Support coalesced for Earnest Winston’s firing in ‘past week or two,’ says CMS board chair
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CMS Superintendent fired by school board
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education voted 7-2 on Tuesday to fire Superintendent Earnest Winston, effective immediately. Here’s everything you need to know.
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The previous few weeks have been nothing short of agonizing for Elyse Dashew.
The chair of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education told The Charlotte Observer in an exclusive interview there’s no other way to describe the bedlam surrounding the decision to fire Superintendent Earnest Winston.
“It’s agonizing because I have so much respect for him,” Dashew said. “At this point in time, what this district needs is a different leader with a different skill set.”
During an emergency meeting Tuesday, CMS’s board voted 7-2 to immediately terminate Winston’s contract. The board named Scott McCully, the district’s chief compliance officer, acting superintendent until interim superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh, who served in the same role in 2011, takes the reins.
“This came up as part of his annual evaluation process,” Dashew said. “Different board members got to this conclusion at different times. But it’s really been in the past week or two that the board (came to) this decision, and that it needs to happen and needs to happen now.”
Dashew said the majority of the board felt it would be better to act quickly, likening it to ripping off a Band-Aid.
“Once the board reached consensus, there was a sense that we needed to act sooner rather than later,” Dashew said, “because for (Winston to) continue out the year seemed unhealthy for the district.”
Winston will receive $576,800 over two years paid in monthly installments. He did not attend Tuesday’s meeting.
In a statement at the meeting and to the Observer, Dashew praised Winston for his leadership during COVID-19.
“He navigated us through the pandemic safely,” Dashew said. “He never gave up, even when veteran superintendents were throwing in the towel. I have nothing but admiration for how he guided us through.”
Dashew she would like to see a community advisory group participate in the search for the next permanent superintendent.
“I believe that we can and we will recruit the best talent in the nation to become the superintendent of CMS,” she said, adding that the interim superintendent will give the district time to “stabilize things.”
This story was originally published April 19, 2022 at 1:41 PM.
