CMS falls short of ‘very aspirational’ student goals — and loss of COVID money won’t help

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools won’t meet its student goals that expire this fall and remains behind other N.C. districts in catching up from pandemic-induced learning losses.

The goals currently in place pertain to math, elementary school literacy among Black and Latino students and school performance. Superintendent Crystal Hill said during a presentation to the school board last week the district’s students made significant gains in math performance over the past year, but they’re still likely to fall far short of the goals. That’s on top of new data showing CMS lags behind some other districts in the state in helping students catch up.

Meanwhile, the district is losing its ability to spend money intended to help struggling students.

According to data from January, 13.2% of CMS students scored 4 or 5 – the highest possible designation – on end-of-term Math 1 exams. That’s up from 7.3% in 2021, but still well below the board’s target of 25% by October. With nearly 12% growth needed in less than a year, the chances CMS will meet that benchmark are slim to none.

Hill says the goals that expire in October were too ambitious to begin with, and learning loss during the pandemic made them even more challenging.

“I would say that the goal that was set was very aspirational but very difficult to attain, especially during a pandemic,” Hill said. “Any gain of more than 3% year-over-year is a herculean effort.”

Hill said the goals the school board adopted in October 2023 are “very attainable, solid goals,” in contrast with the lofty ones set by the previous board.

In its new goals, CMS aims to increase the number of students receiving the highest scores on Math 1 state assessments by just under 30% between September 2023 and June 2029.

The more modest goals are too conservative for one county commissioner, Arthur Griffin, who previously served as school board chairman. He called the goals “horribly, horribly low” during a county-CMS meeting on Wednesday and said he’s concerned about middle-class families choosing to leave CMS.

“I care deeply about this school district, and my observations are, as I talk to upwardly mobile African-American families, that they are opting to send their kids to private schools or outside of CMS,” Griffin said. “And that just scares me.”

Hill took issue with Griffin’s comments, saying that the goals still were among the most ambitious in the state.

How are CMS students doing?

Ambitious or not, CMS is still struggling to return test scores to pre-pandemic levels. CMS saw greater declines in learning during the pandemic than the state on average as well as similar districts. That means it has far more ground to make up.

According to the National Education Recovery Scorecard, students in CMS are still more than three-quarters of a year behind in math and about a third of a year behind in reading when compared to 2019. Other districts in North Carolina, including Wake County Public Schools, caught up to pre-pandemic levels. Durham Public Schools is among some districts that surpassed pre-pandemic performance.

But CMS saw nearly twice the learning loss between 2019 and 2022 than other districts in North Carolina of a similar size and socioeconomic makeup.

And that’s only part of its challenges.

Around $190 million in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding to CMS from the federal government expires at the end of September. That’s the last of around $500 million the district has received in total in federal pandemic recovery funds.

The impending “fiscal cliff” is not unique to CMS, as school districts around the country will be losing millions of dollars in federal funding. The funds were always intended to be a temporary measure to help school districts recover from pandemic learning loss.

Loss of COVID money could be a roadblock

The loss of funding is forcing the district to make tough decisions about how to best serve its students.

“There’s nobody coming in as a knight in shining armor with $180 million,” said Charles Jeter, executive director of government affairs, policy and board services at CMS.

So, how will CMS make up the difference?

While the district may slash positions to the tune of $60 million, Hill said previously she hopes to avoid people losing their jobs, which will involve moving employees around to different roles.

“Dr. Hill has said while we will lose positions, we won’t lose people, and we’re optimistic that’s true,” Jeter said.

Still, the drastic cut in funding could present a roadblock to CMS’ student outcome aspirations. For example, the district is cutting its guest teacher program, which currently uses ESSER funds to employ 500 guest teachers at specific schools on one-year contracts. They were helpful as the district, like many others across the country, experienced persistent teacher shortages, and those roles will account for the bulk of the 700 total positions being cut. Also on the chopping block are retention bonuses for teachers and tutoring services in math and English, for which the district currently pays vendors with ESSER funds.

The district plans to continue to provide out-of-school tutoring services through September 2025.

CMS help for struggling students

Hill assured the school board some strategies that have proven to be effective will continue in the district, even in the absence of federal funding. For example, the district used a portion of the federal money to hire extra math and literacy instructors to assist students without permanent teachers. Hill said the district will continue this specific intervention.

“With the new plan, we’re still providing math and literacy master teachers in every school, even without ESSER dollars,” Hill said. “We knew that these funds will sunset in September 2024, and we have been planning for that.”

CMS also may try to buy extra time to use the federal money when the board visits legislators in Washington, D.C. this March. It won’t be a request for more money — but instead a longer runway to spend existing funds that will otherwise expire Sept. 30.

“My guess is we’ll ask for a federal waiver to extend the deadline to spend that money through March 2025,” Jeter said.

It’s not yet clear whether that request will be approved.

Board members are optimistic amid student growth challenges.

“It took a lot of consideration, planning, data and community engagement to create our goals, so I’m very confident and optimistic about achieving those goals,” said Dee Rankin, vice chair of the CMS board of education. “I’m actually excited because I feel like, over the next few years, we could even overachieve and go beyond those goals.”

NC Reality Check is a Charlotte Observer series holding those in power accountable and shining a light on public issues that affect the Charlotte area or North Carolina. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@charlotteobserver.com