Members of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools board have doubts about a proposed hybrid model for some high school honors courses.

At Thursday’s school board meeting, Superintendent Neil Pedersen said the new model would expose a greater number of students to more challenging courses.

Under the hybrid model, teachers would teach honors and regular classes at the same time. Students would receive different reading assignments, homework, projects and tests, depending on which level of difficulty they sign up for.

While administrators touted examples from other districts where the deconstruction of gifted classes has led to gains for all students, many on the board questioned the implementation of the new program.

Mike Kelley, the newly-elected board chair, said for a differentiation program like the hybrid model to work, the district needs more time and training resources.

Administrative staff will incorporate the board’s comments into the proposal and bring it back for review at a later date.

Thursday night’s meeting was the first for new board members Michelle Brownstein and Joe Green, who were sworn in by Judge Joe Buckner. Greg McElveen was also sworn in to serve his first full term after being appointed last fall. Jamezetta Bedford was elected vice chair.