CMS Board

Last week felt like the end of Crystal Hill's honeymoon as superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. This time last year she was the new hire, admired by community leaders and preparing to open schools in America's 16th largest district.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board embarked on a new era of leadership Tuesday with a new chair and vice chair and two new members.

Superintendent Crystal Hill has reversed a CMS media review panel’s decision and ordered the young adult novel “Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts)” removed from all Charlotte-Mecklenburg school libraries. Her decision was based on a new policy created in response to North Carolina’s Parents Bill of Rights.

This year’s elections saw a new player: Mecklenburg County’s Democratic Party, who endorsed three candidates in the nonpartisan race. And the party’s “blue ballot” recommendations appear to have made a difference.

It’s unclear how many Mecklenburg County voters are paying attention to the nonpartisan Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board election coming up on Nov. 7. But some state politicos — including a left-wing advocacy group and a Republican consultant known for bare-knuckles politics — are tuning in because of the CMS Unity slate.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board made a decision last week about where to assign students across southern Mecklenburg County when new schools open in 2024 and 2025. The board now plans to tackle a broader review of student assignment, looking at what they learned from this round and how the district should move forward on creating the best opportunities for all students.

Superintendent Crystal Hill's controversial plan for southern school boundaries won 7-2 approval from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board Tuesday.

About 100 people spoke Tuesday at a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools board meeting about potential changes to south Charlotte school boundaries to accommodate a new high school and middle school. The board is set to vote on the changes June 6.

A pair of matching voucher bills in the state House and Senate signal a shift in the way North Carolina pays for public education. Both are titled “Choose Your School, Choose Your Future,” and they’d remove income restrictions on receiving public money to pay private school tuition. Passage is virtually certain, given the bills’ powerful sponsors in a General Assembly with a veto-proof Republican majority.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board will interview a half-dozen applicants for superintendent, after its search consultants narrowed the field of 37 applicants.