CHARLOTTE — A 200-page memo written by Dr. Crystal Hill to members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education alleges that district leaders threatened to make serious accusations against her publicly unless she resigned.
Some school board members have denied the allegations and confirmed that the findings of an internal investigation into Hill will be disclosed soon.
An investigation into Dr. Hill began earlier this year following undisclosed allegations.
In her memo, Hill characterized the board’s alleged resignation timeline as extortion, while school board leadership maintained that all proper protocols were followed during the inquiry.
In the 200-page document, Dr. Hill alleged that before her suspension, officials informed her on Tuesday, June 9, that she faced several serious allegations.
According to the memo, she was told those allegations would remain private if she resigned by that Friday, a condition she characterized as extortion.
CMS School Board Vice Chair Dee Rankin pushed back against the claim when asked about the memo’s wording.
“I’m not for sure what she is referring to, but that is not behavior that this board has participated in. So, she can have her feelings, but as of right now that’s not what we participate in as a board,” Rankin said.
Rankin addressed the board’s handling of the matter and emphasized that the results of the investigation would be made public.
“We did our job. We did our due diligence. We brought Dr. Hill back after we had our findings. You will hear about those findings later on this month. But at the same time, you saw that memo; some of those things are her perspective. That doesn’t make it true,” Rankin said.
A major section of the memo focused on contracts and financial payments made to Raki McGregor, a community activist and former CMS executive in residence.
Dr. Hill questioned the payment methods in her memo and claimed that only Board Chair Stephanie Sneed and possibly Rankin were aware of them.
When asked whether they wished to comment on McGregor, school board members declined, with one responding, “Nope, I don’t,” and another saying, “Nope.”
Although Sneed was not present at Thursday’s policy committee meeting, fellow board members defended her against the accusations in the memo. District two Board Member Shamaiye Haynes spoke in support of the board chair.
“She is the leader of our board and essentially a lot of the harm has been centralized to her, although harm to her really is harm to the board as well,” Haynes said.
Despite the accusations contained in the document, board members indicated an intent to maintain a professional working relationship with Dr. Hill.
When asked if the board could continue working with Hill, Rankin answered, “Yes.” Haynes also expressed confidence moving forward, stating, “For me personally, I have every single reason to be positive and to work with who we have.” Attempts to reach Sneed, McGregor, and Hill for comment were unsuccessful.
The results of the investigation into Dr. Hill will be presented publicly during next Tuesday’s school board meeting.
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