CMS Board Could Impact Value of Your Home

October 31, 2015

Morgan Fogarty,

CHARLOTTE, N.C.- “They ended up in Union County.” Get ready to hear those six words a lot more often.

Real estate broker Michelle Eubank says just the talk of redrawing school boundaries is enough to send her home-buying clients out of Mecklenburg. Eubank says, “They want to know that wherever they end up, they’re going to be able to spend the next 8 – 10 years, raise their families and invest in a school and make roots in that school, not have it get uprooted.”

CMS leaders say they want to diversify schools. They’ve talked about doing that through both voluntary and forced busing to assigned and magnet schools. That, critics argue, de-stabilizes residential real estate markets, among other things.

The Providence Plantation Home Owners Association in southeast Charlotte sent out an email to homeowners, urging them to vote and reading in part, “Even if you don’t have school-aged children, these decisions could affect you and the property values in our neighborhood.”

WCCB Charlotte surveyed the nine at-large school board candidates two weeks ago and again Friday on whether they support busing. Current board chair Mary McCray and candidate Amelia Stinson-Wesley still declined to answer. Angela Ambroise has said she’s “not necessarily against busing.” Janeen Bryant says she “doesn’t think mandatory busing is the only answer.” Current member at-large Ericka Ellis-Stewart says she is “not advocating for a return to busing.”

Jeremy Stephenson, Larry Bumgarner, Elyse Dashew and Levester Flowers say they do not support busing.

School assignment is essential to home buyers. Eubank says her clients are no different. She says, “I actually just had a client go under contract, they were asking me how likely it is that the schools are gonna change.”

CMS has also proposed spending an additional $6 million to provide both neighborhood and shuttle stops for magnet school students. The election is Tuesday.