Four Schools in CMS to Open, Relieve Overcrowding in 2015-16

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has announced a reassignment plan to be put in place in the 2015-16 school year to help relieve overcrowded classrooms at other schools in the district. The plan is based around four schools opening, two of which are under construction, and will affect approximately 2,500 elementary school students throughout the district.

One of the schools under construction will ease crowding at Hickory Grove, Windsor Park and Albemarle Road elementaries in esat Charlotte, which are all at 150 percent capacity. Some students at Highland Creek in north Charlotte will be relocated to the second school that is being built, which will ultimately be a K-8 school, but will only be K-6 in its first year. The other two schools that are part of the reassignment plan include Oakhurst Elementary, which will re-open as a STEAM partial magnet, and is located off Monroe Road not far from Plaza Midwood and Cotswold neighborhoods, and will relieve overcrowding at Billingsville and Winterfield elementaries. Starmount Elementary, located near South Boulevard and Arrowood Road, will also re-open helping to reduce crowded classrooms at Huntingtowne Farms and Montclaire elementaries. The four schools are funded by bond referendums from 2007 and 2013.

Crazy thing, both the new school opening in east Charlotte and Starmount Elementary will open at over capacity! CMS is the largest school district in North Carolina with more than 145,000 students, and is growing at a rate of about 2,500 new school students each year! That’s a lot of kids to squeeze into existing schools. Trailers serve as temporary classrooms for many schools and classrooms are at max capacity. My son’s kindergarten class has 24 children, and a teacher assistant who floats between the five kindergarten classes. It’s a stretch to say the least.

I’m glad to see that bonds are being put to work to help relieve overcrowding and accommodate kids in Charlotte. Another opportunity to help support CMS teachers and it’s students is coming up on Nov. 4. A quarter-cent sales tax increase will be on the ballot. Eighty percent of the generated revenue from the tax would go to increase pay for Charlotte-Mecklenburg employees. They say it takes a village, and just a little from all can go a long way. If we want our city to grow up in the best possible ways, supporting our public schools is key. Mark your calendar to go vote!