Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools continues its slow shift to a more racially diverse district, with increases in Hispanic and Asian students offsetting declines in Black and white enrollment.
CMS had previously reported that its enrollment — 141,393 students as of last week — is virtually the same as last year’s, falling short of projections for growth. WFAE requested school-by-school racial breakdowns that tell more about who’s populating the district’s schools at a time of demographic change.
Like school districts across North Carolina and much of the country, CMS was seeing school enrollment level off before the COVID-19 pandemic. It dropped sharply in 2020-21, when schools spent most of the year in remote or hybrid classes, and has been inching back since then. Meanwhile, charter schools, private schools and home schools are seeing growth.
For decades CMS was composed mostly of white and Black students, but for several years now those numbers have declined while Hispanic enrollment has increased. CMS has struggled to recruit Latino and bilingual teachers and principals to serve this growing population. The district has three magnet schools that offer instruction in English and Spanish.
While the district as a whole is diverse, many schools are less so. When racial isolation is coupled with high poverty levels, it can create challenges in supporting students and attracting teachers.
Here’s what the latest numbers show.
Black students
Black enrollment declined by 3%, to almost 49,000 students, or 34.6% of the student body. About 30% of all Mecklenburg children under 18 are Black, according to the Census.
Fifty-five of the district’s 184 schools are at least 50% Black, and nine — including West Charlotte High and the two Turning Point schools for students with a history of discipline violations — are at least 70% Black.
Hispanic students
Hispanic enrollment grew 4% over the previous year, bringing the total to about 43,350, or almost 31% of all students. About 22% of the county’s school-age children are considered Hispanic or Latino.
Thirty-two schools are at least 50% Hispanic, and nine have a Hispanic enrollment of 70% or higher. That includes Montclaire Elementary, a south Charlotte neighborhood school that’s 85% Hispanic, and Waddell High, which houses only a small program for teens learning to speak English.
White students
White enrollment is down about 2%, to about 33,500 or 24% of all students. Twenty-nine schools, mostly in the northern and southern areas of the county, are at least 50% white, and seven are at least 70% white, topping out with 76% at Davidson K-8.
On the flip side, 61 of 184 schools are less than 5% white, and five are below 1%. According to the 2020 Census, about 45% of all Mecklenburg residents and 34% of those under age 19 are white.
Asian students
Just over 10,000 students, or 7% of total enrollment, are Asian. That’s similar to the school-age population.
The Asian total increased by 1.5% over the previous year. Asian enrollment is concentrated in south Charlotte, where eight neighborhood schools are at least 30% Asian — from 30% at Ardrey Kell High to 38% at Elon Park Elementary.
School data
Find racial breakdowns for each CMS school here.
