When Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools introduced its PACE Academy last summer, the principal described it as a model for North Carolina schools trying to put teens who are new to the United States on track for success.
Last year CMS had more than 30,000 students who are learning English, more than any place else in the state. The new academy, located at Waddell High in southwest Charlotte, was designed to surround high school students with support as they learned English, adjusted to American culture and moved toward graduation.
The plan called for serving 250 students the first year and 375 this year. But when the doors opened last August, only 59 students were there.
This summer, 116 students had signed up. But when CMS staff contacted families to confirm transportation plans, they learned the number had dropped to 89 — assuming all of them actually showed up.
Scaling back faculty wasn’t an option, Deputy Superintendent Melissa Balknight told the school board Tuesday.
“They must have certain things to have all the components of a high school. And so we have 24 staff members allocated to the PACE program, which is right at $2.8 million in funding,” she said.
Last-minute scramble
The transportation tally came at the end of July. Balknight and Superintendent Crystal Hill came up with a last-minute proposal that they said would make better use of faculty and provide more support for students: Move the PACE Academy across town, to Garinger High in east Charlotte.
When the board approved the PACE Academy in 2022, it was supposed to be part of a larger school, including an aviation magnet program. In reality, the only other program at Waddell is the CMS Virtual Academy, which means the PACE students don’t have English-speaking peers to learn from.
Garinger, located in the heart of Charlotte’s international community, expects to have 166 students who are eligible for PACE — that is, new to the United States and limited in English proficiency. Hill’s plan called for moving Waddell’s PACE faculty and students and merging it with Garinger’s English learner program, which isn’t fully staffed yet.
“More students will gain access to a full spectrum of the high school experience, including athletics, performing and fine arts, other activities, clubs and services, which will enhance their social and academic development.”
But time was running out. Teachers start reporting to classrooms on Friday, with students arriving Aug. 26.
On Monday, CMS notified staff and families that the relocation plan would be up for a vote at Tuesday night’s school board meeting. Balknight says they got mixed reviews from parents.
But board members said the ones who contacted them were not happy.
No time to adjust
Greg Asciutto, executive director of CharlotteEAST, addressed the board. The eastside community development group has long advocated for Garinger High, and Asciutto used to teach there.
“Having PACE at Garinger makes sense. Absolutely it makes sense,” he said. “However, this is not acceptable rollout.”
Board members echoed those concerns, saying they’d gotten emails from students and parents who were stunned to be told about a major change just before starting classes.
“I get the numbers. But is this the right time?” asked Vice Chair Dee Rankin.
“I just feel like there’s a lot of unknowns and it’s really, really late to be introducing this to multi-language learners,” said board member Summer Nunn.
Board member Lenora Shipp noted that in 2022 Waddell High was presented as the ideal location, in an area that also has a growing international population. That community was promised a full high school at Waddell, she said, but that promise hasn’t been met.
“We have moved programs in and out of E.E. Waddell and we have yet to come up with a plan for this high school that will make a difference in an overcrowded community,” Shipp said.
Board Chair Stephanie Sneed said one bright spot was the advocacy that emerged on short notice.
“I’m extremely impressed by the fact that we have all of these first-generation non-English-speaking parents and students that have advocated in the way that they have, with passion, with knowledge, with facts,” she said. “It is astonishing to me and it is an example of what government is. I can tell you that my decision is based on that.”
Making it work
The original plan for Waddell’s PACE Academy was approved in November of 2022 when CMS was in the midst of leadership churn. Interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh had just announced his plans to leave early, Hill had been tapped to take over in January and new board members had been elected but not sworn in.
The new leadership team pulled the plug on the promised aviation magnet at Waddell before schools opened in 2023, citing a lack of interest from students. But they went ahead with the PACE program. It was described as a magnet program, but Hill said Tuesday that isn’t an accurate label.
Like other high school magnets, PACE offers transportation only from express stops at schools around the county. That means students may have to get several miles from their home to a bus stop, which can be challenging for newcomer families.
Hill and Balknight told the board they could make the transition to Garinger work on short notice, but they also said they’d find a way to keep the program alive at Waddell if that’s what the board wants. Last year, CMS kept recruiting and had 130 PACE students by January, more than double the August enrollment.
The board voted 8-1 to delay consideration of the relocation plan, clearing the way for the program to remain at Waddell. Melissa Easley cast the “no” vote — not, she said afterward, because she wanted to authorize the move to Garinger, but because she wanted to scrap it entirely.
Unclear future
The motion doesn’t specify when the board will reconsider plans for PACE. CMS plans to start a review of all magnet programs and neighborhood schools in September, playing out over the next several months. Several members said the plans for PACE and for Waddell as a whole should be part of that.
In the meantime, the PACE academy will open in a setting that several members acknowledged isn’t cost-effective.
Board member Thelma Byers-Bailey, whose district includes Waddell, said that “the students’ lives are more important than the dollars that we’re going to spend.”
But she and other board members told Hill they appreciated her bringing them an option.
“It’s your responsibility to tell us, the decision-makers, what the situation is and how much it costs,” Byers-Baiey said. “The buck stops with us.”
