The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board took its first big step in the student assignment process. The board approved a new set of goals that will guide the plan.
The board approved the goals 7-1 but only after board members formally addressed many of the fears parents have expressed over the last several weeks.
They all acknowledged the concerns over busing and keeping neighborhood schools and the desire to put something that addresses that in the goals.
Board member Rhonda Lennon was the only member who voted against the goals, saying they weren't necessary and they're driving some of the fear.
"We have to tell this community that we do support neighborhood schools, that your child will be assigned (a) seat," she said. "Until that happens, I don't think the community, no matter what we say up here right now, is going to believe us."
However, not all board members agreed.
"We're talking about aspirational goals," said Vice-Chair Elyse Dashew. "Big, wide-open, positive, this is what we're reaching for. One of the things that they do for me is, without using the language, is they recognize that student assignment is justice for all."
As for the goals, the board intends to:
-provide choices and equal access for all children;
-maximize resources to reduce overcrowding;
-reduce schools with high concentrations of poverty;
-provide options for students in underperforming schools;
-and preserve and expand successful schools and programs.
The next step is creating guiding principles. The board said that's where it'll be able to be more specific about how to achieve those goals and talk about neighborhood schools and magnet options.
The board also mapped out their plan for a superintendent search after deciding they would extend current superintendent Ann Clark's contract for 1 year.
The board voted to establish a timeline for the superintendent search on March 8.
Channel 9 dug deeper into the numbers to show diversity is a problem in the district.
The most recent data from the 2012-2013 school year shows 54 percent are considered economically disadvantaged.
That is up from 50 percent in 2010.
For example, 4.1 percent of student at Providence Elementary School are economically disadvantaged compared to 93.6 percent at Hidden Valley Elementary School.
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