Huntersville Vs. Cornelius? Some Worry School Board is Pitting Towns Against One Another

Marvin Beach,

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. – Some local leaders say they’re worried the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board is pitting the two towns against one another, to stop a possible new northern Mecklenburg County school district.

Last year, the school board took four towns (Huntersville, Cornelius, Matthews, and Mint Hill) off the CMS priority list for new school construction, after a state law passed allowing those towns to open their own charter schools.

But now, CMS seems to be making nice with Cornelius.

The board is planning to vote Tuesday night on putting the town back on the priority list.

Some are wondering… why just Cornelius?

β€œThe narrative is that Huntersville is, we’re the bad boys, and we’re not playing nice with CMS,” says Mark Gibbons, a Huntersville Town Commissioner.

Some have speculated the district may be trying to keep Huntersville and Cornelius from working together to break away from CMS.

WCCB Charlotte asked Gibbons, “Do you think the school board, right now is trying to play Cornelius and Huntersville against each other?”

Gibbons replied, “Absolutely. I don’t know how you’d look at it any different. You’re going to put one of two in the same area, in the same representative’s area. One’s gonna get the pass, the other’s gonna get the five year sentence? I don’t know how else to say it. Yeah they’re pitting us against each other.”

School board member Rhonda Cheek tells WCCB Charlotte that’s not the case.

β€œYou can’t number one, they’re two completely different scenarios, but no, we’re not trying to pit anybody against each other,” Cheek says.

Cheek says the mayor in Cornelius has been willing to prioritize working with CMS over opening charter schools.

A charter school advisory board there also chose to make no recommendation.

β€œHuntersville’s number one recommendation was to form their own school district. And their second was to open their own charter school,” Cheek explains.

Cheek says she’s still willing to work with Huntersville town leaders to add them back to the priority list as well but says there just aren’t enough votes for that right now.