CMS interim superintendent discusses achievement gap, school safety at first board meeting

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ interim superintendent is already working on his to-do list.

Hugh Hattabaugh attended his first Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, which was his second day on the job.

Since starting in the role on Monday, he’s discussed plans with district staff to expand and reorganize the district’s six learning communities to better support low-performing schools and increase academic performance.

“It will include a line of authority from the superintendent to the schools, a results-driven line with high expectations for results to close the achievement gap,” he said.

He also discussed teacher retention, restoring trust between families and the district, and hiring a chief communications officer.

Twenty-five guns were found on multiple school campuses from August to March. In response, the district installed Body scanners at more than two dozen schools, doubled random safety screenings, and added an anonymous reporting system.

Hattabaugh says schools need to make sure trusted adults are in place to receive important tips.

“A visible adult that’s got a connection with the student,” he said. “They’ve got to be discreet in getting the information and they have built-in a call number to enable that to happen but we always have to remember - you can’t ask a child something in front of their peers because we can’t go back in the neighborhood to deal with it.”

Hattabaugh says the plan for reorganizing the six learning will be presented to the Board for approval at the end of May.