‘I don’t like the cover up’: CMS altered bond projects without telling the public, board

Less than three years ago, voters overwhelmingly approved the biggest school bond package in Mecklenburg County history — nearly $1 billion to build new classrooms, repair old buildings and relieve overcrowding.

But documents show that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools administrators last year scaled back plans or delayed construction of the three most expensive projects.

Following questions from the Observer, district leaders began investigating whether administrators ordered the changes involving hundreds of millions of dollars without telling the public and school board members and county commissioners, who are charged with overseeing how the money is spent.

District officials also were confronted last week when a volunteer on the district’s Bond Oversight Committee noticed discrepancies in monthly reports that CMS publishes and raised questions about what happened.

In 2017, the district pledged to spend $330 million — about one-third of the entire bond issue — to build three new high schools. The buildings would have 125 classrooms each, the district said.

But monthly bond reports, which provide updates to the projects and are compiled by the company overseeing the construction, LeChase Jacobs, say that CMS downsized high schools in west Charlotte and the Steele Creek area in southwest Charlotte to 100 classrooms.

CMS also has delayed a new high school planned for south Charlotte, the reports say, even though the project was touted as one of the district’s highest priorities during the run-up to the 2017 vote.

“I was like, ‘Wait a minute, what’s going on here?’” said Adrianne Johnson, who serves on the bond committee and questioned the district about the changes. “Nothing has ever been mentioned. It almost slid under the radar.”

Prior to the 2017 bond referendum, CMS put forth a list of projects that money would fund. CMS pledged to build the schools in the Steele Creek area and south Charlotte to relieve crowding, a chronic complaint in fast-growing parts of the city.

The district promised to replace West Charlotte High School with a new building because it is more than 60 years old.

Through a district spokeswoman, Superintendent Earnest Winston refused an interview request.

School board Chair Elyse Dashew said that construction plans for the high schools had not been finalized and that the board would need to approve any changes. Administrators will make a presentation to the full board in the near future, Dashew said.

But she acknowledged that changing course now could be difficult given that the district missed a deadline to start construction on the south Charlotte campus that would have allowed the building to open in 2023 as originally planned.

With construction slated to start in the spring, Dashew also said she did not know if the district would keep its original promise to build 125-classroom buildings in Steele Creek and west Charlotte.

Dashew said she also doesn’t know who authorized changes to the bond projects or when exactly they were made.

Mecklenburg County commissioners dole out money for the bond issue, determining each year how much to borrow for projects. Two commissioners said they were stunned recently when they learned CMS changed the projects without informing county leaders.

“They lied to us,” commissioner Vilma Leake said. “We have given them more money than they have ever had. It grieves me they would treat us and the community like we don’t matter.”

Will CMS keep promises to voters?

The overwhelming approval of the $922 million bond package in November 2017 — with 73% of voters supporting the measure — was widely seen as a vote of confidence in CMS.

Voters gave county officials permission to borrow money to build 10 schools, replace the buildings of seven existing ones and cover additions and renovations at 12 schools.

But sometime last year plans for the new high schools started to change, according to monthly bond project reports compiled by LeChase Jacobs in 2019 that the Observer reviewed.

The documents give district officials summary updates on construction financed with money from the school bond issue.

The September report says that high schools planned for west Charlotte and Steele Creek would be 100-classroom schools, a change from the original number of 125. The report gives no explanation for the change.

A December report said the new high school in south Charlotte would be completed in 2024 instead of the previously stated 2023.

The school board, which is responsible for overseeing the district’s spending, never discussed the issue in public, two school board members said.

School board member Sean Strain said he and other elected officials have not been told when the changes were made, who authorized them or why they were needed.

Strain said he has asked district officials for an explanation, but has yet to receive answers.

“I don’t know the basis for doing this,” said Strain, who represents District 6 in south Charlotte. “If I am a taxpayer, I have some questions. I want to know what’s going on.”

Strain said he wants to know why after four years, the district still hasn’t found a suitable site for the new high school in south Charlotte.

CMS tested soil in a park in the Olde Providence neighborhood last year, prompting vocal opposition from residents who said they want to preserve green space. CMS later suspended the soil testing.

“This is a big deal,” Strain said. “Two years into a seven-year school bond, projects are already behind or off budget.”

District spokeswoman Renee McCoy referred a reporter to Dennis Dreyer, chair of the district Bond Oversight Committee, an appointed panel of volunteers that makes recommendations to the school board about projects financed with bond money.

The rising price of real estate in south Charlotte has made it difficult for the district to find an affordable site for a new high school, Dreyer said.

Dreyer would not answer questions about plans for the new high schools in west Charlotte and Steele Creek, saying that information should come from the district.

He did say that CMS has made no final decisions about changes to bond projects.

Asked why monthly bond project reports show that the plans have altered, Dreyer said he did not know.

“I feel like (CMS officials) are keeping their promises” to the voters, Dreyer said. “I have a lot of faith in what CMS is doing. They are doing everything they can to deliver on these promises.”

Did CMS make a mistake?

Johnson, the Bond Oversight Committee member, said some voters who supported the referendum may now grow suspicious of CMS.

CMS has listed a new high school in south Charlotte as the fourth highest priority on a list of 51 capital needs.

Delaying construction means that students at Ardrey Kell and South Mecklenburg high schools — two of the biggest schools in the district — will continue to struggle with crowding, Johnson said.

In Steele Creek, some residents have complained that CMS might shrink the size of the 125-classroom high school planned for the area. A 100-classroom high school likely will not be enough to keep up with population growth, they said.

Johnson said she has served on the Bond Oversight Committee since May and no one mentioned changes to the planned high schools.

At a meeting last week, she voiced concerns about what happened.

“The questions I raised were not answered,” she said. “The silence speaks volumes. There are some serious pieces that need to be put together.”

Strain and two county commissioners said they now wonder whether CMS tried to make changes without drawing public attention to hide poor planning.

For example, Strain and others said, the district originally planned to build the high schools for the same price — $110 million — even though real estate in south Charlotte is more expensive than in west Charlotte and Steele Creek.

The district is building on property it already owns in west Charlotte and Steele Creek, but must acquire land to build in south Charlotte, raising the likelihood potential costs would be higher, officials said.

County commissioner Pat Cotham said it is outrageous that CMS would not tell parents about changes to the school bond projects that could directly affect their children.

“Problems are going to happen, but I don’t like the cover up,” Cotham said. “This is not good governing. This is a lack of transparency.”

This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 11:37 AM.