Petition update

Final Maps Show Sharon/Carmel going to South Meck

Laura Grant
Charlotte, NC, United States
Mar 25, 2023

Hello Everyone,

CMS has not officially released the boundary maps for the 2024 school year, but once again they showed the maps to a select few.  I was not one of them!  Despite being sworn to secrecy, the word is out that Sharon/Carmel students will indeed be re-zoned to South Meck.  OP/Carmel students will likely be re-zoned to South Charlotte/Providence.  This is good news for them, as they were able to advocate effectively for a proper feeder pattern for their elementary/middle/high school.  Unfortunately, CMS opted not to do that for Sharon/Carmel families.

There is a community meeting to "reveal" the maps Monday, March 27, at 6:30 in the Myers Park High School auditorium.  Please attend if you want one final push to advocate for our students and families.  I'm not aware of any "grandfathering" of students other than rising seniors.  Many will have students that are disrupted in the middle of high school, or, like me, would have children at two different high schools.

Once again, the 4 principles need to be followed and are not in the current scenario of moving us to SM.

  1.  Distance to home - Myers Park is the closest school for the majority of students that fall in the Sharon/Carmel zone.
  2. Elementary school feeders for High School - Guiding Principles only indicate Elementary Schools are the feeder for high schools, NOT Middle Schools. Elementary schools are the smallest, most localized zones and keeping communities together for high school is a priority.
  3. SES - little to no change in SES occurs when moving Sharon/Carmel students to South Meck
  4. Utilization - Enrollment at Sharon Elementary is down 25% over the past 4 years. This trend is consistent with other Myers Park elementary school feeders. Moving our small group of students from Myers Park to South Meck still leaves South Meck as an over capacity school at 108% with no benefit to our students and huge disruption to our families. Myers Park enrollment is already on the decline and we will meet desired capacity levels naturally, falling below 100% without unnecessary disruption.

When CMS suggested moving an IB magnet to South Meck, SM parents were extremely upset, and fought back against the idea.  I.e., they want to move our students to their school without providing the same curriculum they would receive at MP.  They felt adding IB students to the school would "bring down" the level of SES and academics at the school; both incorrect assessments as proven by IB schools all over the county. 

While I've tried very hard to not make this about SM vs. MP, it was extremely disappointing to see the reaction of SM parents not supporting additional curriculum options for students, particularly when they are advocating moving our IB kids to their school.  They also have concerns that South Meck will become a Title 1 school, given the number of high SES students being reassigned to the new Relief High School.  With OP going to Providence, and our very limited number of students in the Sharon/Carmel zone, we don't have enough numbers to prevent SM becoming a Title 1 school.  This means our small group of MP students will be moved to a Title 1 school, or near Title 1 school. 

This is the last push to organize, send emails, attend meetings, etc.  I've supplied data to CMS and the board outlining the drop in enrollment for MP feeders.  With OP now going to Providence, the enrollment at MP can more than handle our small group of 200 kids.  We are being targeted unfairly. Hope to see you at the meeting Monday night.

Quick email list of the board members and CMS planning.  Please email ASAP:

elysec.dashew@cms.k12.nc.us, thelmab.bailey@cms.k12.nc.us, jennifer1.delajara@cms.k12.nc.us, l1.sanders-shipp@cms.k12.nc.us, lisac.cline@cms.k12.nc.us, summerl.nunn@cms.k12.nc.us, stephaniem.sneed@cms.k12.nc.us, melissam.easley@cms.k12.nc.us, gregoryd.rankin@cms.k12.nc.us, claire1.schuch@cms.k12.nc.us, brian1.schultz@cms.k12.nc.us, dennisk.lacaria@cms.k12.nc.us

Thanks,

Laura


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