MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Students are just days away from entering the classroom in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area.
While they get in their last summer memories, teachers and administrators have been preparing for weeks for the return.
"There's a sense of nervousness because you never know, you can have the best plan and then the kids show up and it goes left, right," Glenn Starnes II, Harding University High Principal, said. "So it's ensuring that you have a plan B, and a plan C and then a plan D and E when that plan A doesn't work."
Starnes is the new principal at Harding University High School.
He’s come into the role with large shoes to fill.
"I came as a result of the sudden passing of the former principal, Dr. Eric Ward," Starnes said. "Dr. Ward was well loved by many students, by many staff members."
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Ward, who had been the principal of Charlotte-Mecklenburg School's Harding University High School, passed away on Sept. 22, 2021.
There are many eyes on Harding this year, but not for all the right reasons.
"Our discipline incidents were fairly high; you saw that we had some challenges with school culture," Starnes said. "So for us, we wanted to be sure that we were safe, that we looked safe, and that we felt safe."
Harding's rates of criminal acts and referrals to law enforcement were higher than the average of both the CMS school district and other schools in the state of North Carolina. That's according to the latest school safety data from North Carolina's School Report Cards from the 2020-21 school year.
Safety, school test scores, workplace climate — it’s all a balancing act for Starnes.
“I feel a sense of urgency, right? Where kids' lives are at stake every day when they come on our campus, right? The educational environment is extremely important for me," Starnes said.
Parents are looking to hold him accountable for keeping students safe.
“They need to bring more people in and to talk to them, teach them and give them other options to do other than they had," Dana Brown, a parent of a 10th grader at the school, said.
She said she is excited about the direction Starnes is trying to take the school.
Starnes said his goal is to reach students where they are.
"Let's just talk straight from the heart," Starnes said. "Let's hear about what matters to you. What's important to you, what do you think we should do and focus on going into the upcoming year?"
He has students willing to listen.
"Listen to what the students want for the school and you know, try his best to like, be more democratic, I guess," Malikah Douglas, a Harding University High School student, said. "Listening to what we want."
Starnes said focusing on people first will always lead to better results academically.
“We're not going to wake up tomorrow and miraculously, we are where we used to be," Starnes said. "But we do want to be sure that we have a plan and a process to get there."
Contact Shamarria Morrison at smorrison@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.