Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will take its first formal step toward finding a permanent superintendent on Tuesday, Sept. 29, when the Board of Education holds a special virtual meeting at 4 p.m.
The sole open-session agenda item is approval of the charter for a Superintendent Search Ad Hoc Committee, WCNC reported. The charter would establish the framework for the committee that will guide the district's search for its next leader.
The outcome will affect all CMS schools, including north Mecklenburg zone campuses such as William Amos Hough, North Mecklenburg and Hopewell high schools, which serve families across Cornelius, Davidson and Huntersville.
The meeting comes one week after the board voted 5-4 on Sept. 22 to fire Superintendent Crystal Hill for convenience, a contractual term meaning the board did not cite specific performance or misconduct reasons.
Board members Charlitta Hatch, Dee Rankin, Liz Monterrey Duvall, Stephanie Sneed and Shamaiye Haynes voted in favor. Monty Witherspoon, Cynthia Stone, Anna London and Lenora Shipp voted against.
What's known so far
After the charter vote, the board is scheduled to move into closed session for the remainder of the meeting to discuss personnel matters under North Carolina law. What board members plan to discuss behind closed doors has not been publicly detailed.
No timeline for the search, projected hire date or public comment window has been announced. The committee's composition and search criteria have not been made public.
Dr. Melissa Balknight is serving as acting superintendent. She is scheduled to retire Jan. 1, 2027, giving the board roughly three months of interim leadership before it must have a new plan in place.
Costs to the district
Hill's severance alone will cost the district more than $340,000 under her employment contract, according to WCNC's timeline of her tenure. Combined with the investigation into Hill, the total cost to taxpayers is expected to exceed $700,000, Queen City News reported.
CMS has had five people hold the superintendent position in the past 10 years, according to WCNC. A September 2026 study by the ILO Group's Superintendent Research Project found North Carolina leads the nation in superintendent turnover among the states examined, with 42 transitions across 21 large districts over six years.
What board members said
At-large board member Monty Witherspoon, who voted against firing Hill, told Queen City News on Sept. 23 that the district's problems run deeper than one hire. "This is not a superintendent problem," Witherspoon said. "This is a governance failure."
Former board member Lisa Cline told WCNC on Sept. 23 that the search should draw on the people closest to students, calling for teachers and administrators to be included in the search process.
Five top CMS district leaders have announced plans to step down or retire since late August, according to WCNC. The district serves more than 139,000 students.
The Sept. 29 meeting is virtual and open to the public. It begins at 4 p.m.
