Matthews mayor wants to study separating district from CMS

MATTHEWS, N.C. — As Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools considers the next steps in the student assignment plan, the mayor of Matthews is trying to come up with a plan of his own.

“If CMS’s goal is to redistribute the population in Mecklenburg County, I can see the results,” Mayor Jim Taylor said. “Some of our better schools are going down, and I don’t want that to happen.”

The mayor of Mint Hill has already expressed interest, and Taylor is reaching out to other Mecklenburg County towns to form a task force. They will look at what it will take to form their own school district.

“We want to continue to have the ability to send our children to local schools,” Taylor said.

It won’t be easy for the towns to leave CMS. It would require legislative action from Raleigh, but Taylor said it’s an idea worth exploring.

He’s look at funding and facilities, as well as what parents think. It’s not a new idea. It’s been looked at before, and the mayor said the student assignment plan gives the idea new life.

The idea is to split the northern towns and the southern towns. Eyewitness News counted around 7,500 students in Pineville, Matthews and Mint Hill.

In the north, it’s more than 10,000 in Davidson, Cornelius and Huntersville.

Parents seem open to the idea.

“Matthews has a small-town feel that I think people like,” Dawn Faurot said. “I know my family likes it."

Faurot’s child goes to Matthews Elementary School. She said the plan should be considered but still likes the district.

“I’m not opposed to keeping it together, either,” Faurot said.

At this point, the ball is rolling, and Taylor said it didn’t have to go this far.

“The fact that CMS has not come out and said they’re going to protect home schools, I think if they would have done that it would have relieved a lot of anxiety in parents’ mind and we wouldn’t be at this point right now,” Taylor said.

The task force should be up and running over the next few weeks. The idea could take years to get off the ground.

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Cox Media Group