Back to (which) school?: CMS boundaries are being reshaped as county grows
Regina Farmer, like many Charlotte parents, examined nearby public schools when she chose the neighborhood her family lives in.
Farmer’s two teen daughters attended Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in the Myers Park High School zone beginning in kindergarten.
Although one of her daughters chose to attend Charlotte Catholic High School for reasons that included the size of Myers Park High — it’s one of the largest in North Carolina — Farmer has received the good fortune of her school zone remaining unchanged.
“We chose our neighborhood because we wanted them to go to the three specific schools,” Farmer said. “We were within walking distance. At the time we looked at test scores, friend groups and school experience.”
Farmer considers her family one of the lucky ones. In cities such as Charlotte, where the population grew by 31,381 people between 2020 and 2021, changes in student population force CMS to periodically update school boundaries. Even though CMS’ enrollment has been unstable — it declined in 2020-21 but projections show an increase this year — the district still has to accommodate growth in certain sections with new school construction.
It can be a headache for families who banked on sending their students to certain K-12 schools only to be told the street they live on is being reassigned.
“There was a big shift to Alexander Graham Middle in 2018-19,” Farmer said about the district’s massive student assignment plan proposed in 2017. The school board ultimately approved the proposal that saw boundary changes for 56 schools, new magnet programs for 11 schools and plans for four new schools, among others.
“We didn’t change schools, but (a lot of people) we knew did,” Farmer said. “They changed up the lines. It was hard on our friends.”
It’s CMS school board policy, member Jennifer De La Jara said, to reexamine school boundaries every six years. They take into consideration exceptional growth in certain areas, where magnets need to be placed or moved and where CMS needs to continue to diversify the composition of the schools.
“It can be challenging because typically few people enjoy change,” De La Jara said. “But rapid growth forces changes. Quite simply: some neighborhoods will have to move every time a new school is brought on board. My job as a school board representative is to acknowledge the families’ valid concerns and also explain the realities of what growth means.”
A trio of relief elementary schools will open for the 2023-24 school year as part of the $922 million bond referendum approved in 2017. CMS will hold an Aug. 9 public hearing after seeking input about the new boundaries for months.
The board is scheduled to vote on the boundaries at its Aug. 23 meeting.
CMS walks a tricky line
Families were willing to take on greater increases in their monthly housing costs compared with households without children for better schools, according to Housing Matters, an urban institute initiative. Officials tracked and analyzed thousands of family residential moves between 1999 and 2011.
But in cities like Charlotte, which landed in the top 10 for growth among metro areas in the nation between July 2020 and July 2021, schools assignments based on what neighborhood you live can change to accommodate specific areas where there’s growth.
“We try to keep neighborhoods together,” said Claire Schuch, CMS director of planning services. “Community input — via emails, phone calls, surveys, in-person and virtual meetings, etc. — is a crucial component of the boundary development process because this helps us understand the local environment and people’s experiences and preferences.”
Schuch says the school board has four main priorities for drawing boundaries: minimizing home-to-school distance, keeping feeder patterns intact, increasing income diversity and maximizing building utilization.
District officials visit the areas and look at traffic patterns and walkability. They also look at past, current and future enrollment, school growth trajectory and residential development in the area.
De La Jara says it’s a tricky, fine line. Sometimes, she says, Option A may produce shorter home-to-school distance times while decreasing socioeconomic diversity, while Option B will increase socioeconomic diversity but require longer drives.
“It’s our job to recognize the complexities of all of these factors,” De La Jara said, “and to make the best possible decision given the constraints that are sometimes out of our control, including the county-wide deficit of school buildings that exists.”
CMS buildings need facelifts
CMS released a first draft of the 2022-2031 Capital Needs Assessment in May. Dennis LaCaria, the director for facilities planning and real estate, said a well-executed plan means evaluating programs and student assignment boundaries.
A final version will be brought to board members in 2023, with projects on ballots the same year in a bond referendum.
CMS says it needs to tackle 125 projects at an estimated $5.3 billion price tag during the next decade, including replacing or renovating old buildings and relocating programs.
“Success will lead to improved student outcomes through improved classrooms and buildings; enhanced supports for staff; and greater opportunity for all,” LaCaria said, adding that all communities within the Charlotte area need to understand district changes sometimes can’t be avoided.
De La Jara agreed.
“Ideally, the seven municipalities are taking into consideration where they are approving diverse housing options because having pockets of poverty and pockets of hoarded wealth relegated to whole areas of town result in schools with disproportionate poverty and wealth,” she said. “Of course not always, but often this correlates with racial disparities.
“In short, we have segregated schools because we have segregated neighborhoods.”
Walking distance to Ballantyne
Ely’s daughter will be in kindergarten at Ballantyne Elementary School this fall. Ely’s family lives in a place that she calls a safe walking distance to the school. Other neighborhoods in the school’s attendance boundaries include Kingsley, Oakbrook and apartments in Bexley.
The family moved to Charlotte in October 2016, just one month after their daughter was born.
“We picked Ballantyne and the area we live in because of the school district,” Ely said. “It was a bonus that Ballantyne Elementary was in walking distance. Less than a mile from our home.”
Ely said her community is included in the newest reassignment proposal for Ballantyne Elementary. She addressed the school board on July 14, saying her family has the potential of “unfortunately” being rezoned so she wouldn’t be within a safe walking distance from a school.
Ely considers the fact her family lives less than a mile from their home and they don’t have to cross any major roads or heavy traffic areas to get to the school a “safe walking distance.”
“I really enjoy going on walks with my daughter, and it provides us time to have really good discussions about what’s going on in her school,” Ely said during the public comment portion. “We can discuss homework and friends and all types of different things.”
A new, 45-classroom elementary school at 11000 Beau Riley Road will provide much-needed relief when it opens in the fall of 2023 for Ballantyne Elementary along with Elon Park Elementary and Hawk Ridge Elementary. All three schools saw double-digit enrollment increases during the 2021-22 school year and are in need of help.
This relief school along with two other elementary relief schools in CMS will change school attendance boundaries. The proposed changes are expected to affect hundreds of students.
“I had no idea they would redraw lines that would potentially bus students who live in walking distance to one elementary school to a relief school several miles away,” Ely told the Observer. “My first thought was why would we want to bus kids to a different school when the current school is walkable? We do not have to cross any major roads or heavy traffic areas to get to Ballantyne Elementary. It is sad that we would choose busing our students instead of promoting and encouraging our students to get outside and walk.”
This story was originally published July 29, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
