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CMS presents 3 plans for new school board voting districts

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will hold two virtual town halls this week to present three proposals for redrawing school board election districts.

The district is using 2020 census data to create six districts with approximately the same number of residents. That data was delayed, forcing CMS to postpone its district election from this year to November 2022.

Find a presentation on the three proposals here, and more detailed data here.

Here's how the districts might change:

District 1
The northern District 1, currently represented by Rhonda Cheek, sits atop Mecklenburg County like a hat with ear flaps. It includes Huntersville, Davidson, Cornelius and parts of northwest and northeast Charlotte.

District 1 needs to lose about 5,400 people to be the right size now. Two scenarios lop off some of the lower precincts to create a more compact northern district. One removes some northwest Charlotte precincts but extends District 1 further south along the county's eastern edge.

District 2

District 2, represented by Thelma Byers-Bailey, is currently the largest voting district. It covers 206,000 residents of west and southwest Charlotte and needs to lose more than 20,000 people for balance.

One plan would turn District 2 into a band extending from the western to eastern county lines. Two others cover western and central precincts. All lop off the southwestern tip of the county, which has seen rapid growth in the past decade.

District 3

Ruby Jones currently represents District 3 in northeast Charlotte, which needs to lose almost 5,600 residents.

All three proposals keep District 3 on the east side, but with a different mix of precincts. Two extend it farther south, one of them encompassing Mint Hill.

District 4

District 4, encompassing central and east Charlotte, is the smallest district now with not quite 171,000 residents. It is represented by Carol Sawyer and needs to pick up about 15,000 people.

Two of the plans shift District 4 to cover central and west Charlotte. One goes from the center of Charlotte to the county's eastern tip, including Mint Hill.

District 5

Margaret Marshall represents District 5, a compact south Charlotte district that needs to pick up more than 11,000 residents.

Two scenarios extend it to the southeast, one adding Matthews and one adding Matthews and Mint Hill. One extends west to pick up the county's southwestern tip.

District 6

The south suburban District 6, represented by Sean Strain, runs along the county's southeastern border, taking in Matthews, Mint Hill and Pineville. It needs to add almost 5,000 residents.

In two scenarios, Matthews and Mint Hill move to other districts and District 6 shifts to take in the southwestern part of Mecklenburg County. In one it becomes a more compact south/southeastern district that includes Matthews, with Pineville straddling the border between Districts 5 and 6.

Staff will present the three proposals at 6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, streaming on the CMS board’s Facebook page. The board will hold a public hearing next week, with a vote scheduled for Nov. 9.

CMS board elections are nonpartisan, with six members elected by district and three at large. Members serve four-year terms, with the next at-large election scheduled for 2023.

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Ann Doss Helms has covered education in the Charlotte area for over 20 years, first at The Charlotte Observer and then at WFAE. Reach her at ahelms@wfae.org or 704-926-3859.