A version of this story first appeared in WFAE Education Reporter James Farrell's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get newsletters from WFAE straight to your inbox.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools lottery opens today. Families have until Dec. 11 to apply for the district’s magnet programs.
Families can select up to three from themes like visual and performing arts, Montessori, or STEM. The magnet system allocates seats across high, medium and low socioeconomic categories to help promote diversity along those lines.
Students get priority — and free transportation — if they apply for programs within their transportation zones. Students are guaranteed spots if they want to continue programs they’re already in or if they apply to programs that siblings attend.
CMS will host open houses and information sessions throughout the district. Families can visit schools and learn about their options. Find those dates here.
All that is pretty much the same as usual. But the CMS magnet system is in a period of transition.
In August, the CMS board approved parts of a plan to overhaul the district’s magnet offerings. The full scope of that plan would cut the district’s magnet themes from 16 to six. The bulk of those changes would take effect in the 2027-28 school year. One proposal to combine the district’s Learning Immersion/Talent Development (LI/TD) program with its International Baccalaureate program is on hold. The district has also said it would pause any changes to its Leadership program — a theme the plan would end.
The board intends to revisit those paused recommendations in December.
The CMS lottery page doesn’t include much information about these changes, but it appears that the trimming has begun. The CMS website lists 12 options, compared to 16 last year. For this year at least, the options include the Leadership program and the uncombined LI/TD and International Baccalaureate programs.
Next year will function as a transition year. CMS has said that students enrolled in magnet programs that end can stay at their schools with transportation if they’re in the three “terminal grades”: 5, 8 and 12. Younger students who want to stay at their schools can request transfers out of magnet programs, assuming space and eligibility allow. Students who want to continue in magnet programs that still exist but are no longer offered at their schools will get priority placement into other schools with those programs in their transportation zones.
CMS hopes for a smoother lottery season than last year’s, when parents reported a host of technical issues — like getting waitlisted at schools where students should have had guaranteed spots. CMS attributed those issues to changes in its online system but also explained in January that the system essentially relied on the knowledge of one employee who had left the district.
Election time
Ahead of Election Day, get caught up on all things politics with my colleague Steve Harrison’s Inside Politics newsletter and check out our online voter guide with candidate profiles and links to our newsroom’s coverage. And stay with us for post-election coverage at wfae.org.
But this is an education newsletter, for crying out loud. So if you want to keep the focus on schools, have a look at my roundup on area school board races from last week. A few — specifically in Cabarrus, Gaston and Union counties — are unusually competitive, with interesting angles. And we’ve got a good old school bond on the ballot in Cabarrus. If you vote in that county, be sure to check out my feature from last week to learn more about how growth, politics and a culture war issue are all shaping the school board race.
A reminder: No CMS issues on the ballot this year. But next year will bring plenty to talk about, as the board’s three at-large representatives —Monty Witherspoon, Lenora Shipp and Liz Monterrey-Duvall — will be up for re-election.
