Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Leaders Recap 1st Week

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools welcomed more than 141,000 students back to class this week. That’s almost enough students to fill Bank of America Stadium twice. Buses ran late, sometimes didn’t show up. District leaders say the bus system is getting fine tuned and are asking for patience. CMS Chief Operations Officer Tim Ivey says, “As each day happens, we are adding new students and updating those routes. So those drivers are literally making adjustments on the fly each and every day.”

Reporters asked how many schools are having air conditioning issues. Ivey replied, “I don’t have an exact number because that is literally fluctuating while we’re talking. But they’re working on it.” He added, “About every two hours our technicians are checking in with us.”

And there were security incidents. One student tried to pass through a metal detector with a pocket knife. Another detector went off when a parent tried to enter the school with bullets in their purse. Then there were two parents who fought in the parking lot at Oakdale Elementary School, and one of them pulled a gun. CMS Superintendent Dr. Crystal Hill says, “Parents, don’t bring the drama to school. Your kids want to come to school and they want to be safe. We want them to be safe. We need the drama to stay outside of school.”

As for the academics, last year, CMS had 455 teacher vacancies at the beginning of the school year. This year, they say they have 276 teacher vacancies.

“I can confidently tell you that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools opening for the 2024-25 academic year was much better than last year’s opening,” says Hill.

One school, Charles Parker Academic Center, also had a busted water pipe that has displaced students. Good news: the repairs that the district thought would take months because of insurance red tape, won’t. Students will return to the building on Wednesday.