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CMS continues to anticipate increased enrollment for school year

By Stephanie Maxwell
By Stephanie Maxwell

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools expect 2,400 new students when school starts Monday, part of a trend that could mean several new schools needed in the future.

Providence High School parent Maria Fulcher pointed out the traffic, including all of the school buses, to see how Charlotte is growing.

"I think Charlotte is definitely growing really fast, and I don't think the schools or the roads are keeping up with the population," she said.

For the 2015-16 school year, CMS is opening two new schools -- Parkside Elementary in northeast Charlotte and Lawrence Orr Elementary in east Charlotte.

Newell Elementary and Hawthorne Academy of Health Sciences are in new buildings.

Starmount and Oakhurst used to be district offices, but will reopen Monday as elementary schools.

Superintendent Ann Clark said Tuesday that it's still not enough.

“(We are) anticipating bringing back over 147,000 students next Monday, which is an increase in our enrollment of approximately 2,406 students,” she said.

In June, CMS reported 116 of its 164 schools are at or above 100 percent capacity.

When it comes to high schools, it's beyond max in the Mallard Creek part of north Charlotte and in South Charlotte, which includes Ardrey Kell High, which has numerous mobile classrooms.

That June report said the district needs 36 new schools to handle the projected growth of about 21,000 students by 2024.

Clark is anxious to see an update to the report in September, which will lay out recommendations for what to do next beyond mobile classrooms.

"That's simply buying us time to get a bond approved or add additional permanent classroom space to that site," Clark said.

"I don't know how they're going to do it, because there's really no room to put the schools," Fulcher said.

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