CHARLOTTE — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ new Interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh attended his first Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools board meeting Tuesday night and talked about his plan to move the district in a new direction.
[RELATED COVERAGE: Interim superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh officially takes over as CMS leader]
Hattabaugh took over the district after the board of education appointed him to replace Earnest Winston.
“There’s very few districts in the country that I would ever entertain and Charlotte is one that I was really thrilled to get the opportunity to come back, give back a little to Charlotte,” he said.
Hattabaugh said that before he took the job, he wanted to know if he could make personnel changes to improve students’ outcomes. He was told he could.
Hattabaugh said he has plans to shake up the way staff is structured and is pitching a reorganization of academic leaders with the goal of creating more learning communities.
Recruiting teachers and retention will be a major focus. He said it will be nearly impossible to close the achievement gap if the district starts with 500 to 600 teachers down.
The interim superintendent also said student safety will be a priority.
Hattabaugh wants to have more trusted adults posted throughout schools. Hattabaugh said as students settle back in after two years of disruptions, he’s hopeful the number of weapons and violent incidents on campus will decrease.
One of the safety solutions from his predecessor, Earnest Winston, was the implementation of clear backpacks.
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The backpacks are on hold now because of the discovery of Prop 65 warning labels on them. Hattabaugh said the backpacks will stay on hold for now, but there are serious discussions on the next steps.
(Watch the video below: CMS Board of Education unanimously approves $2.1 billion proposed budget)
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