The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools board will vote later this month on student assignment changes that largely impact magnet schools. Tuesday night a few dozen parents and students signed up to weigh in.
Several students cautioned the board against adding 9th and 10th grades to high schools located on four of Central Piedmont Community College’s campuses that offer tuition-free college credit.
“If you change the middle college program to early colleges only, having students enter in 9th grade, you'll be forcing students who are barely even teenagers to choose a career path. These students are not mature enough,” said Khai Mathlage, who attends a middle college program on CPCC’s Merancas campus.
Several parents also urged the board against moving Dorothy J. Vaughan Academy of Technology in northeast Charlotte eight miles away to Parkside Elementary, which has a newer building and plenty of room.
“What I know is the fact that the little brown boys and girls who are sitting there, who are looking at themselves to be in science, to be in technology, they’re losing their one opportunity to do that,” said Renarda Hamilton.
The plan would also switch the neighborhood school assignments for about 800 students. Parents of students at Dilworth Elementary said the board should agree to delay shifting about 100 Marie G. Davis students to Dilworth’s attendance zone until a new, larger school opens in two years.
“We're overcrowded. Most specials are being taught from carts. The art classroom…is on the gymnasium stage. There isn't enough parking for our staff,” said Lauren Scarboro, who has two children at Dilworth Elementary.
That alternative would also delay relocating a Montessori program for grades 7-12 at J.T. Williams to Marie G. Davis.
The board expects to vote on these changes Sept. 24. They only impact 1% of CMS students, but a deeper dive into student assignment will take place in the coming months.
