Passion and pleas from south Charlotte parents, students at marathon school maps meeting
Talk about an epic pep rally.
Signs, school colors, cheering … pleading.
Parents and students — more than a hundred — packed the Chamber Room of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center on Tuesday night to ensure Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ board members and new Superintendent Crystal Hill saw and heard how much they love their neighborhood or home schools.
And most don’t want to leave them.
For thousands of families in south Charlotte, the district’s monthslong task of trying to find the right balance and boundaries for a massive student reassignment has caused waves of emotion.
The job must be done, says Dennis LaCaria, the executive director of facilities and real estate planning, because both a new high school opening 2024-25 and middle school planned for 2025-26 need to be populated, and other schools in the area need relief from overcrowding.
More than a week after Hill released her final recommendation, community members spoke out during a three-hour public hearing Tuesday night. Some praised the district and thanked officials for their hard work.
Others expressed disappointment and concern.
Another group wants the board to vote “no” on the plan.
Still others want the vote scheduled for June 6 delayed.
And some just want this all to be over with.
“Next year I’ll be attending South (Mecklenburg) High School and my school assignment will not change. So I know exactly which high school I will be going to regardless of what happens with the vote,” said Adelyn Foster, an eighth-grader at Carmel Middle School. “I’m here to represent my peers and friends at Carmel who do not know which high school they’ll be attending. This whole school year we’ve been waiting for a decision. Adults have been arguing. People have said bad things about one school or another.”
Foster added: “We need a decision.”
A bus trip and signs
More than 50 parents from Polo Ridge Elementary wore green shirts and rented a bus to drive to the meeting Tuesday. Hill’s recommendation was like a sucker-punch to most of them — it assigns Polo Ridge to the new relief high school and the majority of families to the new relief middle. It’s a change from earlier drafts.
Multiple parents wore tie-dye shirts representing a portion of Alexander Graham Middle families slated to go to Myers Park High. But in Hill’s proposal, that small group will be moved to South Mecklenburg High.
Groups from South Mecklenburg High School and Olde Providence Elementary were among those attending.
In all, the recommendation will impact roughly 27 schools. And dozens of signs told the stories.
“Polo Ridge 2 Ardrey Kell”
“Polo Ridge: No time to react!!”
“One campus, one answer! Keep Sharon/AG at Myers Park.”
“Don’t Delay the Vote.”
“1+2=? Community + New Schools = Students’ Failures.”
Patrick Williams has a son who will be a freshman at Ardrey Kell High next school year. He attended two community sessions. His neighborhood was not impacted until last Monday’s recommendation. If the board approves the proposal, Williams’ son will be a sophomore when he will have to attend the new high school.
“Seeing us reassigned in this latest and final proposal has left me feeling really, in a word, betrayed,” Williams said. “Betrayed by the very school system we’ve been a part of and supported over the past nine years in south Charlotte.”
Williams added: “This drastic change seems cruel.” He asked the board to “slow down.”
Other parents across south Mecklenburg County have raised concerns about everything from balanced socioeconomic diversity to home-to-school distance to split feeder patterns.
Passion for schools
Charles Jeter, the executive director of government affairs, policy, and board services, told the Observer that the 105 people who signed up for the public hearing is the most he can remember for one single issue since 2017 — when the district was tackling student reassignment.
A public hearing on that reassignment plan also drew more than 100 people to the podium.
On Tuesday, a two-minute time limit was set for speakers instead of the standard three minutes to accommodate the crowd.
“It shows how passionate people are about their school communities,” board member Melissa Easley said. “I love to see the passion and love our families have for their school community, and I hope the passion and involvement continues to support our staff, students and schools long after we finalize the boundaries.”
A group of about 144 families, the majority of whom live in the Thornhill community near the Stonecrest shopping center, signed a letter to board members dated May 17 — two days after the final recommendation was released. Several spoke during the public hearing. Their major concern: Hill’s proposal sends their children to Quail Hollow Middle School, more than 6 miles away.
In earlier drafts, the community was zoned to stay at Jay M. Robinson Middle School, which is much closer.
And joining the voices of other parents, they say they were blindsided.
“This last-minute gerrymandered change leaves parents scrambling to have their voices heard within a few days while other families have had months to voice their feedback and concerns about changes proposed earlier,” the letter states. “Our ask is for you to vote no on the proposed boundary map.”
Heather Briganti has one child currently zoned to Jay M. Robinson. Her son would have to switch to Quail Hollow between seventh and eighth grades, or would be grandfathered into Jay M. Robinson for eighth grade — but without transportation.
“I’m concerned not just for my child, but for all the kids and families who will have to go unnecessarily far out of their way for school drop-offs and pick-ups, events, sports activities, and even things like sick calls from the nurse (in addition to how much time these kids will have to spend on the bus),” Briganti said.
