Parents share thoughts on new schools at CMS community sessions

CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte-Mecklenburg School district is hearing from parents on plans to build several new schools. The district has been hosting a series of community engagement sessions on the next round of new schools to be built.

On Thursday, the focus was a new middle school in south Charlotte off Tom Short Road that will relieve overcrowding at Community House and Jay M. Robinson middle schools, in addition to Rea Farms K-8.

There’s excitement but some parents are also concerned about the new school that set off a recent redrawing of middle school attendance boundary lines.

“We were just put through a huge boundary rezoning last year and so there is a little apprehension about how long are we going to be here before we get put somewhere else,” said Shannon Denholm.

The area is experiencing a lot of growth.

“I see houses on this map that are going to be zoned to a totally different school, even though they’re in walking distance of the school,” said Denholm.

Tony Swegle says a new school will create the need for widened roads, crosswalks, and maybe even speed bumps in neighborhoods that become cut-throughs.

“Obviously, CMS is only going to cover certain things, and we have to follow up with the city or the private developers,” Swegle said.

Construction on the new middle school is expected to start next month. It will open in August 2026.

The district has more bond engagement sessions coming up.

On Nov. 7 the session will focus on the new elementary school on Park Road.

On Nov. 21 there will be a follow-up meeting for the Sedgefield Montessori project.

Check back to wscotv.com for information on the times and locations for these sessions.

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