CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools held a public hearing drawing hundreds in person to talk about relief school plans in south Mecklenburg.
Parents and students packed the board meeting on Tuesday night to speak for and against proposed changes to school boundaries and feeder patterns.
A new middle and high school being built in the area looks to address overcrowding at several other current schools in this part of the county. To accommodate the new schools many students must be rezoned or have changes to upcoming school assignments.
The meeting was one of CMS's longest not wrapping up until just before 11 p.m.
It was also one of its most contentious, with parents on both sides of the issue expressing strong emotions.
The board had 105 speakers signed up to speak making it one of the largest turnouts for a single CMS public hearing since at least 2017, according to one CMS official. In 2017 boundary and feeder changes were also proposed back then.
"November is coming we won't forget how cruelly you are treating our kids our family and ourselves," one parent said at the meeting.
Parents and students in the district have expressed concerns about multiple drafts of the plan.
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"Would you want your children to be separated from their best friend? Kate Stokes, an Alexander Graham Middle School student asked board members "Please don't take away the community and friends we've made."
Ashli Stokes, Kate's mother, and dozens of other people in the neighborhood came to plead their case to board members about proposed new changes.
"Until a week ago, Kate and all of her friends were going right over here at Alexander Graham Middle School just 1000 feet away from Myers Park High School," Ashli Stokes said.
The district has been working for months to change and accommodate the different needs of the students impacted. Their priorities included balancing socioeconomic diversity at schools, utilization of school buildings, the number of students in each school, and the average home-to-school distance for schools.
In the CMS superintendent’s recommendation to the school board Kate Stokes would move to South Mecklenburg High School. Which is miles away from her home compared to Myers Park High School right around the corner.
Like thousands of others, some represented in Tuesday's board meeting, proposed boundary and feeder pattern changes are impacting students from elementary to high school.
In the Stokes case, only a small percentage of students in Huntingtowne Farms and in the Sharon neighborhood will go to South Mecklenburg as opposed to Myers Park High School where they are currently zoned.
"We know that there are structural changes to be made," Ashli Stokes said. "But I think by taking this little group of people, it's a cosmetic change rather than a real change."
The Stokes are not the only people expressing major concerns over changes.
WCNC has spoken to several parents about different scenarios they are calling detrimental to their parents.
Stephanie Schoenen, who has a child at Elizabeth Lane Elementary School, has closely followed the conversation on proposed changes that would impact where her current elementary schooler would go to middle school.
"The very first draft, our school as a whole was moved to Crestdale Middle School, away from South Charlotte Middle School," Schoenen said. “And then that's when our families spoke up saying that we would like to remain at South Charlotte Middle School.”
Their concerns were heard and when the district put out a second draft of boundary changes for south county schools, Elizabeth Lane was no longer impacted.
Under the superintendent's recommendation Elizabeth Lane Elementary School is back in play and students at this school will now be split between two different middle schools: Crestdale Middle School and South Charlotte Middle School.
"The main issue for us going to Crestdale was they're sending us through the of the most high-traffic areas in the state, which will only be getting worse because of roadwork that will be done within the next couple years," Schoenen said.
Parents have expressed concerns about disruption to students, unfairly grouping low-income households into some schools and boosting high-income populations in others. In addition, there's been an outcry about the long distances some students will be from their homes compared to their currently zoned school or anticipated feeder patterns.
CMS has worked to address the concern of parents, but balancing what parents would like for their students with the realities and constraints the district is under has proved challenging.
The superintendent's recommendation included some concessions and positive changes for other families.
For example, rising seniors will automatically finish at their current school for their final year, and rising juniors will have the option to stay at their current school or be assigned to the relief high school. Although there is no sibling guarantee in place, students may apply for a transfer without transportation.
There are also special accommodations for students in special programs. This new version also better balanced the number of low-income students in schools.
The board is set to revisit the boundary conversation on June 6 where the board will vote to modify, accept or reject the current plans.
This comes as CMS introduces its newest superintendent for the district, Crystal Hill, with hopes of helping the district thrive.
The meeting is set to start Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. CMS is expected to listen to more than 100 parents giving them the opportunity to voice their concerns with many of them highlighting concerns with traffic and unfairly grouped low-income households.
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