Three Things Parents, CMS Are Watching As School Starts

CHARLOTTE, NC — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools are back in session, and the district’s new superintendent listed what he wants to see change this year.

All eyes are on three things: bus timing, overcrowding and teacher staffing.

“It was really busy. It’s usually busy. I remember last year it was a week before all the kinks were straightened out,” said one parent, Julie Kasey.

Late bus drop off and pick ups are typical issues, but CMS is short 28 bus drivers this year. So most buses were on time compared to last year when the district was short nearly 100 bus drivers.

“We had a heavier concentration of drivers that came on to our campuses today which really slowed some of our buses down,” said Superintendent Dr. Clayton Wilcox.

WCCB Charlotte followed the new superintendent as he monitored schools Monday.

He acknowledged parents complained of overcrowded buses.

“On the opening day of school, there are often times too many kids assigned to a bus because you don’t know how many kids are actually going to ride the bus. Those things will all shake out over the next week to 10 days,” said Dr. Wilcox.

He says that could also be because enrollment is up, especially among 11th and 12th graders in north and south side schools.

At the same time, CMS is short more than 48 teachers.

“We’re not prepared to say that we have staffing adjustments to make, but we’re simply watching very carefully the numbers that we have,” said Dr. Wilcox.

Dr. Wilcox says he’s also watching to make sure teacher absentees stay low… he wants to see kids more fluent in Spanish, and he wants to make sure buildings stay clean and well maintained.