A vote next week on Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ first family and community engagement policy could clear the way for six campuses to begin using the community-schools model in the 2027-28 school year, WFAE reported. The vote is a policy step, not confirmation that particular services, budgets or staffing plans are already in place.
The proposed campuses are Lake Wylie Elementary, Starmount Academy of Excellence, River Oaks Academy, Eastway Middle, Martin Luther King Jr. Middle and Harding University High. Under the model described in the report, each school would have a dedicated coordinator, a local advisory board and a resource center connecting families with support. CMS has not detailed what each center would offer or how the work would be funded and staffed.
A school-based model, not a set service list
Community schools are intended to bring families, educators and local residents together to identify needs and connect families with resources. A center might offer practical assistance or referrals, but an example at another school does not establish what CMS families will receive. WFAE also distinguished the proposed community-schools approach from Communities In Schools, a separate program that works with students needing extra support at many CMS campuses.
The model is being considered against a difficult statewide attendance backdrop, though state numbers cannot describe conditions at the six proposed schools. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s AttendNC Guide reports that nearly 400,000 students, or 24%, were chronically absent in 2024-25. DPI says statewide chronic absenteeism has declined from its pandemic peak of 31% but remains above pre-pandemic norms, according to its AttendNC Counts project plan. Neither measure establishes attendance rates at any of the six CMS campuses.
Evidence points to implementation as a key condition
Research offers a reason for districts to test the approach, but not a guarantee of results in Charlotte. A Learning Policy Institute review describes a synthesis of more than 143 studies that associated well-implemented community schools with improvements in attendance, achievement and school climate. A study of New York City’s initiative, published through Taylor & Francis, found an immediate 5.6 percentage-point reduction in chronic absenteeism that persisted for three years, with math and reading gains by the third year. Those findings concern different programs and settings; they do not predict outcomes at CMS.
North Carolina examples also show that the model can take different local forms. W.B. Wicker Elementary in Sanford opened its Tiger Den family resource center in March with support from a North Carolina Community Schools Coalition grant, Lee County Schools said. Clinton City Schools, meanwhile, has said it plans to adopt the model in 2027 and expects two or three coordinators, according to the City of Clinton. These are examples from other districts, not staffing or funding commitments for CMS.
For Charlotte, the immediate question is whether the board adopts the policy. If it does, the six campuses could move toward the model for 2027-28; the district’s service menus, operating plans and resources for each school remain to be specified.
