Board Member affirms her vote to keep Dr. Hill as CMS superintendent

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In a 5-4 vote, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education voted to terminate superintendent Dr. Crystal Hill without cause just weeks after reinstating her.

“I am deeply disappointed in where we are and where we are as a board, I am not in alignment right now,” CMS Board member Anna London from District 6 said.

London was one of the four board members who voted to keep Dr. Hill. London says the district improved under Hill’s leadership.

“I believe that Dr. Hill came in and in a very, very rigorous timeline and got the district on track to have two years of historic gains,” London said. “Not just historic gains, but now we have the highest graduation rate in CMS history, 88%.”

A week before she was fired, Hill sent a more than 200 page email to the board with receipts she’d been collecting for over a year. Her documents and timeline pointed to conflicts of interest in contracts surrounding former Board Chair Stephanie Sneed.

“I did not vote on those contracts,” London said. “They did not come up for a vote because it’s below the threshold that requires a board vote.”

The state auditor is taking a closer look at financial irregularities and contracts within CMS.
The district paid a firm more than $379,000 to investigate Dr. Hill over the summer. The firm did not find evidence of misconduct from Hill, but did find opportunities for operational improvements.

“I think there are opportunities,” London said. “We’ve got lessons learned, new policies, new procedures, you know, maybe some things we need to put in place in specific departments.”

Moving forward, under a microscope of the state audit and SBI investigation, on top of a superintendent search, London says she’s committed to doing the work even if the board is divided.

“I don’t want all of our stuff and these adult behaviors to overshadow the incredible work that is happening in our schools,” London said. “I would also say keep reaching out.”

London says board members will likely form a superintendent search committee. The committee will lead the charge on hiring a firm to do a nationwide search for the next leader of CMS.

She says she hopes there will be many opportunities for public input along the way. Until then, Dr. Melissa Balknight is serving as acting superintendent.