Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials said Tuesday they’re considering waiting an extra year to launch a Montessori magnet shuffle that could leave Dilworth Elementary severely overcrowded.
Relocating Montessori programs is among several proposed changes that would take effect in August 2025. Hill presented the plan two weeks ago and revisited it at this week’s school board meeting.
Dilworth had room to spare last year, but when school opened Monday it had a new batch of students who had been at Sedgefield Elementary. CMS was expecting 640 students in a building designed for 560. But Deputy Superintendent Melissa Balknight said that by the second day of class, Dilworth had almost 700 — 140 more than it was designed for.
“It’s a full school, with students in every space,” she said.
It's a multi-part shuffle: Superintendent Crystal Hill’s plan calls for moving the Montessori school for grades 7-12 from J.T. Williams to Marie G. Davis in 2025. Marie G. Davis is now a K-8 school that combines neighborhood and magnet students. The plan calls for sending about 100 K-5 students who live in that attendance boundary to Dilworth.
Balknight insisted that Dilworth could make that work, even though there’s little room for mobile classrooms on the grounds. But she and Hill also introduced a new option: Wait until 2026 to make the switch.
This year Sedgefield Elementary became a Montessori magnet school, taking the staff and students who had been at Park Road Montessori. That 75-year-old building will be demolished, and a replacement school on the Park Road site should be ready to open by August 2026. A delay would let the Dilworth students move into the new school, with room for students from the Marie G. Davis zone.
Several board members said they want to hear more about how teachers and students would be affected if Dilworth took extra students next year. As board Chair Stephanie Sneed put it, “just because we can fit does not mean that we should.”
Balknight says staff will continue meeting with families at all schools that could be affected by changes. The board plans to hold a public hearing on Sept. 10 and vote on Sept. 24.
Other concerns
Also in 2025, Hill wants to add ninth- and 10th-graders to campus-based high schools at four Central Piedmont Community College sites. She says that will expand options for students and make it easier to earn an associate’s degree in four years of high school.
CMS currently has “early college” high schools serving grades 9-12 at UNC Charlotte and Central Piedmont’s uptown campus. The four other community college locations have “middle college” high schools that start in 11th grade. If they convert to the early college model, students would have to opt in as they enter ninth grade.
“The feedback we’ve gotten is a lot of kids don’t necessarily feel ready in ninth or 10th grade, and they haven’t even gotten a GPA or traditional experience,” said board member Summer Nunn, who questioned the wisdom of eliminating the possibility of choosing a campus-based high school as a junior.
Board member Melissa Easley echoed that concern: “Are 14- and 15-year-olds able to handle the rigor?” she asked, adding that “we’re going to have a 14-year-old on a college campus with potential 21-year-olds.”
Hill, whose daughter is a 10th-grader at Central Piedmont Early College High, said starting in ninth-grade gives students more time to explore options and get on track to earn a diploma and an associate’s degree in four years.
Another change would also create crowding: Davidson K-8 school is scheduled to switch back to a K-5 school in 2025. Middle school students from that zone would move to Bailey Middle, bringing enrollment there to roughly 1,700 students. That’s almost 600 over the building capacity.
CMS facilities director Dennis LaCaria said that site can handle the extra students until a new school opens nearby in 2028.
“There’s a 10-classroom modular and several singles that were not used last year” at Bailey, LaCaria said. “So we have the opportunity to bring those back online.”
