CMS’ Case For Continuous Upheaval
Emotions ran high again during a public forum Monday, after district officials unveiled a last-minute change to close Harding University High School instead of Waddell High School. Under the latest proposal, students and staff from Smith Academy, which would close, would move to Harding, with that school’s IB magnet program shuffling to Waddell and its math-and-science program moving to Phillip O. Berry.
CMS staff said the Waddell/Harding closing switch was made in response to community feedback and to align with the school board’s guiding principles, which gives top priority to neighborhood schools over magnets in student-assignment decisions. Keeping Waddell open would also save CMS from losing nearly $2 million in federal money targeted for improvements at Waddell.
Tuesday night’s school board tumult erupted after a tense exchange between Superintendent Peter Gorman and board member Richard McElrath, who questioned why officials had scheduled a public forum Wednesday night at Harding when final recommendations for changes were already being made.
“How much weight would that carry?” McElrath asked. “And if it’s not going to carry a lot of weight, why go?”
“We’ve made our recommendations,” Gorman countered. “That question rests with the board members.”
“But we haven’t heard from the Harding folks, won’t until tomorrow night, and you’re saying that we’ve made our recommendations, it goes to the board, and it passes these folks,” McElrath said, gesturing to audience, and subsequently again asked Gorman if it was important to get input form parents on where their children would be going to school, before making any final recommendations.
“That’s a question, sir, that has multiple parts,” Gorman started in reply, but never got a chance to finish before the crowd began a low chant of “No justice, no peace.”
“Okay, you’ve interrupted our meeting,” said school board chairman Eric Davis, gaveling the dais. “We’ve asked you to be quite.”
Instead the chant grew louder.
“Okay, we’re going to take a recess and we’ll reconvene in a few minutes,” Davis said, at which point board members exited behind closed doors as a cadre of police officers formed in front of the dais and began herding audience members out of the chamber. The crowd exited peacefully, with some singing “We Shall Overcome.”
As the crowd reassembled outside the meeting chamber, Kojo Nantambu, head of the local NAACP, had harsh words for the school board, CMS officials, and the final recommendations for school closures and changes.
“It’s nothing but a joke,” he said. “They’ve already decided what they’re going to do. They’re not interested in satisfying poor parents, black parents, and minority parents. They wouldn’t try to pull this crap in the suburbs.”
The school board reconvened its meeting about 30 minutes after it had recessed, and members returned to a sparsely populated meeting chamber. The board adjourned after hearing a brief wrap-up of staff proposals. The school board is scheduled to vote on the recommendations on Nov. 9, so plans will be in place before January’s school-application period starts.
Some of the changes included in the final slate of recommendations: boundary realignments for Community House and South Charlotte middle schools; consolidate Winding Springs elementary school (ES) magnet program with Marie G. Davis to create a K-12 magnet; create a new home school at Winding Springs to relieve overcrowding at Hornets Nest and Nathaniel Alexander; relocate Right Choices/Bank Street alternative school from Marie G. Davis campus, to a location to be determined; close Irwin Avenue ES and reassign home school students to Dilworth ES and a new Pre-K – 8 school at Ashley Park; create a new IB magnet program at Blythe ES and a new language immersion/talent development magnet program at Mallard Creek ES.
Close Lincoln Heights ES and reassign students to Pre-K – 8 school at Bruns Avenue; relocate Villa Heights ES students and staff to Lincoln Heights facility; consolidate Pawtuckett ES with Whitewater Academy; consolidate University Park Creative Arts ES with First Ward Creative Arts as year-round magnet starting in 2012-13.
Expand Cochrane Middle School (MS) to 6-12 by adding one grade level each year (full enrollment 2014-15 school year); consolidate and relocate Davidson IB to Alexander MS; create expanded K – 8 home schools at Ashley Park, Bruns Avenue, Thomasboro, Westerly Hills, Walter G. Byers, Druid Hills, Berryhill, Reid Park; relocate Morgan School to Oakhurst ES; reassign Oakhurst home school students to Billingsville ES and Rama Road ES.
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