CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has hired Crystal Hill as its new superintendent of schools.
The announcement comes 13 months after the firing of Earnest Winston, who was fired in April 2022 after a series of controversies.
CMS, the second largest district in North Carolina and the 18th largest in the country according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), has been without a permanent superintendent since Winston was fired.
Since the departure of Winston, the district has been led by two interim superintendents: Former CMS superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh, who returned immediately after Winston's firing, and Hill, who took over the interim role on Jan. 1. When Hill took over the office, she became the first Black woman to lead the district.
On February 2023, the board unanimously approved a $48,500 contract with BWP & Associates to lead the district's search for a new superintendent.
The new superintendent will play a critical role in shaping the future of the school district including tackling student achievement, safety, enrollment, teacher recruitment and retention, school boundary changes, and an upcoming billion-dollar bond campaign.
Who is Crystal Hill
Hill previously served as the chief of staff for CMS starting in May 2022. In that role, she oversaw the Office of Strategy Management and Title IX for the district, according to her official district biography. She was responsible for the management of the superintendent's cabinet operations and acted as the liaison between the cabinet and the CMS Board of Education.
Hill began her 25-year-long career as a first-grade teacher in Guilford County Schools. She also held administrative roles in the Mooresville Graded School District and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.
Hill, who holds a doctorate in educational leadership from Gardner-Webb University, got her bachelor's degree in elementary education and master degree's in instructional technology from North Carolina A&T State University.
Community Reaction
Hill's appointment was met with mixed reactions from teachers and community members.
The Charlotte Mecklenburg Association of Educators released a statement supporting her hire, saying they looked forward to working with her.
"As you work to improve student achievement, our local also urges you to remember that student and staff wellness is the key to unlocking our students’ full potential and preparing them for lifetime learning, career opportunities, and success," CMAE President Amanda Thompson-Rice said.
However, some people are critical of Hill staying in the superintendent's chair, especially since they paid more than $48,000 for a national search just to hire from within.
School board members defended their search.
"We, as a board looked at what we had done in the past, and we, I can say, with confidence have never created such a rigorous process," Summer Nunn, the search committee chair said."
CMS School Board members said often and clearly, they wanted to hire a superintendent with a proven track record of moving the needle on student achievement in a large school district.
Since January, Hill has been the interim superintendent of CMS schools. And for seven months before that, she was the district's chief of staff. But it's her track record at Cabarrus County Schools that the district touted.
Hill started with that district in 2016. In the year before she started, there were six D schools and 17 C schools, and nine of those didn't meet the expected growth.
Three years later, the district had seen improvement with only four D schools, 12 C schools, and only two schools that did not meet growth.
But Cabarrus County schools do not even have 25% of the number of students in CMS.
"We went through an evaluation process," said Stephanie Sneed, CMS Board Vice Chair. "Obviously, Dr. Hill would not have been selected if we did not think that she could move the needle forward."
The district has major work to do on bridging the gap in achievement scores for Black and Latino students.
LatinEd Mecklenburg, also released a statement, calling for collaboration and work to be done to change this.
"We hope that Dr. Hill understands the value of community involvement and develops strong relationships with all the groups in our complex and diverse community," Nhora Gomez-Saxon, a member of the group, and a teacher at South Mecklenburg High School said.
Hill must also deal with the politics of being a school board member on both the state and local levels.
The district has faced backlash from parents on certain content of books in classrooms. The Mecklenburg County Moms for Liberty chapter has been at the forefront of finding and pushing for books they've called "pornography' and "inappropriate" to be taken out of certain schools.
Brooke Weiss, chairwoman of Moms for Liberty in Mecklenburg County, said in a statement they're watching closely to hold both Hill and the district accountable.
Weiss questioned how Hill has handled Title IX complaints during her tenure.
"There have also been numerous crises during her interim period that she has not handled in an ideal manner, namely several situations involving elementary girls being sexually assaulted and Title IX protocols not being followed. A new allegation just surfaced this week," Weiss said.
Weiss along with other community members has questioned the CMS hiring process.
"I wish there had been more transparency during the process so we can feel confident that the most qualified candidate has been hired," Weiss said.
The district defended its decision to move forward with anonymous candidates saying it allowed for the strongest pool of candidates.
"In order to be able to get a broad candidate pool it was absolutely necessary, that we keep this process confidential," Sneed said.
The district said it saw around 19 people who were currently serving as superintendents apply for the position.
"Dr. Hill ended up in that high-caliber slate that we had," Summer Nunn, the search committee chair said. " And that is why I feel very confident."
Hill was voted as superintendent in a 6 to 3 vote. CMS board members Jennifer De La Jara, Lisa Cline, and Summer Nunn voted against her hire.
WCNC asked both De La Jara and Cline if they planned to comment on their vote. We did not receive a response back.
Nunn, who chaired the search committee was present at the news conference and said her vote was not reflective of her confidence in Hill to run the district.
"It's just a difference of opinion, to be perfectly honest," Nunn said. "And she wouldn't have even made it to where she had if she wasn't qualified to do the job."
In her new position, Hill will play a critical role in shaping the future of CMS, including tackling student achievement, safety, enrollment, teacher recruitment and retention, school boundary changes, and an upcoming billion-dollar bond campaign.
CMS hiring timeline and delays
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools board members started interviewing finalists for the superintendent in early May. The district whittled down the field of almost 40 candidates to just three or four finalists.
Interviews were scheduled in private sessions at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center. For legal reasons, the board met in a public meeting but then immediately went into a closed session with candidates out of view of the public.
The search for a new superintendent has experienced delays. The original timeline called for the district to have a new leader in place by April 2023, then the deadline was pushed back to June 2023, and finally to May.
During the last days of reviewing its final candidate, the district publicly stopped giving any final dates for a superintendent to be picked.
CMS chooses anonymity
The new superintendent bypassed community scrutiny before being hired to the job permanently.
The district said it decided to keep the names of candidates anonymous allowing for a stronger candidate pool.
The last time that CMS publicly shared who would be the finalist for the superintendent position was in 2012 and they hired Heath Morrison.
At that time, they held public sessions, where the community had the chance to ask questions of the top three finalists, one of whom was Morrison.
In 2017, when the district hired Clayton Wilcox, the district didn’t announce who he was until after he was hired.
With Wilcox’s search and this search, the district got community feedback ahead of finding the finalists.
Both Morrison and Wilcox left the district under poor circumstances, which means there’s no clear history of the impact the community provides on finalists in CMS's more recent history.
What issues will the new superintendent face?
Rising costs
The cost of operating the school district is rising. As Mecklenburg County continues to grow the district is faced with more students and not enough classrooms to accommodate students. In addition to factors such as inflation and increasing demands for other services. CMS requested a $2.9 billion dollar bond package, which was put on the upcoming November ballot by Mecklenburg County Commissioners. The $2.9 billion capital investment plan would fund 30 projects across the district, including renovating old buildings and building three new schools to help with congestion.
A growing achievement gap
The achievement gap between white students and students of color is a persistent challenge in CMS. In 2021, white students in CMS were more likely to graduate from high school and score proficiently on state tests than Black and Hispanic students. Although student achievement for all demographics saw a decline after the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic exasperated already persistent achievement gaps between students.
From September: Only 15.9% of Black and Hispanic students are considered college and career ready according to CMS
A lack of trust
In recent years, there has been a lack of trust between CMS and the community. This has been due to a number of factors, including controversies involving the district's handling of sexual assault cases and its use of public funds.
From January: Myers Park High School sex assault trial's third day sees Jane Doe testify, City of Charlotte dropped from lawsuit
The future of school choice
During the pandemic, CMS saw a decline in student enrollment but has started to gain back some student enrollment. CMS is surrounded by a number of school choice options, including charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, and traditional public schools in South Carolina.
School safety
CMS has been working to improve school safety in recent years. However, there have been a number of high-profile incidents of violence in CMS schools, including a shooting at Butler High School in 2021.In addition to a record number of guns being found in CMS schools last school year. Subsequently body scanners, in addition to other security measures were placed in schools reducing the number of guns found on campuses.
From April: CMS spent $16.5 million on body scanners, but confidential field test uncovered technology's safety gaps
Teacher recruitment and retention
CMS has been struggling to recruit and retain teachers in recent years. This is due to a number of factors, including low pay, high turnover rates, and according to some teachers a lack of support and positive culture according to some teachers.
School Boundaries
The district is facing the challenge of overcrowding at several schools. In order to address this issue, CMS is proposing to change school boundaries and feeder patterns. However, several proposals have been met with resistance from some parents and community members who are concerned about the impact that the changes will have on their children.
How did we get here
Earnest Winston is fired
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education voted in April 2022 to terminate the employment contract of then-Superintendent Earnest Winston.
Since the school district decided to terminate Winston "for convenience," he is being paid a severance of about $24,000 per month for the next two years, as required by his contract. That total amount of about $576,000 is the equivalent of two years of full pay for the former superintendent.
If Winston had chosen to resign, the school district would only have owed him his salary through his last day of work, according to his contract.
Board members voted 7-2 to terminate Winston's employment agreement.
Then District 3's Dr. Ruby Jones and vice-chairperson Thelma Byers-Bailey voted against the motion.
Jones accused current board chair Elyse Dashew of orchestrating and "ramrodding" the decision, causing a rift in the school board.
Winston was named superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools on Aug. 2, 2019, following the suspension and resignation of Clayton Wilcox that same year.
Winston's employment contract, which was extended in February 2021, was set to continue until June 2025.
Documents released after Winston’s hiring, alongside emails previously obtained by WCNC Charlotte, showed growing concerns about Winston's communication and leadership in the months leading up to his firing.
"We are struggling in [communicating] even the simplest things to the public, to our teachers/staff and to our families," an unidentified school board member wrote on Winston's 2020 employment evaluation, which was released as part of his termination.
His evaluation showed board members gave Winston average scores of 2 out of 4, considered "developing," when it comes to communication and community relations.
"Communication with the public seems to continue to be a work in progress," an unidentified board member wrote.
Concerns had also been raised in other areas, including school safety and how the superintendent and school district responded to reported sexual assaults on campus.
Hugh Hattabaugh steps in
Hattabaugh, who had previously been CMS superintendent himself, was expected to stay until June 2023 as the school district conducted its search for a full-time replacement.
The school board of education voted to have him step in for the role during an emergency meeting on April 19.
A few months later, Hattabaugh announced he would step down in December 2021. CMS' contract with Hattabaugh paid him $22,000 a month up until his resignation.
Hattabaugh said his father, older in age, needed him as a caretaker.
“I have a father, 98, and refuses to go to a nursing home," Hattabaugh said in the December meeting. "He's one of the World War II vets."
Hattabaugh started his career with CMS back in 2007 and served as interim superintendent for the district in the 2011-12 school year.
Crystal Hill becomes the second interim
After Hattabugh, CMS named Hill the new interim superintendent for the district in a unanimous vote.
"She's been working really side-by-side with Dr. Hattabaugh to take the board's goals and guardrails and really operationalize them throughout the district," Dashew said on behalf of the board of education after the vote.
Hill said Hattabaugh’s job was to make the time between her tenure and hiring a superintendent smoother.
Hill joined CMS as the new chief of staff in May of 2022.
Hill came to the district from Cabarrus County Schools, where she became the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction in Cabarrus County after the resignation of her predecessor.
When Hill was hired as the district's chief of staff in May, Hattabaugh said her focus was on the district's Title IX office.
CMS Superintendent Turnovers
In the past 10 years, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has had five different superintendents.
Heath Morrison
From 2012 through 2014, Heath Morrison held the CMS top office following the departure of Hattabaugh. Making a base salary of $288,000, he unexpectedly resigned claiming he needed to care for his ailing mother after an internal CMS report recommended his termination. CMS paid his compensation and benefits through his resignation date, as outlined in his contract.
Ann Clark
Upon the resignation of Morrison in 2014, Ann Clark was named interim superintendent for the district. She made an annual base salary of $262,000 before retiring in 2016.
Clayton Wilcox
When Clayton Wilcox became superintendent in 2016, he was making a base salary of $280,000 a year. By the time he resigned in 2019, his salary had increased to $307,000. He was paid compensation and benefits through his resignation date.
Earnest Winston
Earnest Winston started with a base salary of $280,000 when he became superintendent in 2019. As of his most recent contract, he is making a base salary of $288,400.
Upon his termination Tuesday, he will be paid a severance of $24,000 a month for the next 24 months.