CMS Considers Closing Some Schools, Implementing Year-Round Schedule At Others

Leaders at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools met Thursday and laid out a list of more than a dozen schools that could be in danger of closing or being consolidated.

Schools that could be closed or consolidated

• Amay James Pre-K

• Billingsville Elementary

• Walter G. Byers Elementary

• Druid Hills Elementary

• Lincoln Heights Elementary

• Pawtuckett Elementary

• Sedgefield Elementary

• Westerly Hills Elementary

• Cochrane Middle

• Davidson IB Middle

• Spaugh Middle

• John Taylor Williams Middle

• Wilson Middle

The district is considering closing schools as a cost-cutting measure, as it anticipates a budget shortfall for the 2011-12 school year.

CMS Superintendent Peter Gorman and his staff stressed that closing or consolidating are only options for those schools. For many of the 13 schools, redrawing boundaries and adding programs were also options that officials discussed Thursday.

Nearly all of the schools on the list are considered underutilized, meaning they're not close to being filled.

CMS officials and school board members discussed each school that is currently recommended for some type of change -- a list that's grown to include 37 schools. (Click here to see the full list.) The district is considering year-round schooling at some of the schools on the list that are too full, officials said.

Schools recommended for possible year-round schooling

• Ballantyne Elementary

• Hickory Grove Elementary

• Highland Creek Elementary

• Hornets Nest Elementary

• Torrence Creek Elementary

• Community House Middle

• Mint Hill Middle

Year-round schooling would help alleviate overcrowding because students’ schedules could be staggered, CMS officials said, and fewer students would be at the schools at once.

“One of the reasons to go to year-round schools is to try and save space and save dollars. But when you do it with a small segment of students, you can be limited on what you save,” Gorman said. “So you have to look at the reasons you say to do it, and what turns into reality.”

For many of those schools, though, adding more mobile classrooms or changing boundaries are also options.

Thursday’s meeting was one of many that Gorman and the school board will have. All decisions will need to be made by mid-November.

Previous Stories: September 8, 2010: Potential Changes To Schools Raise Questions Among Parents September 8, 2010: CMS Considering Changes At 32 Schools