South Charlotte school lines: What people are saying about big CMS board vote
Some in Charlotte took to social media Tuesday and Wednesday to react to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ board approving new attendance lines in south Charlotte that will move students from multiple schools to new schools.
The boundary changes, approved Tuesday night by a 7-2 margin, have been a point of contention for months.
Dozens of parents spoke during public comment periods over multiple meetings. Some involved their state senator in the debate and a group of students formed a human chain around their school in protest of proposed changes.
In almost 500 comments left on the Facebook Live feed of Tuesday’s meeting, some continued to question the district’s plan.
“South Meck is great,” viewer Elizabeth Hertzog wrote. “It’s just not fair to make these kids leave everyone they know for high school after they’ve already been split in 5th grade and drive 5-7 miles farther for school.”
Another viewer said they attended multiple high schools due to rezoning when in school in the 1990s.
“It was horrible and I hate that they’re still doing this to kids,” they wrote.
Others said they were eager for the board to make a decision.
“I hope they vote before school is out this week,” viewer Katie Matthews wrote. “It would be nice for rising 8th graders to have a decision before they leave for summer.”
Viewer Tony Stone said he empathized with the complicated decisions school board members had to make.
“It’s a tough challenge,” he wrote. “The population growth in South Charlotte requires new schools, but that can’t happen without impacting some negatively. I don’t envy the decision the school board must make — some portion of the population will be upset no matter what they choose. The best they can do is approve the plan that benefits the most while reasoning the growth burden on existing schools.”
See all the comments left during Tuesday’s school board meeting below:
In a live question and answer session on The Charlotte Observer Facebook, hosted by Observer education reporter Anna Maria Della Costa, some raised concerns about the transparency of the rezoning process.
“Ask why there were changes to the final plan that were NEVER on previous drafts in the 14 months leading up to it,” viewer Jennifer Meehan Ricketts wrote in. “Families are blindsided and kids are paying a big price for their incompetency. CMS should never be trusted and has talked out of both sides of their mouths this entire process.”
“My neighbor was part of the parent work group the whole time and updated our community (Thornhill) regularly with updates along the way. Even she felt blindsided by the final recommendation and how different it was from previous drafts,” viewer Christy Liz wrote.
See all the questions asked of board members and their responses during the Observer’s live event below:
Read more reaction to the CMS board vote on social media below:
@CMSboard @CharMeckSchools I’m heartbroken for these children caught in the middle, especially when none of the 4 goals are being met to break up neighborhood and school communities in draft 3. My children suffered greatly w/ anxiety due to remote learning and need consistency.
— sarahsofiaproductions (@SarahSofiaPro) June 7, 2023
What a failure of an education board. No one wanted perfect, but the recommendation was awful. Simply incompetent that will negatively impact thousands of children and multiple communities.
— Badfish (@Kyle_Dub) June 7, 2023
