The interim CMS superintendent is a familiar face to Charlotte
The new interim superintendent for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will bring something different to the job — experience.
Multiple sources told the Editorial Board this morning that former interim CMS superintendent and chief operating officer Hugh E. Hattabaugh will be named the new interim superintendent after the Board of Education terminates the contract of current superintendent Earnest Winston today.
As local news outlets reported Monday, Winston was given two choices: resign or be fired. He did not resign, and the school board will hold an emergency meeting to terminate his contract. According to WBTV, tensions between Winston and the school board had been high for months, and the superintendent has rebuffed multiple requests to resign.
Hattabaugh, who currently lives in Florida, will serve a one-year term as interim as the school board conducts a national search for Winston’s replacement, according to sources. Hattabaugh was COO for CMS from October 2008 through June 2011, when he replaced departing superintendent Peter Gorman, who resigned to work in the private sector. Hattabaugh came to the district as an area superintendent for the North Learning Community in July 2007 from Little Rock, Ark., where he had been a deputy superintendent.
Hattabaugh is well known and respected in CMS and national education circles, but it’s uncertain what he’ll face as the interim leader. At a minimum, he will have to navigate uncertainty surrounding the school board — six of the nine board members are up for reelection in 2022, and those incumbents are vulnerable in the face of a dissatisfied public.
Repairing that trust will be among Hattabaugh’s biggest tasks. CMS has been challenged by deep issues: persistent achievement gaps, the COVID-19 pandemic, Title IX concerns and weapons in schools. As the Editorial Board wrote today, many of those problems did not start with Winston, and the challenges facing CMS and many school districts won’t end with his departure.
This story was originally published April 19, 2022 at 11:14 AM.