CMS has its new superintendent. Here are the top 3 challenges Crystal Hill faces.

Crystal Hill has the work cut out for her.

From from safety to improving academic performance to teacher retention, leading the 17th largest school district in the country and second largest in North Carolina comes with challenges.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools board named Hill its new, full-time superintendent Friday. Hill is familiar with the terrain — she’s been the interim superintendent since Jan. 1, and previously was the district’s chief staff.

“I believe the overarching challenge for our next superintendent is balancing the pressures of a financially-starved district with the hopes and desires of deserving families and a weary staff,” School board member Jennifer De La Jara said.

Here are the three biggest challenges Hill and board members face:

Recruiting and retaining quality teachers

Hill, when giving her 2023-24 operating budget recommendations last month, said the spending plan is focused on “building district capacity, which will benefit all of our students.”

Increased money for CMS employees, especially teachers, will help the district fill teacher vacancies and hard-to-staff positions. It’s no secret teachers are leaving the field in droves — it’s no different in CMS.

Average teacher pay in North Carolina is $58,658, ranking it seventh among 10 states in the Southeast, and the state ranks dead last in public school investment, De La Jara said.

In CMS, there are 242 teacher vacancies, and more than 20% turnover in sixth-grade through 12th-grade English Language Arts classrooms, as well as math and science. Math teacher turnover in CMS has increased since the 2021-22 school year but decreased in science.

Teacher attrition in CMS increased from 9.31% in 2020-21 to 11.01% in 2021-22. Out of 9,176 teachers employed during the 2020-21 school year, 854 left. That’s compared to 9,371 teachers employed in the district in the 2021-22 school year with 1,486 leaving.

District officials say salaries must be increased because teachers earn about 2% less than other professions that also require a bachelor’s degree.

“The superintendent’s priorities include finding ways to inspire our 19,000 employees to remember their ‘why’ while also acknowledging the very real sub-par working conditions and challenges our district faces,” De La Jara said.

“The superintendent needs to walk the fine line of not making excuses for the lack of excellence while also appealing to the general public why we need their advocacy and support in order to provide the level of service they absolutely deserve.”

Improving the academic performance

A pair of test scores released in the fall — the state’s grades and the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation’s Report Card, in November didn’t paint a very flattering portrayal in CMS.

About half of the district’s students failed state exams for the 2021-22 academic year, according to state results. And the gap in academic achievement for CMS’ Black and Hispanic students has widened. These achievement gaps — particularly in the fourth grade — between white and Black and Hispanic students have grown by double digits since 2003, according to NAEP.

The district also has 50 schools receiving a low-performing designation compared to the previous 42. Of the 50 schools this year, 22 are newly identified. Fourteen schools improved from the last time the N.C. Department of Public Instruction released letter grades in 2019 and are no longer considered low performing.

District officials are quick to say student academic performance slowed because of the pandemic, but they also admit there’s work to do.

There have been flashes of progress.

The district’s 50.2% proficiency rate only slightly trailed the statewide proficiency rate of 51.4%. CMS’ results were better than the 44.6% last year.

Chief Accountability Officer Frank Barnes said in September 54% of 177 schools earned a performance grade of A, B, or C from the 2021-2022 school year, and several schools had large percentage point increases in proficiency in reading and math.

During its board meeting May 9, officials reported that 49% of students in Grades 2-8 met or exceeded their growth target in reading and that progress “gives us confidence we can attain our annual goal target.”

“As scores are low across the nation, we know we can do better in CMS,” board member Melissa Easley said. “We have made great strides, but we have so much farther today. This will be I think the biggest challenge as this has the most moving parts that need to work harmoniously together to see the desired outcomes we as board members, community members and parents want to see.”

Addressing safety

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools reported a rise in student misconduct, crime and violence during the 2021-22 school year compared to years immediately before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to state data released in March.

Assaults on school personnel rose 51% in 2021-22 compared to the 2018-19 school year. There were four more bomb threats, and the number of guns found on campuses increased from 22 to 29 — a district record. A total of 1,532 acts of crime or violence across all campuses in CMS were reported during the 2021-22 school year compared to 1,200 for the 2018-2019 school year, a 28% increase.

In response, the district installed body scanners, a reporting app and more opportunities for students to participate in real conversations about guns and safety. This year, three guns have been found on campuses.

For years, CMS also has had a Title IX problem — one that has eroded the community’s trust and left students feeling unsafe, unheard and unprotected. The problems include the district not properly and thoroughly investigating reports of sexual harassment and violence on campuses.

“Safety covers everything from physical safety to emotional safety,” Easley said. “But more so, physical safety has been an ongoing issue in CMS, and we need to get it right. Safety of our staff and students needs to be the utmost priority.”