CMS sets 10-year high for guns in schools — just halfway into academic year
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Guns found in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
In the first few months of the 2021-22 school year, CMS has set a concerning new record for guns being brought to campuses.
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In the first three months of the current school year, Charlotte-Mecklenburg has already surpassed its previous 10-year high for the amount of guns on campuses.
The previous highs — 19 guns found or confiscated in the 2016-17 school year; 22 in the 2018-19 school year — are figures from complete years, based on annual reports from the school district to the N.C. Department of Instruction. The total of 19, as the Observer reported five years ago, was a decade-long high and now CMS is on track to have an even worse record this year.
By comparison, from the start of school in August to Dec. 13, 2021, a total of 23 guns have been found in CMS.
As the crisis was forming in public schools, CMS leaders were slow to spend millions of local taxpayer dollars specifically earmarked for beefing up security, a Charlotte Observer investigation published Wednesday shows. Go here to learn more about $9 million set aside for security spending in 2018 in public schools and what those funds were used on.
Concern about weapons in schools
The number of guns and other weapons in the hands of students during the school day has fluctuated some in recent years.
For example, three years ago (2017-18), there were a total of nine guns reported by CMS to state officials. During the 2020-21 school year, when students missed a large portion of normal class time, the district reported a total of six guns.
Superintendent Earnest Winston and others in Mecklenburg County are pleading with CMS families, as well as students, to help turn the tide of safety concerns and keep weapons out of the hands of children and teens.
This story was originally published December 15, 2021 at 10:30 AM.
