The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board Tuesday approved a partnership that will pump $55 million of private money into boosting performance at eight westside schools, and considered asking the county for $1 million to prevent dropouts at 11 other schools.

A contract with the philanthropic Project LIFT got a unanimous go-ahead with little discussion after a two-day school board retreat where it was the main topic. The plan calls for LIFT to pay the salaries of three administrators who will oversee West Charlotte High School and seven elementary and middle schools that feed into it. CMS will pay two additional staff members.

The five-year plan calls for private money to pay for teacher recruitment, summer programs, family services and possible year-round school, all to move the eight schools from the bottom on academic measures to near the top.

Denise Watts, a former CMS administrator who left to head Project LIFT, now becomes a zone superintendent working for CMS but paid by LIFT. She'll have power to hire new staff and reassign any who don't fit with project goals.

Board members said they've gotten questions about whether they're turning public schools over to a private group. Chair Ericka Ellis-Stewart said the school board retains "significant levels of oversight" over the LIFT schools.

CMS attorney George Battle III said it would be against the law for CMS to delegate operation of the schools, and the contract does not do that.

Budget workshop

In a budget workshop where no votes were taken, the board heard a plan to seek an extra $1 million from the county to expand the Communities in Schools dropout prevention program in 2012-2013.

That proposal is in addition to more than $30 million in additional spending that interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh pitched at a budget session this month. The largest part - $25 million to $30 million - would go toward 3 percent raises for all CMS employees. Some $4.4 million would go for more high school faculty.

The plans discussed Tuesday focused on raising the graduation rate, especially among the low-income and minority students who are least likely to earn diplomas now. "Seventy-four percent of our students graduating is not enough," Hattabaugh said.

CIS, a national program, lines up services and other aid for students in 44 of CMS' 170-plus schools. The extra million would add seven elementaries and two middle schools, plus expand the program at Martin Middle and Cochrane Collegiate Academy, which is converting from a middle school to a 6-12 school.

Amir Alexander, 15, a sophomore at Garinger High, told the board that even though his parents push education, he hadn't considered college until CIS took him on campus tours. "I didn't take my education seriously," he said.

CIS officials told the school board the group served 669 seniors last year, and 93 percent of them graduated. That number is not comparable to the 74 percent four-year rate, which starts tracking students when they enter ninth grade, because it only tallies students who made it to their senior year.