NC senator quizzes CMS on south Charlotte plan. District asks: who should get priority?

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A state senator demanded answers on the south Charlotte student reassignment proposal after hearing from a group of unhappy parents.

Sen. Rachel Hunt, a Charlotte Democrat, emailed Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ board members and Superintendent Crystal Hill last week questioning the district’s transparency and criteria used to balance boundaries in a massive student reassignment plan. Hunt’s 42nd District covers much of the area affected by the redistricting.

Hunt’s questions stem from accusations made by families in the Polo Ridge Elementary School zone and others, who are furious Hill’s proposal — scheduled for a school board vote Tuesday night — will send their children to new middle and high schools and split feeder patterns.

A CMS staff member penned an email response on behalf of the board and Hill to Hunt, who is also running for lieutenant governor.

“Any time student assignment occurs, some parents don’t like the outcome,” said Charles Jeter, executive director of government affairs, policy and board services. “The board understands that and appreciates the concerns these parents have. This is why there have literally been dozens of community engagement sessions between staff and board members with almost all neighborhood groups.”

Among those meetings: more intimate virtual calls on Friday between upset Polo Ridge Elementary parents and CMS staff. The Charlotte Observer confirmed CMS staff and a few board members met with two different groups of Polo Ridge Elementary parents Friday via Zoom to listen to their concerns

There are roughly 42,000 families in the geographic area currently affected by the opening of a new high and middle school, said Dennis LaCaria, executive director of facilities and real estate planning for CMS. Polo Ridge Elementary enrolls just under 600 students.

The new high school will be at 12218 North Community House Road. The planned new middle school has yet to have an address because the road doesn’t exist, LaCaria said. The construction has forced the county to come up with a new boundary and reassignment plan to populate those schools. And it’s been a monthslong, multiple-draft process.

Which residents should be prioritized?

The group of parents from Polo Ridge, Hawk Ridge and Rea Farms schools that call themselves CMS Parents United, created their own south Charlotte reassignment proposal they say avoids assigning any family to two new schools. They say their proposal —presented to the district last Friday — also meets the board’s goals when considering boundaries: home-to-school distance, the utilization of buildings, a balance of socioeconomic status and limited split feeder patterns.

“Fairness and an unbiased process is important for us,” said Aditya Chaudhary of CMS Parents United. “We dug into available public data, put in hundreds of hours of effort to come up with an alternative plan. We urge CMS to study this plan and use it as a baseline for making a just, fair decision.”

Hunt in her email questioned whether CMS evaluated the parents’ proposal and asked whether the school board would make changes to “better align with parents’ concerns.”

CMS board members have always used their criteria, Jeter replied, and emphasized that the criteria hasn’t changed.

“One neighborhood’s complaints are that the superintendent’s recommendation would require them to be a part of the opening for both a middle and high school,” Jeter wrote. “That is true. No matter how the board approves the lines, at least one neighborhood is going to be faced with that challenge.”

Jeter asked Hunt which parents’ concerns she would like Hill’s proposal to better align with.

“I’m guessing you’re hearing from Polo Ridge residents. Do you want us to just listen to them?” Jeter said. “What about the Ballantyne residents and the Hawk Ridge residents? Which resident’s opinions would you prefer we prioritize to the detriment of others?”

The Observer on Monday contacted Hunt and her legislative assistant Wesley Davis. Neither returned requests for comment.

Fair and transparent process

Jun Jiang, a retired U.S. Navy veteran and owner of a small startup, is the father of a second-grade student at Polo Ridge Elementary. He told the Observer the family relocated to south Charlotte four years ago because of its favorable environment, educational opportunities, and affordable cost of living.

Hill’s recommendation, which came out May 15, is the first time Polo Ridge Elementary was included in any scenario. He says her proposal “unfairly targets our community and has left me profoundly dismayed.”

His concerns mirror others: they believe CMS has shown a lack of transparency and listening.

“It seems that our concerns were dismissed,” Jiang said. “This dismissive attitude has only added to my frustration and has fueled a growing sense of dissatisfaction within our community.”

Hunt said in her email she’s happy new schools are being built to address overcrowding. The senator said she understands students must be rezoned for the new schools, but she’s concerned that “this process and the current proposal is not taking into consideration the impact on local communities and families.”

Hunt wrote she’s concerned about CMS’ transparency during the process, both in listening to parents’ concerns and explaining the criteria used in deciding where and how the lines were drawn.

She questioned the short time some parents had to react considering Hill’s recommendation “was made public May 23.” Hunt also asked why the district hadn’t explained the criteria used in the process. But CMS made Hill’s proposal public May 15 and presented it to the board May 23.

“It is publicly available in multiple places online and has been presented to the public at the dozens of public engagement sessions we’ve had and as part of every presentation at board meetings,” Jeter wrote in rebuttal. “In your letter you state there is a priority ranking of the criteria. That is simply false. The board’s longstanding policy lists the criteria to be considered, however it does not offer a ranking of which is more important than the other.”

County commissioner weighs in

Susan Rodriguez-McDowell was first elected to the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners in 2018. She represents District 6, which stretches along Mecklenburg’s southern border, and is a parent to three young-adult children who attended south Charlotte CMS schools.

Rodriguez-McDowell says she’s received a large number of emails from concerned south Charlotte parents and attended multiple redistricting meetings over the past few months to hear concerns.

“I was pleased to see people bringing their concerns forward and being engaged in the process even though some were clearly upset. That is unavoidable and expected,” Rodriguez-McDowell said.

She said the south Charlotte community is out of balance with the rest of the city as far as socioeconomic status. Traffic and distance are other legitimate concerns in the area.

“None of these school choices are bad schools, some may have a longer commute, but the new, state-of-the-art schools are going to be amazing,” she said. “Feeders that are split at the middle or high school level are an opportunity to widen community and acquire new friends – further preparing children for their big and bright future.”