Community reacts to CMS' guiding principles draft

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In a surprise move, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education put out a draft of its "guiding principles" at its Tuesday meeting, calming some fears that have been brewing for months.

One of the main concerns: A new plan would move happy students at successful neighborhood schools elsewhere.

The newly released draft says every student will be assigned to a school close to their home.

"I thought it was a positive step in the right direction," Matthews Mayor Jim Taylor told us. "It's a little bit late."

Matthews is one of several Mecklenburg County communities we've told you have looked at splitting from CMS or have held meetings over neighborhood school concerns.

Taylor says the town will continue to research its other options, but could slow down if the board officially passes these principles at its April 26 meeting.

The draft also looks at how a new plan would create diversity and equal access to a high quality education, arguably the main reason behind a student assignment plan.  It calls for considering prioritizing family income for magnet school lotteries, drawing boundaries to create diverse districts, and allowing students to transfer from chronically low performing schools.

Rosalyn Allison-Jacobs with OneMECK says these are good ideas, but shared some concerns.

"The worry is that, especially with the opt-out, that if there is a max exodus, somebody's gonna be left behind and whoever's left behind has very low prospects for that school's performance to improve,” she said.

She said another concern, with the option of leaving low-performing schools: “If it's open to anyone, we have a lot of neighborhoods, such as mine, that have gentrified, and if someone moves into a neighborhood and immediately has the option of opting-out before even attending the school, that doesn't seem quite fair." Allison-Jacobs told us. "We're hoping that the priority to opt-out will be tagged to the family's socioeconomic status rather than simply being assigned to a particular school."

She says she's cautiously optimistic about the draft and that, overall, it shows the board listened to the community.

"I think there's enough room in here to be creative so that we will not perpetuate what is now, which is really not acceptable,” she said.

There will be a public hearing on the draft at Government Center at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Cox Media Group