The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board approved several changes to magnet programs this week, but voted against one that would have created 800 new magnet seats.
The plan was to turn the middle college programs for 11th and 12th graders at four Central Piedmont Community College campuses into early college programs that include ninth and 10th graders as well. Those programs allow students to collect tuition-free college credits.
But several faculty and students at those campuses objected to the change, concerned about how it could affect their existing programming. They said reserving those programs for higher grades gives students more time to decide whether a college-based high school pathway is right for them.
Board member Lisa Cline voted against the proposal. She says the community feedback showed it was worth leaving the middle-colleges as is.
“I felt that looking at the research, the middle colleges were working," Cline said. "I go back to the old adage: If it’s not broken, why are you fixing something?”
CMS Superintendent Crystal Hill had ultimately amended the proposal, suggesting the district create “early-slash-middle” colleges at those campuses, a hybrid arrangement where students could apply to join for either the 9th grade or the 11th grade. But that wasn’t enough to sway the board. The measure failed in a 5-to-4 vote.
The other board members who voted against the proposal included Lenora Shipp, Summer Nunn, Monty Witherspoon and Melissa Easley. They did not respond to WFAE’s requests for comment.
The district has notified families that the middle college program will remain unchanged next school year. There is an existing early college CMS program at Piedmont’s central campus that will also remain unchanged.
