This is a special edition email for Charlotte, NC subscribers. If you have a friend that's interested you can forward it to them. Please do not copy + paste, post, or publish elsewhere.

Good Morning Reader,

After 6 months of odd moments between CMS and the Board of Education, everything started to come out this week.

I'm not sure what the conclusion will be, but if you care about our public schools then it's time to start paying attention.

Everything I'm sharing in this newsletter I've learned from public sources. I have tried my best to lay this out, but I may have made mistakes. It's quite...messy. I imagine some details will change or get more clarity over time. I also want to disclose that I am a contractor with CMS. My work is not related to the investigations.

A Little Bit of Background:

• CMS' superintendent is Crystal Hill. She's in charge of the district. CMS is the 16th largest school district in the nation with a $2.1 billion budget.
• The Board of Education (BoE) is represented by a group of 9 board members elected into office. Stephanie Sneed is Chair of the Board.
• It is essential that the BoE and CMS work together to best serve the students. There are many things that the superintendent cannot implement (budgets, zoning, etc) without approval of the board.
• SYDKYML (pronounced Sid-Kimmel) is a consulting firm that was hired by CMS, and was founded by Kim McGregor. This consulting agency has received more and more money from CMS over the past few years. Kim is married to Raki McGregor, who also has a consulting group, called Qonnect; he is also associated with law firm Poyner Spruill. Raki previously served as the chief executive in residence for CMS. The McGregors, seem to be at the center of allegations below.

So here's what's been going on...

• Spring 2025: BoE Chair Sneed pressured Superintendent Hill to ask the county manager to approve funding in the budget for social emotional learning (also called SEL). Hill ignored this because it's irrelevant to her work as superintendent, and it would be inappropriate for her to weigh in. In June, Superintendent Hill learned that SYDKYML lost a $600,000 contract from the county which would have been pair for from the SEL funding.
• Q4 2025: Hill tried to end SYDKYML's contract, due to its scope of work being complete. Stephanie Sneed expressed a desire to keep the contract open.
• Q1 2026: CMS agreed to pay Poyner Spruill $30,000 a month for a contract, the purpose of which is unclear. The scope of work is wide, Superintendent Hill seems unsure about how this contract came to be.
• Q1 2026: A grievance was filed by a CMS employee against Chair Sneed, Vice Chair Rankin, and Acting General Counsel Anna Hehenberger. Poyner Spruill was selected by CMS as counsel. The results of the investigation are murky; Hill says she was completely in the dark on details of the investigation, and does not believe the Board of Ed has the details either.
• Q1 2026: Sneed questioned why Hill wanted to use $4.5 million of the CMS budget to give pay raises to teachers in years 15-25 of their tenure. Sneed insisted there's a better use of funds. Hill found this suggestion odd, and declines, including the pay raise in the proposed budget.
• April 29, 2026: Superintendent Crystal Hill presented the CMS budget to the board. The board voted not to pass the budget. This catches the general public off guard. No public feedback is given. Hill seems visibly frustrated in the board meeting.
• May 12: After some closed sessions, Hill presents the budget again. The only clear difference is a $1 million contract with consulting firm SYDKIMYL is added in.
• June 9: The Board announced Superintendent Crystal Hill is suspended, pending an investigation. There is never an official reason given. Hill has been adamant since her return she was never told why she was suspended, what was being investigated, and doesn't believe she did anything wrong. She was given 4 days to resign from her position by the Board without understanding why, a fact the general public only learned this week. Chair Sneed insisted the public would never have to know what Hill did if she resigned. Hill claims this was extortion by the Board of Education. Hill called their bluff and refused to resign.
• June 9-August 11: Hill is placed on leave pending the investigation results. Total legal cost for the investigation $380,000.
• August 11: As part of the investigation, Hill is subjected to a 6-hour interview by the investigating law firm. No apparent misconduct was found, and she was reinstated the same day. Hill alleges she still has not seen the investigation report, despite asking for it. She still does not know what allegations were brought against her. She believes there were no credible allegations and the law firm spent the summer trying to find one.
• September: As Hill returns to work she finds out that:
  • There is no paperwork for the contract with Poyner Spruill, despite the district paying them $30k a month.
  • Raki McGregor is getting paid $13,000 a month by Poyner Spruill
  • Superintendent Hill begins to suspect that Chair Sneed is behind these contracts (SYDKYML, Qonnect, Poyner Spruill), which connect back to the McGregor family.
• September 11: The press learns Board members Cynthia Stone, Lenora Shipp, and Dr. Monty Witherspoon are calling for Chair Sneed to step down.
• September 14 - 15: Five CMS chief cabinet members resign / announce retirement. Hill says she believes this is due to a lack of faith in the Board of Education
• September 17: Hill releases a 220 page memo explaining how she believes the board, particularly Chair Sneed have been extorting her and acting unethically. (You REALLY should read it, and don't worry - it's 14 pages of timeline and the rest are evidence. You can scan it in 10 minutes.)
• September 18: The Mecklenburg DA announces investigation into CMS for transactions in the 2026-27 school year.

So here's what I think...

• If Hill's memorandum is true, then she is doing an incredibly brave and honest thing to blow the whistle on the Board of Education.
• Ultimately, this is about the children of Mecklenburg County. We must protect the kids.
• The Board of Education consists of 9 elected officials. They run on a single election- no primary. As far as I know, none of them are up for re-election, but it's possible we will see some unexpected "special elections" as this unfolds. Hold your school board members accountable.
• Charlotte's School Board elections tend have extremely low voter turnout. Maybe this scandal will finally make people see how closely we need to pay attention to public education.
• The next School Board Meetings are Tuesday September 22 and October 13. You can stream them live or attend in person.

Am I worried?

• Yes and No...will this impact the day to day life of students? I really don't think so. Your family will feel it more when your school's Principal changes, for example. So much of this happened at the district level, far from your child's campus.
• But... it does concern me to see wasteful spending of our already tight budget. Clearly, there are ways to circumvent any checks and balances. I don't like that.
• Charlotte's not a small city anymore. We have seen money scandals like this on city council too. As a whole I think our city has some lessons to learn, we've been naive.

Final Thoughts

You might feel this email is lacking in outrage...and it is.

First- I want you to understand what's happening so you can make your own opinion.

Second- I'm waiting to see what's proven true and the consequences from it. I feel encouraged that Superintendent Hill is sticking to her ethics and now the DA is involved. We are far from the end of this story.

In the meantime, I'd like to see CMS and the Board tighten up their processes. No one wants to see opportunistic contractors feeding off the district. As a CMS contractor myself, I am incredibly proud of the work I do to support families. It pains me to hear there are contractors who are not providing value. Whether you're providing milk in the cafeteria or consulting with the Board, it is an honor and privilege to serve the children of Charlotte.

I'm going to continue to watch this closely because it's far from over. What do you think?