CMS board votes 7-2 in favor of controversial south Charlotte schools plan
The south Charlotte boundaries vote was one of the most anticipated of 2023. Join The Charlotte Observer’s Anna Maria Della Costa and CMS board members Summer Nunn and Lisa Cline at noon on Wednesday for live-streamed conversation about the south Charlotte boundaries vote.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education on Tuesday voted 7-2 to approve new attendance lines in south Charlotte — an issue that’s been the centerpiece of protests and public anger for months.
The vote will move students from dozens of schools starting in the 2024-2025 school year to make way for a new middle and high school coming to the south Charlotte area. The vote Tuesday was met with disappointment from most of the parents who spoke during the meeting.
The map approved Tuesday didn’t change from Superintendent Crystal Hill’s recommendation last month. Of the more than 70 speakers representing various neighborhoods, the majority spoke out against Hill’s plan. Parents packed the chambers in the Government Center and held up signs.
After the vote and as amendments failed, parents stormed out of the meeting.
“Perfection cannot be the enemy of progress,” board vice chair Stephanie Sneed said. “While things are not perfect, we cannot allow lack of perfection to not move us forward. Tonight we’re moving forward with what we are thinking is best for the South County area as a whole.”
Board members who voted for the decision were Thelma Byers-Bailey, Elyse Dashew, Jennifer De La Jara, Melissa Easley, Sneed, Gregory “Dee” Rankin and Lenora Shipp.
“As a board member, we have to look at the entire district as a whole and I know this may be hard to see that but given all the many different communities and different populations to make the best decision as a whole,” Rankin said.
De La Jara, while voting for the plan, said she thought there were ways it could have been improved.
Members who voted against it were Lisa Cline and Summer Nunn, whose District 5 and 6, respectively, will be the most affected by the ruling.
“I asked our community now to think about our children as we move forward with these school changes,” Cline said. “Not to think of yourselves, or how school was yesterday, or when you were a student. But how we can best serve our children now, today and tomorrow.”
The two amendments raised Tuesday — one by De La Jara and another by Nunn — tried to make minor changes to the map. De La Jara’s would’ve affected some students who currently move from Sharon Elementary to Alexander Graham Middle and Myers Park High. Nunn’s would’ve affected about 20 students. Both were voted down.
The new high school is set to open in August 2024 at 12218 North Community House Road. The middle school is set to open the following school year in 2025.
Parents since last year have railed against parts of the plan that they say negatively impact their neighborhoods. On Tuesday night, many wore green in solidarity and protest over families in Polo Ridge Elementary now being forced into both new relief schools.
Other parents were upset over split feeders and longer bus rides to school. Some of the speakers were children, who say they will be torn away from friends because school assignments will change.
For more information or to see how you could be affected, visit the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools website.
This story was originally published June 6, 2023 at 11:50 PM.
