A planned career-and-college-prep charter school in Pittsboro just got pushed back for a second time, with state regulators approving a delay that moves its opening from 2027 all the way to fall 2029. The N.C. Charter Schools Review Board voted 7-2 on Monday to sign off on the extension for Granite Charter Academy, which is planning a campus in Chatham County after receiving approval in November 2024.
According to the Raleigh News & Observer, Granite was originally approved by the Review Board in 2024 with a scheduled opening during the current school year. Staff in the state's Office of Charter Schools had already granted one delay, pushing the opening to 2027, before the school came back this week asking for two more years. Board member Rita Haire was one of two who voted against granting the additional delay, per the newspaper's account.
Granite's board chair, Holly Fracarro, told the board the school had spent more than a year looking for a location before landing a deal that should help its bottom line. Developer Ashton Woods, one of the major builders working in Pittsboro, is providing Granite with a 28-acre parcel, and the school says the arrangement will significantly reduce its construction costs. Fracarro, who also serves as president of the Home Builders Association of Durham, Orange and Chatham Counties, said public schools are not being built at the rate the region's growth demands.
A Campus Built for Chatham County's Boom
Once built, the Pittsboro campus is meant to eventually serve up to 1,500 K-12 students, drawing from across Chatham County as well as neighboring Durham, Orange and Wake counties, since any student in North Carolina may apply. Board member Lindalyn Kakadelis said Chatham County would welcome a school that doesn't require a bond package to get built, the News & Observer reported. The county's explosive growth factored into the board's reasoning: the 8,500-acre Chatham Park development along U.S. 15-501 is expected to bring thousands of new residents to the area in the coming years.
That growth pressure isn't just anecdotal. At a March joint meeting between the Chatham County Board of Education and county commissioners, officials discussed enrollment projections, land-use trends and school capacity, according to the Chatham Journal. District officials identified roughly 51 developments far enough along to be considered likely, representing 10,000 to 11,000 residential units not yet started — even as the district's own forecasting partner was off by about 1.49% on its month-one enrollment projections.
Trades, Nursing and College Prep Under One Roof
Granite's pitch centers on blending career and technical education with a path to college. Board member John Eldridge said Chatham County needs a school that prepares students for skilled jobs that don't require a four-year degree, the News & Observer reported. Potential skills students might learn include building trades, culinary arts, nursing and environmental systems, with the school intending to partner with local businesses, colleges and other organizations to deliver that training.
Charter schools are taxpayer-funded but exempt from some of the rules that govern traditional public schools, a structure that gives them flexibility on things like curriculum and staffing but also means they answer to the state's Charter Schools Review Board rather than a local school board. A 2024 report from Yahoo News noted that Granite would become Chatham County's fourth charter school, joining a statewide field of more than 200 charter schools operating that year.
A Pattern of Delayed and Struggling Charter Openings
Granite's repeated timeline slips aren't happening in isolation. Over the five years before a recent report, only about 26% of new North Carolina charter schools met or exceeded their enrollment projections, the News & Observer has reported separately. Of the 12 new charter schools that missed the state's 75% enrollment guideline during that stretch, just six remained open — four never opened at all, and two had their charters revoked outright.
Enrollment shortfalls have had real consequences elsewhere in the state. Four of seven North Carolina charter schools hoping to open this past fall were deemed not ready by the Office of Charter Schools, according to EdNC, because all four had enrolled less than 75% of their projected student counts — a benchmark tied directly to a school's financial viability. In Guilford County, Triad International Studies Academy opened with just 45 students before the Review Board voted to revoke its charter in October 2025, and the school shut down less than two months after it opened.
Granite's own promotional website still tells prospective families to expect an August 2027 opening, a date that now conflicts with this week's Review Board approval pushing things to fall 2029. Under state law, charter schools can qualify for an automatic extension to the next school year if they notify the Review Board by June 30 that they're still seeking land-use or development approvals for their chosen site, according to the relevant section of North Carolina's general statutes.
