Robert Folk was named principal of Myers Park High on Tuesday, part of a leadership shuffle in the historic south Charlotte neighborhood.
Folk has been principal of Alexander Graham Middle School, which sits next to Myers Park High, since 2010. Folk started with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools as a teacher at Providence High in 1990. He spent almost a decade working with Communities in Schools, which is a CMS partner, before returning to the district as a principal intern at Myers Park High in 2001.
He's the son of the late Chris Folk, a CMS communications director who worked for the district from 1955 to 1992. Folk was a spokesperson during the district's desegregation efforts in the 1970s and became known as the unofficial historian of CMS. Chris Folk died in 2010 and the district named an administrative building for him in 2017.
Big school, big challenges
Myers Park High has just over 3,500 studentsthis year, making it the largest school in CMS and likely in North Carolina.
The previous principal, Mark Bosco, was reassigned to CMS central offices last month. He had been suspended since August amid complaints and protests over how he handled reports of sexual abuse during his eight years leading the school.
CMS continues to grapple with questions about the handling of sexual abuse reports involving male and female students, and not just at Myers Park High.
At Tuesday's school board meeting, Superintendent Earnest Winston made a 20-second report saying the principal and an assistant principal at Hawthorne Academy have been suspended with pay during an "ongoing investigation" by CMS. He provided no details, but last week WBTV reported that a female student was suspended from Hawthorne Academy High School after reporting that she had been sexually assaulted by a male classmate. Police told WBTV they charged the male student with sexual battery.
Winston appointed a task force, which includes several high school students, to look into how CMS handles sexual assault reports under the federal Title IX requirements. That panel has been meeting privately and is expected to issue a public report this month.
Elementary school principal named
Also Tuesday, CMS announced that Elizabeth Carrubba will be principal at Myers Park Traditional Elementary, a magnet school about 2 miles from Myers Park High. She's currently an assistant principal at Selwyn Elementary, which sits between Myers Park High and Alexander Graham Middle.
Carrubba has worked for CMS since 2005.