Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students will get access to refurbished and repaired musical instruments after the C.D. Spangler Foundation committed $500,000 to the district's arts programs.

The gift, announced Thursday, Sept. 24, by CMS, is earmarked for instrument refurbishment and repair across the district. It builds on $350,000 the Charlotte-based foundation gave in 2024 and 2025, plus $25,000 it helped secure from another organization. Combined, the Spangler Foundation has helped generate more than $875,000 for CMS arts education.

The investment could matter for north Mecklenburg schools already stretching limited arts budgets. Hopewell High School's theater department in Huntersville won a $20,000 grant through the Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative in 2025, which paid for new lighting equipment, according to CMS. Lillian Allemond, who has taught theater in CMS for 10 years, all at Hopewell, attended the 79th Tony Awards through the program.

Instrument repair needs across the district are steep. The East Mecklenburg High School marching band claimed on Instagram in early September that CMS provides roughly $1,000 per year districtwide for instrument repairs, enough for about five instruments. That program alone uses 90 to 100 school-owned instruments, many dating to the 1980s and 1990s.

Justin Pierce, CMS director of arts education, said the investment helps remove barriers to participation. "When students have opportunities to create, perform and express themselves, they gain skills and confidence that benefit them both inside and outside the classroom," Pierce said in the district's announcement.

The Spangler Foundation, established in 1956 by Clemmie Dixon Spangler Jr., held assets exceeding $637 million and distributed roughly $24.5 million annually as of December 2025, according to a grant-tracking database. Spangler, who died in 2018, also served as president of the University of North Carolina from 1986 to 1997. The foundation does not accept unsolicited grant applications.

Foundation representatives said in the CMS announcement that access to well-functioning instruments makes music education possible and helps students develop skills beyond the classroom.

The gift comes three days after the CMS Board of Education voted 5-4 on Tuesday, Sept. 22, to fire Superintendent Crystal Hill, as WCNC first reported. Deputy Superintendent Melissa Balknight was named interim superintendent in a unanimous vote.

CMS has not released a timeline for the instrument repairs or identified which schools will receive refurbished instruments first.