Who might be just as important as the next CMS superintendent? These 3 hires

Clayton Wilcox will take over at an important time for CMS. We’ve just gone through a painful student reassignment, with hurt feelings and frustrations on all sides of the issue. He’ll have to shepherd several new experiments created through that process, most notably the paired schools in Dilworth/Sedgefield and Cotswold.

There’s a critical bond referendum (likely) coming up in November, which would provide the money needed to build schools to keep up with population growth. And there will be continued work to boost struggling low-income schools.

Photo courtesy of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

What’s not as obvious, but equally as important, are decisions Wilcox is making right now.

Three key executive posts are open at the moment, and the people chosen to fill them will almost assuredly have a lasting impact.

CMS will be getting a new student assignment chief after Scott McCully left to become chief operating officer of Guilford County Schools after 17 years in Charlotte. This role does the grunt work behind some of the most difficult and public decisions the school board has to make.

Wilcox is also looking to fill the position of chief human resources officer. This person will have a key role in crafting the packages that will recruit and retain top-notch teachers.

But the third role has potentially the most upside if Wilcox hires the right person: chief communications officer.

No amount of money can solve the existential problem that CMS faces: The lack of faith broadening swaths of our community have in the school district. It shows up in the enrollment numbers: More families — both white and black — are leaving CMS for charter and private schools. Nearly all of the school district’s growth is coming from Latino and Asian in-migration.

But there’s often a big gulf between perception and reality in the desirability and quality of Charlotte schools. Parents often make decisions about whether to attend their public schools based on innuendo, rumors and anonymous message boards.

That’s where the district’s chief storyteller should come in.

A quality public school district comes from buy-in from all of a city’s families. And that starts with communication.

CMS needs to be better at telling its story, celebrating its successes, lauding its teachers and demonstrating its quality. The district needs to bring families inside the schoolhouse walls and show what really goes on.

Charter schools have this down pat. They’re great at articulating a vision and demonstrating quality. Why shouldn’t CMS?

Here are just a couple topics where a good communications officer could make a difference.

Partial magnet schools. Even some members of the school board don’t seem to understand what these are. So how can the community at large be expected to? I shouldn’t have been surprised that Magnet Schools of America declared Idlewild Elementary the top magnet program in the country. But I was, and apparently the rest of the county isn’t in on the secret either. Few parents are clamoring to get their kids in this school. There were plenty of empty seats in the last magnet lottery.

School letter grades. Everyone understands the letter system. An “A” school is better than a “C,” school — right? Not necessarily. That’s the thing. Even schools that have “D” grades can be high-quality schools if they’re moving students ahead at a fast pace. CMS needs to take wary parents inside these schools — often on beautiful campuses and with great teachers — and show them what they’re really like.

Diversity. The community conversation keeps coming back to socioeconomic diversity, but CMS has never mounted a compelling case for it. There are plenty of schools in the district that have racial and economic balance. CMS should show the benefits.

General transparency. In my roles as both a parent and reporter, I’m frequently met with a stone wall of silence when I try to get a question answered. There’s nothing more excitable and finicky than a parent confronted with uncertainty. The communications office can lead the way in creating a more open and accessible school district. 

This isn’t to say that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ problems aren’t real, or that they’re just a misperception. Too many campuses still set students up to fail or don’t give them the opportunity to succeed. The bureaucracy is stifling. Children too easily fall through the cracks.

But a good hire in this position could make a whole lot of difference.