Hopes were dashed last night for hundreds of parents from Mint Hill who pressed the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board to approve their plan for a single high school for their town. The new Mint Hill High School is slated to open in the fall of 2010. Mint Hill residents squeezed into board chambers last night. Close to three dozen people spoke in favor of their own plan, which would have the town's limits as the school's attendance boundaries. But just two board members voted for the single school plan, which countered a district plan. Several board members expressed concerns about allowing one town to single itself out in school planning. Board member James Ross said it would set a bad precedent. "Me supporting Mint Hill is not the question. What bothers me about this whole thing is unraveling the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system. What's to stop Huntersville or Davidson or Cornelius from coming in?" asked Ross. Mint Hill parent Julie Andrews says parents will continue to try to talk board members out of the district's plan. "CMS does say 'We don't build schools for town.' But they do say they build schools for communities. And we're not only a town, we're a community. And by dividing us up into three separate high schools, they are tearing our community apart," she says. The CMS plan would send Mint Hill residents to Butler, Independence and the new Mint Hill high school. The board decided last night to put off the vote on this plan until August 11th.
CMS Board shoots down Town of Mint Hill's plan for new high school
