CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Parents and caregivers had the chance to weigh in Tuesday on possible changes to where their children could attend school during the 2025-26 school year.
CMS families and even some students spoke up at the public hearing to make the board reconsider some of these changes and the impact it would have on schools.
One of the biggest concerns is the proposal to merge Marie G. Davis with Dilworth Elementary School. Critics on the board are 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 meeting say they want 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 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."
This all comes as the CMS Board of Education looks at changes to its assignment policy and considers updating attendance boundaries for the next school year. The district is still in phase one of the plan.
Hill presented changes that she says will focus on four key projects: Expanding early college offerings, expanding Montessori programming, improving school building facilities and expanding creative arts programs.
If the board approves the moves, the changes would reassign students from several schools due to closures, changes in school style and grade-level offering changes.
Project 1: Students at University Park Creative Arts and First Ward Creative Arts will be assigned to Bruns Avenue Elementary unless they're in the respective magnet programs. Northwest School of the Arts will shift from serving students in grades 6-12 to grades 9-12. First Ward Creative Arts will become a full-choice middle school serving current 6-8, Northwest School of the Arts students.
Project 2: Margie G. Davis will become a Montessori school for grades 7-12. Elementary students will be assigned to Dilworth Elementary, while current Marie G. Davis middle schoolers will be assigned to Sedgefield Middle.
Project 3: Students at the Dorothy J. Vaughan Academy of Technology will be assigned to Parkside Elementary.
Project 4: Early colleges at Central Piedmont's Cato, Harper, Levine and Merancas campuses will add ninth and 10th grades.
Hill has suggested postponing reassignments until a later time. Families will also have the option to enter the CMS school choice lottery for reassignment.
The board will vote on phase one changes on Sept. 24.
If it passes they will move on to phase two, which includes updating the school enrollment process.
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.