Mecklenburg County to release $56 million it withheld from CMS, resolving dispute
After a bitter funding dispute over racial equity in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously on Wednesday to release $56 million that it had previously withheld from the district.
Commissioners said they would also release an additional $17.2 million over the county’s original CMS allocation, and another $1 million to upgrade the district’s website.
The decision, which came as a result of a mediation process, brings closure to the conflict that began in June. Then, the county withheld $56 million from the district’s budget to encourage the district to improve racial equity in schools and to develop a plan to improve its lowest performing schools. Both boards have met twice in private mediation sessions on June 14 and 21.
Still, board chairman George Dunlap said the vote is just the beginning of a long-term effort to monitor the district and make its progress public.
The resolution will require the district to meet some new requirements. That includes publishing its school improvement plans on its primary website and attending two joint meetings a year with the county commissioners. It also requires the district to provide the county information “on the use of culturally responsive instruction.”
During Wednesday’s meeting, county commissioners said the agreement will give easier access to information that previously has not been available.
“We’re entitled to that information, but more importantly, we’re going to make that information available to you, the public,” Dunlap said. “You will know which schools are achieving and which schools are not achieving, and then it becomes your responsibility to hold the school board accountable.”
Controversial decision
The county’s decision in June prompted district representatives to push back, saying the decision would hurt children’s ability to learn, force layoffs and prevent the district from giving county-funded teachers pay raises. Withholding $56 million would have forced the district to operate without about 11% of the county’s $531 million appropriation to CMS, and about 3% of its total fiscal year 2021 budget.
“We are delighted to turn the page on this budget dispute. The children of Mecklenburg County need us to work together on their behalf,” Board of Education Chair Elyse Dashew said in a statement after the commissioners’ vote. “This kind of collaboration is key to making progress in addressing the systemic issues that challenge so many of our students.”
Vilma D. Leake, the District 2 representative and the commissioner who made the motion to withhold the money last month, said she doesn’t regret withholding the money, despite receiving some public backlash. She said the district owed the county the transparency that the resolution aims to secure.
“I’ll do it again,” she said, if she feels the district is not working to improve conditions in her district.
“Wake up,” Leake said, referring to people who criticized the withholding of funding. “We need you to be out here fighting for our children, and not worrying so much about the money.”
This story was originally published July 7, 2021 at 8:17 PM.
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