School board votes to terminate Superintendent Crystal Hill
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Hill at the Aug. 25, 2026, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education meeting. Screenshot: CMS
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education voted 5-4 Tuesday night to terminate Superintendent Crystal Hill.
Why it matters: CMS is out a superintendent (yet again) after a turbulent few months, with executives departing, board member Stephanie Sneed stepping down from her position as chair, and the district attorney calling for a criminal investigation into the school system.
- The board voted to terminate Hill for convenience, meaning they fired her without citing specific performance or misconduct reasons.
- Per Hill's contract, she will be paid a year's salary — $340,770 — in severance, the Charlotte Observer reports.
Catch up quick: Hill's termination comes months after she was placed on paid leave this summer and investigated for matters of administrative and operational oversight, our news partners at WBTV report. The district spent nearly $380,000 for a law firm to investigate Hill.
- In the weeks after Hill returned, four executives announced their departures from the district: Deputy Superintendent Melissa Balknight, Chief Financial Officer Kelly Kluttz, Chief Human Resource Officer Angela Wood and Chief Operations Officer Tim Ivey.
- Hill last week released a 14-page letter to school board members, detailing concerns about finances and questioning why a consultant, Raki McGregor, appeared to be receiving payments from the district without a contract or purchase order. Hill said she was unaware of the agreement, which allegedly paid him $30,000 a month for one year.
- On Friday, Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather requested that the SBI launch a formal criminal investigation into "alleged financial irregularities within transactions" beginning in fiscal year 2026 at CMS.
Context: Hill was named superintendent of North Carolina's second-largest school district in July 2023. She previously served as interim superintendent and joined CMS in May 2022 as chief of staff.
- In December 2025, her contract was extended until 2029, and her raise was approved.