Liz Monterrey Duvall

CMS Makes May 1 a Teacher Workday as Unfilled Absences Hit 1,934 Ahead of Raleigh March

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education voted 9-0 in an emergency meeting to convert May 1 from a student instructional day to a teacher workday, after district staffing data projected 1,934 unfilled absences for the same Friday thousands of North Carolina educators plan to spend marching in Raleigh.

CMS Board Denies Hill's $2.1B Budget 8-1, Gives Her Two Weeks Without Saying What to Change

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education voted 8-1 Tuesday night to deny Superintendent Crystal Hill's $2.1 billion budget and gave her two weeks to come back with a revised version — without saying, in open session, what to change. After the vote, Hill asked four times for direction at the dais. Chair Stephanie Sneed declined and adjourned. The revised budget is due May 12.

CMS Final Program Choice Plan

Superintendent Crystal Hill's final Program Choice plan, presented to the CMS Board of Education April 28, would consolidate the district's choice programs into six themes, cut programs at 11 schools, add programs at four, and convert all four middle colleges to early colleges. Public hearing May 12; board vote May 26; implementation 2027-28.

CMS Is Cutting Four Foster-Care Liaisons. The County Doesn't Know Yet.

CMS Board Unanimously Approves Hill's Amended Budget — Two Weeks After Denying It 8-1

Two weeks after rejecting Superintendent Crystal Hill's $2.1 billion budget 8-1, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education unanimously approved her amended version on Tuesday. The same operating envelope now carries six negotiated changes — including the elimination of the $2.4 million Capturing Kids Hearts contract and the reinstatement of all four CMS-DSS educational liaison positions. The state budget remains the variable holding everything else still.

CMS Restored All Four Foster-Care Liaisons. A Judge Explained What 20 Years of That Investment Had Built.

District Court Judge Elizabeth Trosch spent nearly two decades in juvenile court before showing up at the May 12 CMS board meeting to explain what the district's sustained investment in four foster-care liaisons had actually produced — and why it had made Mecklenburg County a national model.

The State Funds 78 Percent of CMS Positions. The County Fills the Gap.

The state funds 78 percent of CMS positions. The county funds 2,707 more. Superintendent Crystal Hill showed the board what happens if either side flinches.

CMS Just Committed a School Site to Educator Housing for 99 Years. Now IHSF Has to Raise the Money.

CMS unanimously approved a 99-year lease option with Innovative Housing Solutions Foundation for educator housing adjacent to Garinger High School. IHSF must secure fundraising by June 2027.