Mecklenburg considering options if CMS misused county money, manager says
Mecklenburg County’s manager says he’s considering options if Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is found to have misused county money.
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His statement comes as the State Bureau of Investigation, State Auditor’s Office and State Department of Public Instruction all probe the district’s finances. And on Monday, the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office confirmed they’re also investigating CMS.
CMS faces major turnover in leadership amid the investigations, including the firing of Superintendent Crystal Hill after she raised concerns about finances and board decisions and school board Chair Stephanie Sneed’s resignation from her leadership position ahead of a vote to oust her.
In a statement Monday, County Manager Mike Bryant said he is “exploring what options might be available to the county should these investigations reveal that County dollars were misused by CMS.”
“As County Manager, my priority is to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars and resources,” said Bryant, who had not previously commented on the district’s current situation.
Mecklenburg County funds a significant portion of the district’s annual budget, including about $730 million in fiscal year 2027, which began July 1. CMS’s total budget for fiscal year 2027 is about $2.1 billion.
County commissioners are also scheduled to discuss CMS funding at their Tuesday meeting, according to the meeting’s agenda.
Board Chairman Mark Jerrell told the Observer that discussion will be “a level set around scope of authority, updates on what we know and any options that may be available to the (Board of County Commissioners).”
“Board members have questions. I also want them to be aware of my conversations with the leadership team,” Jerrell said.
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The CMS board voted 5-4 to fire Hill “for convenience” Sept. 22, days after the memo she wrote to the board became public. Hill raised concerns about the board’s oversight of district spending and its relationships with outside contractors, including consulting arrangements involving former CMS executive in residence Raki McGregor and his company, Qonnect, LLC.
In an email first reported by The Charlotte Ledger, Hill told Bryant just before her firing that “the funding source for the transactions I’ve questioned are local funds allocated from Mecklenburg County Board of County Commissioners.”
In a Sept. 25 email to the county commission obtained by The Charlotte Observer through a public records request, Bryant told county commissioners he directed staff to research “all past agreements and transactions the County may have had” with two companies related to McGregor, SYDKIMYL Consulting, LLC. and Qonnect, LLC.
Bryant told commissioners the county has not found any past agreements with Qonnect, LLC. But he added the county had contracts with SYDKIMYL Consulting, LLC., which is owned by McGregor’s wife. Those contracts ran from fiscal year 2020 through fiscal year 2025 and were for $3.1M in services, Bryant wrote.
The county’s agreements with SYDKIMYL “were terminated at the beginning of FY2026 as part of the County’s review of nonprofits during the FY2026 budget process,” according to the email.
“In addition, another factor that resulted in the termination of the contract was that County Leadership perceived that SYDKIMYL was ‘double-dipping’ by receiving funding from the County as well as CMS,” Bryant wrote to commissioners. “Also, County Executive Leadership viewed Mr. McGregor’s role as an employee of SYDKIMYL, which was led by Mrs. McGregor, as a conflict of interest.”
Bryant’s predecessor, Dena Diorio, told WFAE last week the county had concerns about SYDKIMYL dating back to 2025 and that Raki McGregor threatened to sue her during a meeting about the county cutting funding if she publicly alleged he had a conflict of interest.
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