CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Discussions about possible changes to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' boundaries continued into this week.
About 250 parents attended a virtual meeting Wednesday discussing a new draft plan released by CMS Tuesday evening.
A new high school and middle school are being built in south Mecklenburg County, meaning boundary changes are being suggested to accommodate them.
The number one concern repeated in a March meeting was that parents thought CMS's proposal unfairly grouped low-income households into some schools and boosted high-income populations in other schools.
The new draft purportedly helped this critique.
"One of the things that we heard from draft one is that we had undervalued that and not weighted as equally as the other board priorities," Claire Schuch, CMS Director of Planning Services said to parents.
The new high school is expected to open for the 2024-25 school year. CMS says it'll help address overcrowding and overutilization of teachers at Myers Park, Ardrey Kell, and South Mecklenburg high schools. Meanwhile, the proposed new middle school aims to relieve overcrowding at Community House, Jay M. Robinson, and Rea Farms middle schools, according to CMS. That campus would open in the 2025-26 school year at the earliest.
Previously proposed boundary changes would theoretically impact several middle and elementary schools in south Mecklenburg County and Providence High School. This would mean several homes would be rezoned, and school feeder patterns would also change.
A new feeder pattern in the updated draft would impact students at Nations Ford Elementary. Some kids would be zoned to go to Kennedy Middle School.
“My only concern is the school being packed so more teachers maybe would help," Rymia Hutchinson, a Kennedy Middle School parent said.
According to the draft scenario, the utilization rate for Kennedy would be impacted less than other middle schools in the plan.
Ahead of Wednesday's meeting, CMS shared its revised scenario with WCNC Charlotte. A new map was part of the second draft proposal as well, which includes new boundaries for elementary, middle, and high schools in southern Mecklenburg County. Take a look at the full proposed scenario below:
CMS staff will propose one more draft scenario before bringing the proposal to the school board for a vote in May.
Contact Shamarria Morrison at smorrison@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.