After contentious debate with each other and impassioned citizens, Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board members voted 6-3 Tuesday night to approve proposed boundaries for the new high school in Mint Hill.
The vote means most students in Mint Hill will actually attend Independence High – and most students at the new school in Mint Hill will be drawn from surrounding schools.
More than 30 parents, teachers and students spoke at the school board meeting, arguing for and against the proposal.
Supporters said it was the fairest way to balance student enrollment and demographics.
Those opposed, mainly Mint Hill residents, said the new school was promised to Mint Hill in return for their support of a bond measure in 2007. They also said their children deserve to go to school in their town, and that the board doesn't have uniform standards when it draws school boundaries.
A plan Mint Hill presented would have opened a 1,650-student school, with a 32 percent poverty level.
The board's plan calls for a 1,530-student school with a poverty level of 52 percent.
The fight over Mint Hill has dragged on for five months, with 14 different boundary plans presented.
At stake were a number of issues that have persisted since Mecklenburg County revamped student assignments in 2002, such as whether suburbs should have schools that serve them and reinforce their identity, what the role of diversity in school assignments is, and whether the school board should assign students to balance differences in school poverty levels and performance. The new high school, on Truelight Church Road, is scheduled to open in August 2010.
“The board has really lost the trust and respect of many of the residents of Mint Hill,” said Julie Andrews at the meeting. “I specifically voted for that [bond] package because of it. For us to receive no benefits and for them to put us in that old high school (Independence) that is overcrowded is so unfair.”
Board members Ken Gjertsen, Kaye McGarry and Larry Gauvreau voted against the measure.
District 6 representative Gjertsen said it was an issue of living up to the board's word: “In my opinion, promises were made, and we're ignoring that.”
Gauvreau, who represents District 1, was more outspoken. “You can't call this any more than a sham,” he said.
School board chairwoman Molly Griffin said that it would have been impossible for the board to satisfy everyone. “For every four e-mails I get, I get four different points of view,” she said.
And at-large member Joe White had a message for parents who left unhappy: “Wherever your kids end up, dedicate yourself to making it the best place it can be.”
Reedy Creek neighborhood resident Adrienne Trent, whose daughter just graduated from Independence, said she supports the plan because it is the fairest way to even out the schools' demographics.
“It is the most balanced,” she said. “It was the most sensible one there.”
A strong contingent of East Mecklenburg High School supporters showed up to ask the board to delay their vote. The Mint Hill plan will slash East Meck's enrollment from just over 2,100 to about 1,400. They said they fear this will restrict class and extracurricular activities and lower standards at the school.
They said it could drive parents to pull their students to private or charter schools instead of East Meck.
The school board decided to study the possibility of moving students from Myers Park High School to East Meck to compensate for the loss of students.
And although they disagree on the issues, Trent and Andrews agree on one thing – the fight over boundaries isn't over. “By the time he's ready to go to high school, these boundaries will be redrawn,” Trent said of her 6-year-old son.
Said Andrews: “I'm confident the lines will be redrawn before my kids get to high school.”
By Ely Portillo
elyportillo@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009
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