CMS Board of Education wants Earnest Winston out. How did superintendent get here?
Earnest Winston, the superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools, will likely have his contract terminated Tuesday after serving less than three years as the district’s leader.
Although the school board gave Winston a vote of confidence, a new contract and a 3% raise in February 2021, a series of problems involving Title IX violations, a rise in violence and weapons in schools and poor-performing students ultimately put Winston on the hot seat across the last several months.
Here’s a timeline of the events that led to this point:
▪ Last summer, CMS faced intense scrutiny related to how the district had handled previous reports of sexual assault and harassment on its campuses.
▪ In August and again in November, three CMS administrators (two principals, one assistant principal) were suspended after complaints about how they handled Title IX cases. The two principals and one assistant principal were reassigned to other positions within CMS without a deduction in salary.
▪ In November, Winston announced principals would no longer supervise sexual misconduct investigations.To do that, Winston added staff in its central Title IX office. The step came weeks after CMS faced intense scrutiny for months related to how the district has handled past reports of sexual assault and harassment on its campuses.
▪ In December, the Charlotte Observer reported CMS surpassed its previous 10-year high for the number of guns on campuses in only the first three months of the school year. The previous highs — 19 guns found or confiscated in the 2016-17 school year and 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. By comparison, a total of 23 guns were found in CMS facilities from the start of school in August to Dec. 13.
▪ In December, Winston announced an “all-hands-on-deck approach” to safety that included clear backpacks, meetings with high-ranking city and county officials, creating a team to implement a tool for middle and high school students to report incidents anonymously, doubling the number of random safety screenings in secondary schools and contacting screening equipment manufacturers about metal detectors and wands.
▪ On Jan. 6, Winston issued “an urgent message” to CMS families after three more firearms were found on high school campuses. He begged parents to have “tough conversations” about guns, other weapons and fights. He also warned parents and students that a student who brings a gun on campus “loses the opportunity to continue his or her education in a regular academic setting.”
▪ In January, parents, teachers, students and experts told the Observer parts of Winston’s plan to address violence and weapons on campuses were “reactive” and officials needed to be proactive. Students said CMS needs to help them “develop skills of conflict mediation and emotional mindfulness.” CMS plans to spend millions to add both employees and support programs, and increase the number of social workers, counselors and psychologists in schools.
▪ In January, CMS students trained on the “Say Something” Anonymous Reporting System. It launched Feb. 4 for grades 6-12.
▪ In March after CMS reported 25 guns found on campuses this school year, the district held a series of community listening sessions about safety on campuses.
▪ On March 28, Winston’s plan to distribute clear backpacks to high school students was indefinitely put on hold after a warning label about cancer-causing chemicals was found on many of the bags. CMS purchased 46,000 clear backpacks, with a total cost of $441,791, the Charlotte Observer previously reported.
▪ Last week, WFAE reported school board member Sean Strain called out Winston for ignoring the state’s truancy laws. In an email chain between Strain and Winston the Observer obtained, Strain requested attendance information on April 7, after a community member during a public comment section talked about attendance issues, the number of notifications sent this year as required by state law and the number of criminal complaints filed against the “parent, guardian or custodian” in the district this year. Violation of attendance laws is a misdemeanor in North Carolina.
▪ On Monday, the school board called an emergency meeting “related to Winston’s contract.” If board members vote to terminate him, Winston would get paid $576,000 over two years and have parts of his personnel file made public, a source has told the Observer. Two years remain on his contract. If he chooses to resign, a severance would be negotiated. If he’s fired, it wouldn’t be for cause, the source said.
This story was originally published April 18, 2022 at 6:55 PM.
