Homeowners concerned over CMS student assignment boundaries

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Over the past year, Channel 9 has spoken with dozens of parents about the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools student assignment plan. They said they are not only concerned about their children, but about how it could impact their property value.

This week, as the boundary proposal was released, the concern was reaffirmed.

[Proposed plan impacts 75 of 170 CMS schools.]

Real estate agent Matthew Means said what he sees in the student assignment proposal is moderate change.

"I feel like it's not going to be too much upheaval, but there are going to be some people that are going to have to make some tough choices," Means said.

Overall, he said Charlotte's popularity isn't slowing down which drives value.

"We're getting so many people moving here, and so many are going to need housing, we have a housing shortage in Charlotte, and so really to think that it's going to make one person's value plummet, versus another, I just don't see that happening," Means said.

Even in areas with popular schools impacted in the plan like Huntersville, Cotswold and Dilworth, he's confident they'll still see growth.

Communities now paired with them could too.

One Madison Park home listing on Zillow that's already using the proposal to its advantage, and has changed the school it's currently zoned to, Harding High School, to the proposed school, Myers Park High School.

"That is a big deal to change from Harding to Myers Park," Means said.

But Madison Park is already a sought after neighborhood, he said.

Madison Park Homeowner Association President Douglas Welton said the neighborhood has been pushing for schools closer to home for five years and thinks if this passes, it'll draw in more families.

"They may be more pleased with the options that they have right now and the ease of getting to those options," Welton said.

Cox Media Group