Clayton Wilcox

Mecklenburg County commissioners asked pointed questions Wednesday about Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' purchase of a panic-alarm system that doesn't work. But in a joint meeting with the school board and Superintendent Earnest Winston, they got little more than what Winston disclosed in a Jan. 10 news conference.

Former Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools superintendent Clayton Wilcox, who resigned abruptly in July, was accused by at least two senior administrators of making comments offensive to minority and female employees, the Charlotte Observer reported Tuesday.

Updated 4 p.m. 8/2/2019

Smarting from the fallout of two superintendent searches that ended in failure, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board voted Friday to name Earnest Winston superintendent with no plans to conduct a search.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Acting Superintendent Earnest Winston says he will not make any major administrative changes, for the time being, in the staff left behind by Clayton Wilcox who resigned as superintendent last week. On Charlotte Talks Monday, Winston says he is excited to be at the helm of CMS and is focused on getting schools ready for the Aug. 26 opening.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox is resigning effective Aug. 2. The decision comes after the school board met in closed session Friday morning, during which they voted unanimously to accept his resignation. 

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools board has hired a global public relations firm for $30,000 that specializes in crisis management to deal with the aftermath of the suspension of Superintendent Clayton Wilcox. The board suspended Wilcox Monday with pay.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox has been suspended by the board of education. After a meeting Monday morning between Wilcox and some school board leaders, CMS officials announced his suspension in an email. Wilcox, the district’s fifth superintendent in 10 years, has only been on the job two years.

Updated at 12:45 p.m.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox was suspended after meeting with school board leaders this morning.

UPDATED 4 P.M.

CMS Superintendent Clayton Wilcox says school safety is his top priority and that’s reflected in his proposed budget for next year. Wilcox wants almost $22 million dollars to pay for more security cameras, fencing, panic cards for teachers and upgraded locks. 

Monday's deadly shooting at Butler High School comes at a time when officials with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools are in the process of searching for ways to make district schools safer. Many CMS schools received a variety of security upgrades this year to the tune of $1.75 million in funding from the county. Additional funds from county commissioners have been approved that school officials are figuring out where and how to spend. 

Monday was the first day of school for the majority of Charlotte-Mecklenburg students. Additional security measures and a new student assignment plan to make schools more diverse were in place. In an interview on Charlotte Talks, Superintendent Clayton Wilcox said overall things went well.