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CMS board discusses new school year at Tuesday meeting

One of the main pain points discussed was a shortage of teachers in the district.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Leaders with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools met Tuesday to discuss their plans for the new year. 

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education greenlit a plan to hold families responsible for missing technology. WCNC Charlotte reported in May 2022 that CMS was missing nearly $1.5 million in lost or stolen items, such as iPads and keyboards. 

Interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh promised the district would "tighten it up" moving forward when it was discovered some of the devices found their way to pawnshops. 

"It's essential that everybody understand we want to be good stewards of federal, state, and local dollars and to have the processes in place and the systems that we can actually go through and monitor them and get them back," he said. 

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The plan now standardizes costs for missing devices. 

CMS also discussed public concerns about COVID-19 protocols this school year. An online petition is gathering signatures to present to school boards across the Carolinas. Some parents say without a plan, they're even less likely to feel comfortable about sending their at-risk children into the classroom. 

“I have twin girls and they are both in the Hospital/Homebound program with CMS," parent Stacy Staggs said. "A COVID infection for them would be catastrophic."

CMS is also in the final stretch of trying to hire nearly 400 additional teachers before the school year. 

District leaders said at the school board meeting Tuesday all those positions likely won’t be filled due to a nationwide teacher shortage among other things. 

Almost 141,000 students are expected to be enrolled in CMS school this school year, but some students will be missing some teachers. 

“We need still 377 teachers, at this point to be fully staffed, there are teachers being put through the pipeline every day that we are pushing to schools as quickly as we can," Laura Francisco, CMS Associate Superintendent of Human Resources said. 

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CMS said this number represents less than 5% of the teacher workforce, but the push to hire is aggressive. 

“We have 674 new teachers to CMS this school year, that number 377, or 56% are new to the profession," said Hattabaugh.

The rest are new to the district. 

Despite the progress--hundreds of unfilled teaching positions mean more work for current teachers--like fewer planning periods. 

Although unlike last year—they can get paid for these missed hours now. 

"Principals may convert vacant positions for planning period coverage," Hattabaugh said. "This will allow principals to recruit currently employed teachers to teach during their planning time and receive payment at their state rate for planning after school." 

The district says some things are out of its control—and contributing to the hiring problem. 

"I think pay in general teacher pay is an issue. I do think affordable housing can be a barrier," said Francisco. 

There’s also a morale issue. 

"There's an issue about feeling like it's a profession that is respected anymore. So I think that all of those things combined and concerns about COVID," Fransico said. 

All the hiring issues that have persisted for years are coming to a head—and no district is immune. 

Contact Shamarria Morrison at smorrison@wcnc.com and follow her on FacebookTwitter and Instagram.

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