09:04 AM EST on Wednesday, February 23, 2005

By PETER SMOLOWITZ AND ANN DOSS HELMS / The Charlotte Observer

Interactive Partner

Stung by a surge of parents and politicians calling Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools cumbersome and unresponsive, the school board voted unanimously Tuesday to create new "customer service standards" and come up with an emergency relief plan for crowded schools.

Vice Chairperson Kit Cramer added both items to Tuesday's agenda, as community clamor for better response to CMS problems grew. Families from crowded schools in north Mecklenburg County launched talk of splitting up the district this month, and a follow-up meeting for southern families is coming Thursday.

Superintendent James Pughsley said Tuesday that district officials will meet soon with leaders of several grass-roots groups that are pushing for change.

Cramer's motion calls for using "creative scheduling" and finding temporary locations to house some students in the district's most crowded schools. Earlier Tuesday, Pughsley had voiced support for both moves.

"Temporary relief," Pughsley explained, "until we can get some additional schools built, which are on the board."

The board asked Pughsley to bring them a plan for relieving crowding in 2005-06, before the proposed new schools will open.

The board also voted unanimously to ask Pughsley for "a plan for developing customer service standards for the school district."

The Charlotte Observer

Schools Superintendent James Pughsley listens to school board member George Dunlap and other school board members Tuesday night.

"This is being responsive on everything from people who are applying for jobs to replying to parents or taxpayers," Cramer explained.

Pughsley responded that "such measures are now in place in many departments."

"That's the basis for the Balanced Scorecard, which we use religiously," he said, referring to a complex management document CMS uses to rate itself.

But he agreed to report back on whether there's "more we can do."

The board did not set a deadline for his reports.

The proposals come as growing numbers of parents and activists call for major changes in CMS. Even some of the district's biggest supporters have said the district must act quickly to reclaim leadership and shake an image of an unresponsive bureaucracy.

"We'll address the issues," Pughsley said. "I would hope we can address them together for the common good."

School board member Molly Griffin said the situation is a "crisis" that requires decisive leadership and innovative ideas.

"I'm really worried about the school system," Griffin said. "We need to admit that we have issues and work very hard and very quickly to try hard to find answers."

Her ideas include "a substantial pilot of smaller schools," which could help solve problems of discipline, overcrowding and academic performance.

In the past week, hundreds of parents and activists have attended meetings to discuss ideas ranging from improving high-poverty schools to splitting up the district. The turnout has far outnumbered CMS's official efforts to involve the public in student assignment.

Two more meetings have been called for Thursday. One will be for southern Mecklenburg residents to continue a discussion launched in Huntersville about dividing the district. Another will discuss fears that successful middle-ring schools are endangered by student assignment trends.

Pughsley said he's "concerned" that some individual movements would not benefit all students, but he hopes to meet with organizers from those groups "in the very near future."

"It is about kids," he said. "It is about student achievement. Hopefully it is about the common good."

School board member Lee Kindberg said some of what's sparking the new groups is politics in a year when school board members and municipal officials are on the ballot. But she said the biggest issue fueling frustration is the board's sweeping review of its student assignment plan -- especially when Pughsley has said that "everything is on the table."

"I sense no intent on that board to throw out the student assignment plan and start over," Kindberg said. At Pughsley's urging, the board postponed a vote on student assignment goals.

Some community leaders argue CMS needs the help of outsiders to rebuild community confidence.

"If the board could do it, I think they would have already accomplished it," said Howard Haworth, a former N.C. Board of Education chairman and retired furniture executive active in local education issues. "A very large percentage of the county is disenchanted."

Board member Louise Woods said she would like to help organize an education summit for representatives from each school, as well as teachers and civic and business leaders.

"We should welcome people who say these are the issues and give us solutions," Woods said. "That type of dialogue is what we need to create."

But Woods said CMS has been recognized as one of the country's top urban districts, and replacing Pughsley or other district leaders would be a mistake.

Board members Larry Gauvreau and Kaye McGarry have said the district needs a new superintendent to solve its problems.

"Most places in the nation would kill to be where we are," Woods said.

In October, the board extended Pughsley's contract to June 2006. Pughsley said he plans to continue as superintendent until he can "no longer add value" or his health fails.

"I am the superintendent of the district," Pughsley said, "and I intend to continue functioning on a high level."

But relations among the district's leaders appeared rocky Tuesday, as they delved into the touchy topic of student assignment.

Pughsley brought the board a list of recommended goals, which he said was compiled from their earlier discussion.

Before he could present it, school board members Griffin, Woods, McGarry and Gauvreau raised questions about his list.

"This may be your recommendation, Dr. Pughsley, but I don't think it reflects the consensus of the board," Griffin said. The board argued about whether to even hear the report, before finally agreeing to let administrators make the presentation.

"Just give us the proper guidance," Pughsley said, "and we will facilitate it."

Gauvreau said Tuesday's actions aren't enough to fix CMS's management problems.

"What the public is telling us isn't that they're looking for customer service," he said. "It's that they're looking for action and results on key policy issues that need to change."

What They're Saying

"I hope that Dr. Pughsley is going to be very decisive and innovative right now during this crisis."

Molly Griffin

School board member

"We are a large organization ... but that doesn't mean we are not an efficient and effective organization."

James Pughsley

Schools superintendent