BREAKING: CMS unveils latest south Charlotte school boundary maps

Opening of a new high school and a middle school would mean changes to assignment zones of 23 existing schools, according to a draft map released Monday night

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New CMS draft map shifts boundaries of 4 high schools: Myers Park, Ardrey Kell, South Meck, Providence

by Cristina Bolling

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials unveiled a proposed student assignment map Monday night to a packed crowd at Myers Park High School, showing big boundary shifts across south Charlotte as the district prepares to open a new high school in the Ballantyne area and a proposed middle school near Rea Farms.

The changes would alter student assignment at 23 schools, including some of Mecklenburg County’s largest high schools: Myers Park, Ardrey Kell, South Mecklenburg and Providence.

🚨 🚨 ➡️ Here is a link to the maps and the presentation slides CMS officials presented during the meeting.

A few of the highlights:

High school map:

HIGH SCHOOL LINES: New proposed high school boundary lines would shift South Meck’s attendance zone to the east, reassign the Olde Providence area to Providence High and send Pineville to the new relief high school, among other changes. Shifts are needed to accommodate a new high school under construction in the Ballantyne area.

Middle school map:

MIDDLE SCHOOL LINES: The proposed middle school map would reshuffle assignment zones in south Charlotte. CMS plans to open a new middle school in the Rea Farms area.

Parents have been eagerly awaiting the details of the proposal to redraw boundaries, with thousands taking part in meetings and offering feedback since last fall, when CMS officials began rolling out a rainbow of proposed maps named for colors showing different scenarios.

They have narrowed the process down to one map, which they will discuss again Wednesday night at South Meck and again on Zoom on Thursday. A second draft map will be presented publicly April 19-21.

At a quick glance, some of the main takeaways from the maps tonight include:

➡️ Providence High has its boundaries modified under the proposed map. In previous rounds of changes, Providence had not been on the carving block. It would add students from the Olde Providence area, who now go to Myers Park.

➡️ South Meck’s socioeconomic diversity changes are raising concerns. The school would have 50% of its population considered in low socioeconomic status, 8% mid and 41% high economic status. (The goal is to have an even split between low, mid and high. South Meck is currently at 47% low, 23% mid and 30% high.)

➡️ “Utilization,” or how many students occupy a school relative to what it was designed to hold, would drop dramatically at some schools. Severely overcrowded Ardrey Kell, for example, would change from operating at 169% capacity to 110%. Carmel Middle School’s capacity would drop from 117% to 76%.

➡️ Students who are in the Sharon Elementary to Carmel Middle School to Myers Park High School feeder pattern would switch to South Meck. Many parents of students affected have been loudly opposing that possibility.

The school board is scheduled to vote on the new boundaries in May.

MORE TO COME: The Ledger will have detailed analysis on the proposed changes and what they mean in a special report tomorrow for paying members. We’re covering the south Charlotte school boundary in-depth — comprehensively, and in a timely way. Why not join us as a paying member today?

Related Ledger articles:

• “Parents pepper CMS officials with south Charlotte reassignment questions” (🔒, March 17)

• “CMS South Charlotte boundary talks rev up” (🔒, March 15)

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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project