Tagged: CMS

CMS Superintendent Heath Morrison has put a price tag on his vision for the district.  He wants Mecklenburg County and the state to pitch in an extra $27 million next year to help fund new programs and expand others.  Those include bringing more technology to classrooms and creating career and technical specialties at schools.  The plan also calls for 10 new positions to help schools coordinate with companies and groups wanting to help. 

WFAE’s Lisa Miller was at last night’s meeting and joins Morning Edition host Duncan McFadyen in the studio. 

Charlotte Mecklenburg School officials are gearing up for a bond referendum this fall.  They laid out a plan Tuesday night to build several new schools throughout the county, including three k-8 schools and a handful of magnets.

Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools has dropped chain-link fences from its security plan.  Tuesday night, the school board approved a revised plan that totals  $20 million.  It includes adding 4,000 cameras to schools, installing buzzer systems with intercoms on doors, giving schools software that can do instant background checks, and creating IDs for all students and staff.  CMS had to pare its original plan down after Mecklenburg County said it would delay other construction projects.  County commissioners still have to give the district the go ahead to use the bond money. 

A bill introduced in the North Carolina senate would allow counties to take ownership of schools.  Some Mecklenburg County commissioners say they would want to own CMS buildings, if that bill passes.  That’s put CMS officials on the defensive.

This is how schools get built in North Carolina:  Since school districts don’t have taxing authority, voters approve bonds for the construction.  The county borrows the money and then passes it on to the school district.