WCNC Charlotte this is flashpoint.
Thanks for joining us here on Flashpoint.
I'm Ben Thompson.
This week, a lot of new faces will
join CMS's Board of Education.
It all comes after three
incumbents lost their seats in
the historic November election.
And they'll have a lot to tackle,
from falling test scores to the
search for a new Superintendent.
It all comes as the districts interim
leader Hugh Hattabaugh set to step
down at the end of this month.
CMS, now looking for its sixth
Superintendent in less than 10 years,
is where you'll hear from two of the
five newly elected school board members.
They've nicknamed themselves the Fresh 5.
Joining us now is emmas board
member elect Lisa Klein.
She come Tuesday,
she's going to represent the district
5th district, which includes.
Most of South Charlotte and Matthews.
Lisa, thanks for coming on.
We appreciate it.
Thank you for having me.
Alright, so you wanna a close race by
a few thousand votes with all these
new faces coming onto the board,
what do you think that that in
and of itself signals about where
CMS stands going into next year?
Well, I think it signals that change.
From what the community wants,
they wanted change and we call
ourselves fresh five, you know,
where we've been calling
ourselves different things,
but I think it's wanting.
The community wants change and then we
are the agents of that change and we have
to listen to what the Community wants.
We're striving now,
doing a lot of team building,
meeting together because we can
meet until we become board members.
And just building that collegial
spirit that is needed to do what
needs to be done in the community for
the Community and for the children.
To that point, you, you sort of had a
lot of different grassroots organizations
that that backed you in your campaign.
How would you describe who are you
going to be the voice for on the board?
I like to think that I'm the the boys,
not only for the children and the parents,
but I have a unique perspective as being
an educator and 29 plus years in CMS and
40 years of just education in general.
So I like to think I'm
going to be a combination.
I have a lot of students that are now
parents in the district and I hope that
I continue to be that voice because.
It's it's got to be a common
sense approach to what we're doing
and we've gotten away from that.
I was a history teacher and and and CMS
along with being a foreign language
teacher and I like to look at the
history of CMS and look at how the change,
what changes occurred and what's
broken down in the past few years
and how we can get back on track.
So I like to think that I'm going
to be that voice of everybody.
And yes, it was a grassroots effort.
You are going to be doing a juggling act.
There's going to be a lot
of different priorities.
You have to treat this like
a triage situation. What?
What would be your number one or #2 priority?
Knowing that, and I'm going to get to this,
there's a Superintendent selection
that's gonna have to happen.
But aside from that,
for just a second,
what do you feel like is your
biggest one or two priorities?
Well, I started already getting the the
parent phone calls and the parent emails.
We're looking at redistricting and it's this,
the school district goes through
a redistricting and realignment
of lines every six years.
And in South Charlotte there is a high
school relief that's opening up off of
Johnston Road and North Community House.
So that is going to be a major priority.
Because we've got to look
at that and get it right.
I mean for so long we've the districts
drawn lines here there and right now
we have to get it right for this next
group and for this next six years.
So that is a priority and of course
everybody knows that the number one
thing is a Superintendent and we have
to get that right and we've got to
have that person in place during the.
By the beginning of school.
So that's number one and #2 for me.
And and and I'm very fortunate
with Summer Nunn who is District 6.
We've been going to a lot of meetings
and other board members have been
joining us to see what is needed
in this area because it's not just
South Charlotte it's going to affect.
Everybody, and we want to make it right.
Back to the Superintendent.
Search in your mind what are you going
to be looking for in the ideal candidate?
You know, I've sat in on a
lot of the community based.
Surveys and. That I don't know if
you can find that perfect person.
It's going to be hard.
I I was fortunate to work under
some really good superintendents.
I worked under John Murphy.
That shows you how long I've
been in the district.
Eric Smith, Peter Gorman.
James Hughley, Frances haithcock.
So. And I'd like to find a
combination of everybody like
that who can be charismatic,
who can reach the community,
who can bring us together.
And then on top of that,
make sure that we are closing
the gap because at one time we
were on course and we've gotten
off course and we've got to
go back there.
Let me stop you right there.
You say we've gotten off course.
Since they Peter Gorman which was 2007,
2008, we have had a a
list of superintendents.
What do you think has gone
wrong in the selection process
in that 1015 year time span?
One of the things I think is that.
They didn't really understand
Mecklenburg County.
And Mecklenburg County is
huge and it keeps growing.
And the culture of the the unique
culture of our community and how to
bridge those gaps because the West
side is very different from the east
side and the north and the South.
You've got to find somebody.
You can understand that.
And while you're focusing on one area,
not forgetting.
And I think sometimes we focus.
Zero in on one thing and you still
have all these other things going on,
so you've got to have a
good support system and.
They didn't have that and.
The other thing that and I've I've,
I'm on record.
I want to Superintendent that
that's not using Mecklenburg County
and Sandbass as the stepping
stone for something better.
They can't have one foot
in the door and 1 foot out.
So I'm really going to push
that as part of their contract.
I don't know if I can do that or not.
Hopefully we can that they are committed
to CMS for minimum of three years
hopefully five years without consulting.
Not using us as, hey,
I'm doing such a great job here,
let me promote myself to
something bigger and better.
They've got me commitment.
Thanks for coming on.
We appreciate it.
Have a good day,
alright, take care.
We speak to another new member of
the CS board coming up after this.