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Plans to move most IB magnet students from Myers Park High and to relieve Eastover Elementary crowding by turning Dilworth Elementary into a neighborhood school won 5-3 approval from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board late Tuesday.
Both proposals drew impassioned support and opposition during four hours of public comment. Board member Joe White said he's read more than 5,000 e-mails on the student assignment controversy.
Board members were also deeply divided, with board chair Molly Griffin, vice chair Kaye McGarry and Larry Gauvreau forming a rare team to oppose both moves.
The elementary-school plan moves Dilworth's arts magnet to First Ward Elementary and reassigns some Selwyn Elementary students to the new Dilworth neighborhood school.
The high-school plan whittles Myers Park High's International Baccalaureate magnet to students who live in the school's zone, about 163 of 553 current magnet students. The rest would go to East Mecklenburg High or Harding High, though next year's seniors would be allowed to stay at Myers Park.
Some parents lauded the elementary-school plan as an opportunity to create three strong schools. Others called it expensive, divisive and disruptive.
Board member Trent Merchant said he agrees with numerous speakers who said the board's student assignment process needs fixing. But he and other members called Superintendent Peter Gorman's plan for Eastover the best available option.
"At the end of the day, I believe this does a good job of creating strong, viable schools that will be successful," Merchant said.
First Ward parent Deborah Albritton said her high-poverty, mostly black school has been sacrificed for more privileged schools, and urged the board not to approve the plan. "We've been forced into a power struggle, even though the odds are stacked clearly against us," she said.
And several Selwyn Elementary parents harshly criticized CMS staff for moving a small slice of that zone to the new Dilworth school. Parent Joe Moss accused officials of fraud for saying Selwyn is overcrowded.
Griffin called the plan "deeply flawed" and said it came at too high an expense to surrounding schools. Kimberly Mitchell-Walker was absent.
Griffin also decried the high-school plan: "I do not believe it will help East Mecklenburg in any significant way, and in the process we would be devastating one of the best academic programs in the nation."
Several Myers Park High students and parents raised similar themes.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," said student Derrick Flakoll.
Tom Tate introduced the motion, which sends IB magnet students in the Ardrey Kell and South Mecklenburg zones to East Mecklenburg, and those in the Olympic and Waddell zones to Harding. The change would be effective next school year, although Myers Park magnet students who will be seniors would be allowed to stay with transportation.
Tuesday's meeting caps three months of lobbying and activism by parents, students, faculty and homeowners who stand to be affected by changes in student assignment. Board members - five of whom will leave office after Tuesday's meeting - spent countless hours reading e-mails, meeting with community groups and looking at data and proposals.
