CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education voted Tuesday on whether to relocate some kids to new schools next year.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is looking at changes to its assignment policy and updating school attendance boundaries for the 2025-26 school year. The district is still reviewing phase one of this plan.
The four projects included in phase one would impact creative and visual arts schools, expand the Montessori program, improve school buildings, and expand the early college program. Here's how the board voted on the projects Tuesday night:
- Project 1 PASSED: University Park Creative Arts and First Ward Creative Arts will get a newly assigned attendance boundary that will be adjusted to Bruns Avenue Elementary School.
- Project 2 PASSED: The current Marie G. Davis K-5 recommended attendance boundary will be adjusted to Dilworth Elementary. Current Marie G. Davis 6-8 students' recommended attendance boundary will be adjusted to Sedgefield Middle School.
- Project 3 PASSED: Dorothy J. Vaughan Academy of Technology and Parkside Elementary will become one attendance boundary. All students will attend school in the current Parkside facility. Vaughn students will also receive a STEM-based education.
- Project 4 FAILED: All current middle colleges (Cato, Harper, Levine, Merancas) would have transitioned to early colleges, adding ninth and 10th-grade students to all programs.
The board will move on to phase two, which includes updating the school enrollment process.
Earlier this month, some parents and caregivers spoke up at the public hearing where they asked the board to reconsider the proposed changes for the 2025-2026 school year.
One of the biggest concerns was the proposal to merge Marie G. Davis with Dilworth Elementary School. Critics on the board were worried the move will only worsen overcrowding issues.
Right now, Dilworth Elementary School is already over its suggested capacity of 560 students, but a merger would bring that up to 740 students according to the school district.
There are also concerns about enough staffing to accommodate school reassignments and some of last night’s speakers worry some campuses don’t have enough parking spaces.
From overcrowding to preserving historic schools, they encouraged the board to think beyond just the next school year.
"Dilworth Elementary and Marie G. Davis School communities have undergone a lot of change," CMS parent Catie LeCompte said. "How are we setting us up for stability versus disruption? Please consider planning for the next five to 10 years, not the next 12 months."
The school district’s $2.5 billion bond package that passed last year is paying for some new and bigger schools.
Some speakers at the last meeting said they wanted the board to wait until those schools are built.
"I encourage the board to adopt the second option but change the wording so it doesn't take effect until the new school is open," another CMS parent, Frank Hostetter, said.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools also previously scrapped a plan that would move its PACE program from Waddell to Garinger High School. The program is geared at helping high school students who are new to the country, but CMS decided that while moving it to Garinger could offer more resources for students, it was too late to make the move this school year.
"We're not going to disrupt students during the middle of the year," Superintendent Crystal Hill said. "So if we didn't do it now, before the beginning of the school year, families would expect not to see any change until next school year."
Contact Destiny Richards at drichards5@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram. Contact Richard DeVayne at rdevayne@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.