This week: Chat with CMS superintendent or talk about new one

If you want to chat with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ current superintendent or weigh in on what her successor should be like, this is your week.

Ann Clark, whose contract runs through June 2017, will hold her first “coffee and conversation” session of the new school year from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Wednesday at Lake Wylie Elementary, 13620 Erwin Road. It’s a chance for anyone interested to ask questions and get an update on such topics as the school board’s ongoing student assignment review, which is currently focused on the magnet program.

McPherson & Jacobson, the search firm helping the school board find a new leader, will hold three meetings to hear what people are looking for in the next superintendent. Those sessions, all from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in school auditoriums, are:

▪ Monday at West Charlotte High, 2219 Senior Drive.

▪ Tuesday at South Mecklenburg High, 8900 Park Road,

▪ Wednesday at North Mecklenburg High, 11201 Old Statesville Road, Huntersville.

If none of that works, there will be more opportunities.

Clark holds periodic coffee chats around the district – the next is Sept. 19 at McClintock Middle School – and MeckEd will hold more sessions to talk about the search from Sept. 19 to Sept. 29.

The school board’s contract with McPherson & Jacobson calls for the firm to do three public forums, as well as small-group interviews with CMS staff, parents and leaders of the faith, business and nonprofit communities. Ross Danis, president of the nonprofit MeckEd, said his group volunteered to host 12 additional sessions to increase the chance that everyone who’s interested can find a convenient time and location.

“The information we gather will be made available to the (school board) and the search firm,” he said. “More importantly, it will be made public and will enable the general public to assess the match between what they seek in a superintendent and the finalists selected by the Board of Education.”

Elyse Dashew, vice chair of the school board, said reports from all sessions will reach the board, whether they’re hosted by MeckEd or the firm.

“The goal is to get feedback from all over the county and to make sure more voices have a chance to be heard,” she said.

MeckEd is also conducting an online poll about the superintendent search at www.mecked.org.

For more about the search, go to www.cms.k12.nc.us/boe/superintendentsearch

This story was originally published September 11, 2016 at 2:00 AM with the headline "This week: Chat with CMS superintendent or talk about new one."