CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Four Charlotte magnet schools are reverting back to a normal class schedule after experimenting with a year-round calendar for several years.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education voted on the change Tuesday. More than 1,700 students, employees and their families will be impacted by the switch. The transition back to a normal schedule was made after a consensus was reached that the Continuous Learning Calendar (CLC) wasn't providing any real academic benefits to students.
"I understand why the CLC was voted in five years ago, it makes perfect sense on paper," said one parent. "We just haven't seen any academic gains from it. Reading is level to traditional schools at best, and then math is far lower."
As of now, four schools in west Charlotte use the CLC: Bruns Elementary, Walter G. Byers, Thomasboro Academy and Druid Hills Academy.
The change will go into place for the 2019-20 school year, but it's not as simple as just changing to a traditional calendar. The CLC is expensive to run, with an annual cost of about $830,000, plus teachers and staff at the four schools will likely miss the July pay period as a result.
"I think our staff work extraordinarily hard for low pay and I think it's not kind of us to pull the rug out from under them at the last minute," said board member Carol Sawyer.
Superintendent Dr. Clayton Wilcox said in many cases, the employees at those schools are among the lowest paid in the whole district. Missing a pay period would be a huge blow to those families.
Wilcox said parents and staff members will learn more about the calendar change Wednesday.