Ann Doss Helms

Mecklenburg County commissioners informally approved a budget Wednesday that holds the property tax rate steady. It gives Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools a $26 million increase, but withholds $11 million of that unless CMS pays hourly employees at least $15 an hour.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board unanimously approved a new 2020-21 calendar Tuesday that reopens schools Aug. 17. But board Chair Elyse Dashew says families and employees aren’t as concerned about when schools will reopen as how.

For the class of 2020, the coronavirus redefined the end of their education. For the class of 2033 – next year’s kindergarteners – it’s likely to shape the beginning in ways that have parents worried. 

Even after students return to classes Aug. 17, remote learning is going to be a big part of their education, North Carolina officials say.

North Carolina State University and UNC Chapel Hill announced Thursday they'll open early and condense their fall schedules to send students home before Thanksgiving. Officials at both schools say they hope to get in a semester of in-person classes before a possible resurgence of COVID-19.

Gaston County’s high school graduates will walk across their school stages in caps and gowns with family and friends watching. But it definitely won't be a traditional ceremony.

Teach For America expects to bring about 70 new teachers to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in August. But instead of spending the summer working with students, the new teachers are likely to arrive with only virtual training. 

Four years ago Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools launched a new diversity plan to break up concentrations of poverty. So far, officials acknowledge it’s hard to see the results. 

Superintendent Earnest Winston unveiled his plan for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' Class of 2020 Tuesday: A video ceremony, drive-through diploma pickups and an in-person event in the fall.

Being forced to home-school during the pandemic is tough for most families, but imagine trying to do it in a second language. That’s the reality for more than 128,000 North Carolina students and their families.

The North Carolina Board of Education voted Thursday to stick with the state’s special pass-withdraw grading system for seniors. Some board members argued for an option that would let seniors boost their grade-point average.

Right after a scathing audit report went public, North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction is seeking a new chief financial officer. 

When people talk about what the coronavirus has done to North Carolina schools, you’ll generally hear some variation on this statement by Gov. Roy Cooper: "School classrooms may be closed, but the learning is not over."

And then you’ll hear something like this from Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board Chair Elyse Dashew: "We’ve got to work together, more than we ever have before, to help these kids who could so easily slip through the cracks."

State Auditor Beth Wood says North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction will have to repay $18 million in federal money intended for students with disabilities because of department errors.