Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools board votes to fire Superintendent Crystal Hill
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education voted to fire Superintendent Crystal Hill Tuesday night.
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The termination was for convenience, meaning the board must pay Hill one year of salary, according to her contract, which had been scheduled to end in 2029. One year of her salary is $340,770. Deputy Superintendent Melissa Balknight will serve as the district’s acting leader.
The surprise vote was added to the agenda Tuesday at the start of the meeting. Hill was present in the meeting chambers ahead of the start of Tuesday’s board meeting but left.
Five members voted in favor of Hill’s firing: Shamaiye Haynes, Charlitta Hatch, Stephanie Sneed, Dee Rankin and Liz Monterrey Duvall. Four members voted to keep her: Cynthia Stone, Anna London, Lenora Shipp and Monty Witherspoon.
Board members made repeated comments about how the decision and board turmoil was influenced by news media and public perception, which Sneed described as a “frenzy.” Those supporting Hill’s firing spoke about how they needed to restore the public’s trust, prioritize children and focus on moving forward. Those opposing the firing said the decision was not the appropriate response to the investigation’s findings, which found no wrongdoing.
“I think there have been a lot of distractions in the media and in the news, and I think we need to take a stand and say enough is enough,” board member Hatch said about voting to terminate Hill. “Our job as a board is to set the conditions and culture for the district.”
Board member Haynes called it “an incredibly difficult decision.”
Other board members, including Shipp, questioned the move.
“We have a lot going on, and leadership is so important at a time like this,” Shipp said. “Our most important job is to work collectively with the superintendent to move the school district forward.”
Witherspoon said the board was “broken.”
“This board has spiraled into chaos,” he said. “This board is dysfunctional.”
The board on Tuesday also released a report about its summer investigation into Hill. The report, which did not detail specific examples of alleged misconduct, said the investigation looked into workplace culture, personnel decisions, contracting and the handling of vacant positions.
The investigation did not, the report states, find evidence of improper conduct or negative operational impacts on instruction. It offered “opportunities to strengthen workplace culture,” and improve personnel management.
School board members didn’t take questions after emerging from a closed session to name Balknight the acting superintendent.
Controversy began in June, when the board placed Hill on paid leave amid concerns about her oversight of the district. Although the board offered few details about the allegations against Hill, it had already retained the law firm Brooks Pierce to investigate an employment matter nearly a month before publicly announcing her suspension. The investigation cost taxpayers more than $379,000 and kept Hill away from her job for nearly two months.
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On Aug. 11, the board voted to bring Hill back, but her return did little to resolve the questions surrounding her suspension. Board members did not publicly detail what investigators had uncovered or explain how they reached their decision to reinstate her.
Hill, however, offered her own account of what happened.
In a Sept. 8 interview with WFAE, Hill said the investigation centered on concerns about the potential misuse of federal funding, conflicts of interest involving district vendors and complaints about a hostile work environment. She maintained that investigators found no wrongdoing on her part, including no violations of board policy or state law and no conflicts of interest involving vendors.
But Hill went further last week, accusing board members of trying to force her out of her job before the investigation even began.
In a 14-page memorandum sent to the board Sept. 16, Hill alleged that she was told on June 9 that the board had received serious allegations against her but would keep them from becoming public if she agreed to resign by the end of the week.
“I consider this extortion,” Hill wrote.
When she refused to resign on the board’s terms, Hill alleged, the district proceeded with an investigation that she characterized as frivolous. She questioned whether the board had used the investigation to pressure her into accepting a severance agreement that would have required her to keep the circumstances of her departure confidential.
The memorandum also raised questions about the board’s oversight of district spending and its relationships with outside contractors.
Hill questioned consulting arrangements involving former CMS executive in residence Raki McGregor and his company, Qonnect LLC, including work McGregor was hired to perform through a law firm after his previous contract with the district ended. She raised concerns about board members’ involvement in contracting decisions and whether certain agreements had been properly authorized or disclosed.
Last week, Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather announced he asked the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations to launch a probe into CMS’ finances.
Meanwhile, the turmoil extended into the superintendent’s executive team, where at least five officials have announced retirements or resignations in recent weeks. Hill said in her memorandum that she believes the departures reflect a loss of confidence in the school board.
Balknight was among those planned departures. It wasn’t immediately clear late Tuesday whether she would stay through the end of the school year after being named acting superintendent.
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This story was originally published September 22, 2026 at 7:51 PM.
