CHARLOTTE — The explosive CMS files raise many questions about the actions of CMS Board Chair Stephanie Sneed, including why Raki McGregor was getting multiple jobs, why he was brought back in after Superintendent Dr. Crystal Hill did not renew his contract, whether the School Board knew about his involvement, and whether district policies were purposely not followed to hide his involvement.
Chair Sneed and McGregor have not commented on Dr. Hill’s more than 200-page memo. But it is impossible to overstate how explosive it is against Chair Stephanie Sneed and the rest of the CMS Board.
Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather is now formally asking the State Bureau of Investigation for a probe into financial irregularities. He is asking the SBI to investigate potential violations of criminal law related to legally prohibited transactions.
[ ALSO READ: District Attorney asking SBI to investigate ‘financial irregularities’ involving CMS ]
As Channel 9 reported yesterday, the controversy centers around School Board Chair Stephanie Sneed and Raki McGregor-- a prominent Charlotte executive and consultant.
It is a complicated web between Stephanie Sneed, Crystal Hill, and Raki McGregor.
Sneed is tied to 3 contracts with the Raleigh law firm Poyner Spruill. That law firm then used the funding from CMS to send money from 2 of those contracts to Raki McGregor. This all came after Dr. Hill ended contracts with Raki McGregor and his wife, Kim, the owner of SYDKMYL
A Channel 9 review of contracts associated with Dr.Hill’s memo reveals the district has directly or indirectly paid the McGregor family more than $1 million dating back to the start of the 2024 school year.
Dr. Hill says she has no idea why CMS Board Chair Stephanie Sneed hired a law firm to essentially oversee a program to build affordable housing for teachers on Garinger’s campus. She also doesn’t know why that law firm would then hire Raki McGregor for the project when she says he has had nothing to do with it since his contract with CMS ended.
Records show the $30,000-a-month agreement between McGregor and the law firm for the affordable housing project called on him to do things like “market entry and terrain navigation, relationship access and introductions, and political, corporate, and institutional influence advisory.
He signed the agreement on March 25. That same day, this email shows Chair Stephanie Sneed emailed the CFO saying the Board needs $300K for contracted services. Dr. Hill says she doesn’t know what that money was for; she also says most Board members did not know about the agreement between the law firm and McGregor at this time.
On Hill’s first day back after being placed on paid leave for two months, she got an email from the Chief Finance Officer. It said payments to the law firm could not be processed because there wasn’t a written contract or purchase order.
Dr. Hill says she believes Chair Sneed knew of the district’s contracting requirements and intentionally circumvented them to avoid disclosure of Mr. McGregor’s involvement.
Two days later, Dr. Hill says she met with a board member concerned about the arrangement
She says “the board member was angry because she was not aware a consultant would be hired and she would not have voted to hire Mr. McGregor.”
At this point, Dr. Hill’s memo makes it clear she, some school board members, and the acting general counsel all were in the dark about the full scope of the law firm’s involvement, who was being paid, and whether there was proper documentation for any of it. It’s still unclear if everyone knew everything until Dr. Hill sent out this lengthy memo
On August 22, Dr. Hill says an employee filed a grievance against Sneed for alleged harassment and potential illegal activity surrounding contracts.
In her closing note to Board members, Dr. Hill said, “It is important for each of you to review these documents to ensure you are fully informed of the work that was done by these law firms on your behalf. If you find that work was done without the Board’s knowledge or approval, I think that is a concern.”
She also said her final concern is about the 5 members of her cabinet who have recently submitted resignations.
She says, “I believe these resignations reflect a loss of confidence in the Board of Education. I hope a public discussion of these matters will help improve morale and allow us to focus on the important work of educating children.”
[ READ MORE: Some board members push back on CMS superintendent memo allegations ]
As Channel 9 has been reporting, Dr. Hill claims that when she was told she was being placed on leave, she said she was told that if she resigned by that Friday, the Board wouldn’t go public with anything. She said she considers this “extortion.” Two months later, the Board brought her back. This is all confusing to Dr. Hill.
“I do not understand why the Board did not buy out my contract from the beginning, but I suspect the investigation was used as leverage in hopes that I would accept a severance agreement that included a confidentiality provision,” she said.
When it comes to that decision to bring her back, Sneed wasn’t pleased, according to Dr. Hill.
“It was reported to me that Sneed yelled, cried, claimed to be quitting, handed her gavel to Vice Chair Rankin, and left the building,” she said. “I am told Vice Chair Rankin chased Chair Sneed into the parking garage. It was reported to me that other Board members yelled at each other during this time.”