CMS to unveil first draft of new magnet assignment policy Monday | Charlotte Observer

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board committee will review the first draft of a revised magnet school assignment plan Monday, a major step in a review that has been going on for more than a year.

The board plans to classify students as high, medium or low socioeconomic status, based on family income, parents’ education level, single-parent status, home ownership and English proficiency. It will then use those ratings to revise busing options and the admission lottery in hopes of breaking up concentrations of disadvantage and making magnets more diverse.

Students assigned to persistently low-scoring neighborhood schools will get priority for admission to magnets and transfers to higher-scoring neighborhood schools with space.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools staff working on the draft policy plan to post it on the district’s policy committee page before Monday’s meeting.

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Proposed changes will go before the full board in October, with a public hearing that month. The board expects to vote in November for changes that take effect with the January 2017 magnet lottery.

In the coming weeks, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools staff, consultants and board members will start work on possible changes to neighborhood schools and boundaries, taking effect as soon as 2018-19.

Also this week, Superintendent Ann Clark will hold a public meeting to field questions on any topic, and MeckEd will continue a series of public forums to hear what people want from her successor. Clark’s contract expires in June 2017, and the board has launched a national search.

Here’s what’s on the schedule:

Policy committee

▪ Meets at 4 p.m. Monday in room 267 of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, 600 E. Fourth St. The meeting is open to the public.

▪ To see the proposed policies: www.cms.k12.nc.us/boe/Pages/Policy-Committee.aspx

Coffee with Clark

▪ Clark will hold a “coffee and conversation” session 5:30-7 p.m. Monday at McClintock Middle School, 1925 Rama Road.

Superintendent search forums

MeckEd forums all run 6-6:50 p.m.

▪ Monday at the University City Regional Library, 301 E W.T. Harris Boulevard.

▪ Tuesday at Project 658, 3646 Central Ave.

▪ Wednesday at South Regional Library, 5801 Rea Road.

▪ Thursday at West Regional Library, 2157 West Boulevard.

▪ Friday at Assurance United Methodist Church, 9700 Mount Holly-Huntersville Road.

For a schedule of next week’s search forums and an online survey about the search: www.mecked.org

For more about the search: www.cms.k12.nc.us/boe/superintendentsearch