Police investigating claim against teacher

CHAPEL HILL -- Chapel Hill police are investigating an allegation that an East Chapel Hill High School teacher may have had sex with a student.

Juvenile investigator Joe DiCostanzo said he received a report from the Orange County Department of Social Services on Thursday that said someone had heard a teacher talking about having sex with a student.

He would not identify the accused female teacher.

He is encouraging the possible victim, a witness, the person who filed the complaint or anyone else with information to call the police.

Nancy Coston, director of Social Services, said Friday that she could not confirm or deny investigations involving Child Protective Services for legal reasons. In general, when her staff receives a report involving a teacher and a student, the department forwards the report to the district attorney and law enforcement for further investigation.

DiCostanzo also said that he didn't know the possible victim's age. If the student is 16 years old or older, many sexual offense charges would not apply.

"The lack of information is a bit concerning," DiCostanzo said. "Usually there's more detail -- a when, a where, a how, a how many times."

"What we know right now is they heard somebody talking about it," he added.

--Jessica Rocha, 932-2008; jessica.rocha@nando.com

County school board receives seven goals

HILLSBOROUGH -- A special committee laid out seven goals Monday for Orange County Schools to close the academic achievement gap between minority and white students.

The committee of two dozen educators, parents and community members had been meeting for a year at the direction of the school board before compiling the report.

The goals include increasing the number of minority students taking advanced classes, reducing the number of minority students assigned to exceptional-children classes and increasing the percentage of minority students who graduate and enroll in post-secondary education.

Graig Meyer, co-chairman of the committee, said the schools needs to work on building trust with parents of black and Latino students. "That is true in most districts with achievement gap," he added.

Selena Scott, committee co-chairwoman, said the group's research revealed a gap in communication between the community and the school district.

"This gap has widened. The school district needs to endorse an open-door policy," Scott said.

A copy of the report is available at the central office, 200 E. King St., Hillsborough.

The board decided to hold a meeting from 5 to 7 p.m. Dec. 10 to talk about the new goals in depth.

-- Cheryl Johnston Sadgrove, 932-2005; cheryl.sadgrove@nando.com

State plan moves up Chapel Hill's signals

RALEIGH -- Two of the Triangle's worst bottlenecks will be loosened by highway construction projects scheduled to start in 2010, according to plans released Wednesday by the state Department of Transportation.

Interstate 40 will be widened from four to six lanes between Wade Avenue and U.S. 1/64. An overstuffed I-540 off-ramp near Research Triangle Park also will be widened.

The draft of the State Transportation Improvement Program for 2009 through 2015 also calls for:

• Chapel Hill-Carrboro's computerized traffic signal system to be installed starting two years earlier than planned, in 2011.
• Construction on Durham's East End Connector, joining U.S. 70 and N.C. 147 to form a freeway link between north Durham and Research Triangle Park, to start in 2014, a two-year delay.
• Construction of twin river bridges on New Falls of Neuse Road, a project managed by the City of Raleigh, to begin in 2009, two years earlier than planned.

The four-mile stretch of I-40 in west Raleigh suffers from the Triangle's worst freeway congestion. It is the only four-lane section of I-40 between Orange and Johnston counties.

bruce.siceloff@nando.com