CMS wants to build housing in front of Garinger High. Teachers say ‘no thanks’

Educators at Garinger High School say they’re frustrated about 138 rental units for CMS staff planned for the school’s property as part of the “At Home in CMS” initiative.

The 7.32-acre plot, which the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ Board of Education leased to Innovative Housing Solutions Foundation at its May 26 meeting, sits between Eastway Drive and Garinger’s front entrance, filled with an array of tall, lush cryptomeria trees.

Lucy Rice, a social studies teacher at Garinger, said she was aware of the district’s commitment to building homes for educators, given its mention in prior retention surveys. Yet, she felt like Garinger staff received a last-minute notification about the decision.

CMS leadership met with Garinger staff on May 26, the same night the board voted to lease the school’s land, and again on June 4 “to share information, answer questions and gather feedback,” according to a statement from Tom Miner, CMS’ assistant communications officer. Rice said this gave staff no time to register for public comment at the May 26 board meeting — public comment sign-ups closed at 5 p.m. the previous day.

Teachers who spoke to the Observer expressed disapproval with the district’s inability to attend to other ongoing issues at the high school and concern about how this might affect the character of land with a historic landmark designation.

Lauren Zuppo, another social studies teacher at Garinger, said she worries about how this construction will look to the community and the students. She expressed concern about the “optics” of pushing this plan forward while issues with other “basic amenities” at the school go unaddressed. Both she and Jen Bourne, an English educator at Garinger, cited malfunctioning air conditioning and heat in classrooms.

“You are coming into a community that is historically protected, which is why some of the things that need to be done on campus have not been done, and you are putting something new in a place where you have not been able to maintain what is already there,” Bourne said.

The timeline to today

An April 2024 document officially proposed a “teacher village,” although no specific schools were offered as potential sites. The proposal stipulated that the “board must declare property as surplus” before CMS could lease it for the project.

Garinger was listed as one of four “narrowed focus sites” in a May 2024 proposal of potential sites. It was described as a “large site,” meaning it offered more than 7 acres and scored high in access to amenities, including transit, grocery stores and medical offices.

Other “large” CMS sites up for final consideration included Julius L. Chambers High School and E.E. Waddell High School, which offered 33.55 and 29.36 acres, respectively. However, Garinger outscored these other two locations in terms of access to amenities.

“Site selection was based on a combination of factors aligned to educator feedback, including access to amenities, transportation and overall suitability for a residential community,” the statement from Miner said.

Garinger’s 7-acre plot was designated “surplus” at a June 24, 2025, board meeting. The next day, CMS posted a solicitation document for the project, with Garinger’s address listed as the location, which opened it to bids from construction companies.

Unanswered questions

Rice, Bourne and Zuppo all questioned why other CMS surplus properties, especially those with more land, were not chosen for this project.

Rice worries about the decision to build in “a rapidly gentrifying area.” She said building at Garinger could affect traffic on Eastway Drive and East Sugar Creek Road. The land currently serves as a buffer between the school and the busy Eastway Drive, Bourne added.

Bourne said she thinks Garinger was chosen because the district views the high school as “a path of least resistance.”

In December, CMS conducted community engagement work "to better understand educator priorities and perspectives” including six focus groups and more than 100 written responses. According to the statement from Miner, these efforts included representation from Garinger High School.

Bourne and Rice also expressed concern about building on a historic landmark. Garinger’s land parcel was declared a Mecklenburg County historic landmark in a December 2007 ordinance. The ordinance includes buildings and “all original landscape features and the parcel of land listed under Tax Parcel Number 093-042-51.” Renowned architect A. G. Odell, Jr. designed the school in the Modernism style, and some buildings still retain their original character.

Leasing the surplus land does not remove this 7-acre plot from its inclusion in the historic landmark-designated tax parcel, said John Howard, the historic preservation manager of the Mecklenburg County Historic Landmarks Department. The “surplus” designation also does not affect the process developers must go through to get a permit for construction at historical landmark sites.

Miner claimed development on these 7 acres “does not impact any historic landmark-designated portion of the Garinger campus.”

Meeting the needs?

But there is a need for more affordable housing.

CMS Chair Stephanie Sneed said in May that educators must make about $63,000 to afford a one-bedroom apartment in Charlotte; in contrast, CMS’ starting teacher pay is about $48,000. According to a May release, 43% of surveyed CMS educators said housing may impact their decision to continue working for the district.

Rice and Bourne agreed on the importance of housing assistance for teachers but neither think the teacher village is the solution.

Data from a survey sent to teachers about housing initiatives shows 57% of respondents are interested in home purchasing. Only 30% displayed interest in home rentals.

Rice said the project feels more like the district is doing things “to Garinger” and “to teachers” rather than for them. She said doesn’t think the district has thought through how a project like this will impact students, Garinger educators and a historic landmark property.

In May, Liz Monterrey Duvall acknowledged the outstanding concerns of educators at Garinger. She said the implementation of the teacher village will not negate requests to fix other things around the school.

Construction mock-ups, fundraising and permitting for the teacher village will take place across this and next year with hopes to break ground in 2027.