we’ve lost just [more than] a thousand students, lost revenue in the $8-9 million range. Continuing to do the work in partnership with our board and our community to make sure that we’re on sound fiscal standing is going to be important, because it limits everything else that we can do. The innovation [in curriculum] that I mentioned just a moment ago [is another]. Another thing is addressing chronic absenteeism that some of our students are experiencing, that is also playing out in other districts across our country. At the end of the day: if students aren’t in school, we can’t do a great job teaching them. And so, making sure that we have plans in place that communicate to our students, ‘You belong here, we want you here so that you can do the great things that we know that they can do.’
Stuckey: When we talk about the loss of students is a problem — like, from a fiscal standpoint and in some other ways from an educational standpoint as well — does it enter the district’s side at all about how to retain students more? Or is that [approach] just, ‘We are at the whimsy of the way that the community plays out, whether or not there are going to be students here to have.’ Is that something the district thinks about at all, or is it just something that — inherently — you have to just react to?
Trice: A little of both actually. There are things that we can do in our schools that promote a sense of belonging and connectedness. What we know about students is those who experience high absence rates most often don’t feel connected. When I talk about curriculum innovation or pathways that lead to additional post-secondary option, those are the types of things that get kids excited about coming to school. If our only pathway is a pathway to the four-year university, then we’re not speaking to the breadth of our student body. But we also have to acknowledge that we’re kind of at the whims of birth rates. They’re just not as many 5-year-olds to 17-year-olds in our community now than there was five or six years ago. And so maybe some relationship-building [with the area] is something we can kind of focus on as well.
Stuckey: We’ve heard a lot about your professional path. Is there anything that you think folks should know about you personally, as you go into this this new role?
Trice: At the end of the day, I’m a family man. I value time with my family and I think those are the types of morals and values that our community appreciates. If you are walking up and down Franklin Street on a Saturday morning or attending a ball game, it’s families at the center. If you’re interested in what drives me, that’s what is at the center.
Stuckey: Do you get any feeling when you hear that superintendent title now in front of your name? Does it get a reaction out of you, or are you getting used to it?
Trice: Well, it’s an honor. I’ve said in a number of communications: I really see this as service. I’ve lived in this district almost 20 years. Both of my daughters have come up through the district. My wife and my careers have been shaped by the district. The reaction is that… I just want to get up and serve as much as I can, just to make sure that — not only for my children, but for all of our kids — we’re doing the best that we can do in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.
I really look forward to the coming weeks and months. One of the biggest mistakes that I could make coming into this role is to assume that I have all perspectives. Like I said, I’ve lived here for a while, but I do want to take a step back and make sure we create time and space for students, staff, parents, community members, to talk about their hopes and dreams that they have for the system.
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