Tensions rise among CMS board members over contract controversy
After new state data showed substantial academic gains, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education members defended a six-figure consulting contract Tuesday that raised questions earlier this year about family connections to the district.
CMS renewed a contract with education consulting firm SYDKIMYL this summer after the previous $500,000 contract prompted questions from some board members. The new contract, which runs from Aug. 25, through Jan. 30, 2026, is for $180,000 — below the $250,000 threshold that would require board approval.
Some board members have questioned whether the contract was the best use of the district’s funds and speculated about the company’s founder’s ties to an advisor to the CMS superintendent.
SYDKIMYL founder Kimberly McGregor attended Tuesday’s board meeting to talk about the successes her consulting firm has helped the district achieve as part of the partnership, including 10 of the 12 middle schools the firm worked with exceeding state growth targets during the 2024-25 school year.
CMS Board Vice Chair Dee Rankin specifically applauded SYDKIMYL’s contributions to substantial academic gains the district made last year as seen in new state data.
“Your work has become talking points amongst candidates and even some board members, who question whether it’s fiscally responsible, but your work is needed,” Rankin said to representatives from SYDKIMYL at Tuesday’s board meeting.
What’s the controversy?
Kimberly McGregor is a former CMS counselor who provided coaching to educators at 12 CMS middle schools during the 2024-25 school year.
She is married to Raki McGregor, who served as the chief CMS executive-in-residence from 2022 until July. In that role, Raki McGregor had his own consulting contract with the district and served on Superintendent Crystal Hill’s cabinet as the district’s chief executive-in-residence from 2022 until July 31. He chose not to pursue another term but continues to hold a role within SYDKIMYL.
CMS previously told The Charlotte Observer that SYDKIMYL had partnered with the district since 2019, prior to Raki McGregor’s stint as chief executive-in-residence, and the contract was cleared by the district’s Office of General Counsel and Office of Compliance.
Three board members voted against the original contract in March: Melissa Easley, Summer Nunn and Lisa Cline.
Easley said she believed the money could be “used in ways that will provide more tangible and immediate benefits to our students,” such as hiring more school counselors and psychologists.
Easley, Nunn and Cline have also been the sole board members to vote against several other proposals, including the approval of this year’s budget.
Raki McGregor, who also serves as the board chair of Mecklenburg County’s workforce development board Charlotte Works, recently made waves by publicly supporting candidates for CMS school board before his tenure as a CMS consultant was up. One of the candidates, Charlitta Hatch, is running against Easley for the District 1 seat, while the other, Anna London, is running for the District 6 seat, which Nunn currently holds. Nunn has decided not to run for reelection.
McGregor said his decision about who to support in the upcoming November races have to do with who he feels is supporting, or not supporting, the current superintendent.
“I’ve been at almost every board meeting,” Raki McGregor told WFAE in August. “And there is a history that certain board members have had in not supporting the superintendent, who I think is doing a phenomenal job. Because of that dissonance, that I have exhausted myself to understand, I believe that it’s impacting our youth.”
Raki McGregor has been a longtime supporter of Hill, having previously penned a letter to the former school board during its superintendent selection process, urging members to select her for the job.
“There have been some rumors in the community and a media report about the final candidates and that one of them is Dr. Hill,” he wrote in an email to the board May 8, 2023, which The Observer obtained through public records. “I have worked on many teams and with many leaders, and she stands out as an extraordinary, intentional and values-driven leader. From my vantage point, I see that we are gaining traction in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and making real progress that will help our students succeed and our community prosper. I hope we can continue this forward motion without interruption under Dr. Hill.”
“It is governance”
Nunn took issue Tuesday with the notion that she’s not focused on student outcomes.
“Pressing for answers or questioning investments is not opposition. It is governance,” she said. “With limited resources, stewardship sometimes means me saying no or not now, especially when we’re waiting until we see the results to justify further investments.”
Easley also pushed back on the claims.
“I know it makes some people uncomfortable when I ask hard questions, but accountability isn’t optional – it is my duty,” she said in a Sept. 3 Facebook post. “I measure success not by whether consultants, insiders or local socialites are happy with me, but by whether our students, families and employees have what they need to thrive.”
Rankin shared his support of SYDKIMYL’s work in CMS.
“Thank you to SYDKIMYL specifically, because I know that there’s been a lot of scrutiny around you and what you do,” Rankin said. “And, the data show that your program and your organization is productive.”
CMS Board Chair Stephanie Sneed also alluded to people not being focused 100% on students, though she didn’t name names.
“Adult behaviors are barriers that we still have to overcome, every single one of us in here. Whether it’s from self-preservation, whether it’s to be divisive, whether it is to to divide. Check yourself,” Sneed said. “If you feel a little sting, that means I’m talking to you.”
She didn’t go into the specifics of what she meant by the remarks, but she did follow them up with praise.
“Partnerships with the Panthers, partnerships with the Hornets, career and technical education job fairs. I want to say thank you to our chief executive-in-residence, Raki McGregor, for pushing these initiatives forward and leading our other executives,” Sneed said. “With that being said, let’s go and be great and remember to check people. Is this about the children?”
