CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Parents used the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education’s first regular business session since Superintendent Crystal Hill was ousted to demand that a majority of the board step aside.
Tuesday night’s session was the board’s first since its 5-4 vote on Sept. 22 to remove Hill. Before she was terminated, Hill sent a memo raising allegations of financial mismanagement, and board contracts are now the subject of several investigations. The district faces scrutiny at the local, state and federal levels.
During public comment, a parent presented a petition that had drawn upward of 1,100 names by Tuesday. It wants five of the board’s nine members gone: Gregory Rankin, who chairs the board, his vice chair Liz Monterrey Duvall, and members Charlitta Hatch, Stephanie Sneed and Shamaiye Haynes. Other speakers, including CMS employees and a grandparent, pointed to a lingering shortage of bus drivers and crowded classrooms as problems the turmoil has pushed aside.
Several members answered from the dais. Haynes said she would not leave her seat. Monterrey Duvall said she was devastated that so many residents feel let down and that she takes the criticism seriously. Sneed argued that an open investigation does not amount to a finding of wrongdoing and told the room she has received threats.
Board members broadly asked the public to let the investigations finish before drawing conclusions. No action on the resignation demands was taken at the meeting. The district remains under review over the contracts and spending questions raised in the weeks since the 5-4 vote.
