Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has more than 43,000 Latino students, the second-largest and fastest-growing segment of the student body. CMS also leads the state in students from multilingual homes, with more than 36,000 students whose families speak primarily Spanish.
So when CMS rolled out a long list of strategies for academic improvement this week, the school board’s first Latina member had a question: Why don’t any of them specifically address the Hispanic population?
“It’s only going to continue to grow,” said Liz Monterrey. “So given that they have the lowest test scores, lowest graduation rates, how are we thinking about that? How are we going to handle that growth?”
Chief Strategy Officer Beth Thompson assured the board boosting achievement for these students will be part of the broader efforts, which include providing equitable instruction and a clear, consistent curriculum.
The strategic plan also includes community engagement. At a news conference this week, Superintendent Crystal Hill said reaching Spanish-speaking families remains a challenge.
“If you were to ask me, looking back on this year, what’s one of the things that I think I could have done better or that we could have done better, I think it would be engaging our Spanish-speaking community,” Hill said.
Hill held her news conference at Waddell High, which houses a new program for immigrant high school students learning English. PACE Academy offers intensive support in small-group settings, but CMS has been unable to fill the 250 seats this year.
CMS will hold a town hall in Spanish on Monday as a step toward better connecting with that part of the community. Hill said her staff will talk about the opportunities at PACE, as well as other services for multilingual students and families. They’ll also field questions and talk about overall goals and plans.
The session starts at 6 p.m. Monday at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church, 1901 Archdale Drive.
