CMS plan would redraw boundary lines for several south Charlotte high schools
Preliminary idea would establish attendance zone for Waddell
The following article appeared in the Jan. 26, 2026, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
CMS officials tell the school board they’d like to reopen E.E. Waddell High as a comprehensive high school — with an attendance zone
by Tony Mecia
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is floating the idea of reopening E.E. Waddell High School in southwest Charlotte as a comprehensive high school — a move that would require redrawing school attendance boundaries in the area.
At a school board retreat on Saturday, CMS deputy superintendent Melissa Balknight told board members that the district is going to explore the idea of converting Waddell — which has been used as a magnet school for the last 15 years — into a regular high school.
“This would allow us to draw attendance lines to E.E. Waddell, to help reduce capacity” at nearby high schools, Balknight said.
The school, on Nations Ford Road west of I-77, is in the Olympic attendance zone but is close to the zones of several other high schools, including Myers Park, South Mecklenburg, Palisades, Ballantyne Ridge and Harding.