Trustees hike tuition for out-of-state students CHAPEL HILL -- The UNC-Chapel Hill board of trustees unanimously agreed Thursday to increase tuition for all students except in-state undergraduates.

Chancellor James Moeser said the tuition increase -- $1,250 for out-of-state undergraduates and $800 for out-of-state graduate students -- is needed to cover the cost of educating those students.

In-state graduate students will pay an extra $400.

Before the vote, the board heard from several students who asked for a more predictable tuition increase schedule and said they had not budgeted for a tuition hike.

"$1,250 is a fair number, but it's hard for students to take because they were not expecting it," said Eve Carson, student body president.

Mike Winters, a senior from Cincinnati, said such an increase might cause hardships for families.

"It's not fair because we can't budget for increases that are not easy to predict," he told the board.

Tuition will not increase for in-state undergraduates because of a UNC system Board of Governors policy tying increases for that group to state appropriations. The legislature increased appropriations to UNC-Chapel Hill by 14.7 percent, making the university ineligible for an in-state undergraduate tuition increase next year.

-- Leah Friedman, 932-2002; leah.friedman@nando.com.

Commissioners reopen search for waste site

HILLSBOROUGH -- The Orange County Board of Commissioners heard the first round of public comment Thursday on the newly reopened search for a trash transfer station site.

Several area residents and other community members addressed the board, thanking its members for reconsidering the proposed location on Eubanks Road near the county's current landfill.

The transfer station would be a point where garbage trucks would drop trash to be loaded and shipped to another county. The location decision in March was met with public outcry by residents of the nearby Rogers Road area, a predominantly black neighborhood of modest homes. They said they've borne the burden of the community's trash for more than 30 years and want the transfer station to go somewhere else.

Some commissioners have said social justice concerns motivated the reconsideration. "It is important that the new search be perceived by citizens as fair," said area resident Neloa Jones.

-- Samuel Spies, 932-2014; samuel.spies@nando.com

Chatham County school leader will leave job

PITTSBORO -- A week after Chatham County voters defeated a land-transfer tax that would have helped pay for new schools, the county's schools superintendent has resigned.

According to a news release, Ann Hart is "retiring" halfway through her four-year contract to become the director of the Eastern Division for the Advancement via Individual Determination program in Atlanta.

Her last day is Dec. 31.

Hart, 55, did not return calls last week. But in the release, she said she was honored to have been a part of the accomplishments and challenges in the Chatham County Schools.

School board Chairman Norman Clark praised Hart for creating strategic and facilities management plans but also said she was not meeting her goals.

Hart, who earned $179,872, had her evaluation in September, Clark said. The board did not vote on whether to extend her contract, he said. She also did not receive a bonus because a majority of her goals had not been met, he said.

Those goals included increasing the county's test scores and decreasing the number of dropouts, Clark said.

-- Leah Friedman, 932-2002; leah.friedman@nando.com.