This Month with Kaye McGarry...


Kaye About Town

On Wednesday, July 23rd, I plan to be at Starbucks Coffee at 3220 Wilkinson Blvd., 28208 (near Super WalMart at corner of Ashley and Wilkinson) from 7:30 a.m. until 9:00 a.m. I will be available to discuss school-related issues and to answer questions you may have regarding Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

Thanks to those who were able to visit last week in Davidson at The Soda Shop!


Magnet Program Update

Thank you for your input. Keep it coming. Our Board has had three workshops reviewing magnet programs. There are scheduled community input meetings on proposed graduation requirements and magnet changes during July and August in each of the seven Learning Communities. This is another way to voice your concerns. The Board will vote sometime in September. At this point, I am continuing to study the multiple magnet programs CMS now offers. It is mind boggling and in some cases a waste of taxpayers’ dollars. Many should have been discontinued years ago. I feel the current recommendations are not going deep enough; they are just nibbling at the surface. I am hopeful that this Board will address the situation openly, look at the results of the magnets and make some decisions to eliminate many of them, especially those that have proven unsuccessful. Then, neighborhood schools should be strengthened and should cater to all ability levels regardless of whether a “magnet” is in place at a particular school. The principal should have the freedom and flexibility to ask for the resources he/she needs in order to offer a rigorous curriculum to all the students in his/her school. He/she should know the population of the school best and should be able to make decisions based on the best interests of every child.


CMS/Board of Education Operating Budget Request $1.3 Billion Update

On June 17th, the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) adopted unanimously the Mecklenburg County operating budget which included an extra $10 million for CMS. Initially, CMS requested $28.4 million additional this coming budget year. Unfortunately, it is only AFTER the BOCC votes on the final budget that CMS is now working on “budget cuts.” Bringing our spending under control should have been in the works several months ago; restructuring departments, seeing more efficiencies i.e. transportation, public relations, student testing, etc., shifting existing monies from central office into the classrooms with the teachers and kids.


CMS Graduation Celebrations

I attended some of our high school graduations. We have many proud families in Mecklenburg County whose children graduated from CMS and I congratulate them. I thank teachers who have positively changed these students’ lives and I thank parents for parenting. I also had the honor and privilege of being the guest speaker at Selwyn Elementary School’s Fifth Grade Graduation celebration - their transition to Middle School. I thank their Principal, Linda Mintz, for welcoming me, and Jackson Dean, the fifth grader who introduced me.  Included in my remarks, I asked these students to do two things every day: (1) read a book and (2) remind yourself that, “You are someone who makes a difference.”

Thank you for your ongoing support and feedback . . .

. . . on issues that concern you and you and you!  I will continue to listen, do my homework, study the issues, and vote responsibly.

GOD BLESS !!!   

Kaye McGarry
Board of Education, At-Large Member 2003-present