PENDER COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) – As student enrollment continues to climb across Pender County, school district leaders are turning to the community to help shape the future of local classrooms, facility needs and attendance boundaries.

Pender County Schools is launching a public feedback campaign next week, featuring an online survey and two upcoming community forums. The district is partnering with North Carolina State University’s SchoolCAMP and OREd teams to provide independent technical support and data analysis throughout the planning process.

Community Priorities Survey

The Pender County Schools Community Priorities Survey will give residents a platform to highlight the challenges they want the district to address, the values that should guide future planning, and the factors leaders should consider when redrawing school lines or planning new construction.

The survey runs from Monday, Sept. 7 through Friday, Sept. 18.

Parents, staff and community members can take the survey by clicking here. It can also be found on the Pender County Schools website.

The district said SchoolCAMP staff will combine and summarize individual responses for the Pender County Board of Education. Names and identifying details will remain confidential, and email addresses will be collected solely to prevent duplicate entries.

Community Forums

In addition to the survey, the district will host two in-person public forums to share growth data and gather direct community feedback.

Both forums will begin at 6 p.m. at Topsail High School on the following dates:

• Tuesday, Sept. 29
• Thursday, Nov. 19

For those unable to attend in person, both meetings will stream live on the Pender County Schools YouTube channel.