Could lawmakers break up Wake, CMS? Bill would study NC’s 5 largest school districts
North Carolina lawmakers could make major changes targeting the state’s five largest school districts: Wake County, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Guilford County, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County and Cumberland County.
Legislation filed this week calls for forming a study commission to see if the five largest North Carolina school districts “experience any negative outcomes due to the large student populations.” The commission would then “suggest remedies to any negative outcomes caused by the size of the student populations.”
The bill looking into the operations of five urban Democratic districts could potentially lead to recommendations to split them up into smaller districts. House Bill 82 is sponsored by Reps. Donny Lambeth and Jeff Zenger, a pair of influential Republican lawmakers from Forsyth County.
“The purpose of the Bill is to look at the size of our largest districts and determine pros and cons of those districts are (they) too large and if so what options exist,” Lambeth said in an email to The News & Observer. “Our schools must perform better and they’ve grown significantly in size these last 20 years and I believe it is worth taking a look.”
A Wake County school spokesperson said the district hasn’t reviewed the legislation yet.
Most NC school districts are small
The five big districts account for 31% of the state’s 1.5 million public school students. Wake County is the biggest at 161,115 students, followed by 141,726 in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, 66,055 in Guilford, 50,550 in Forsyth and 48,374 in Cumberland.
The majority of the state’s 115 school districts have fewer than 10,000 students.
There were 174 school districts in North Carolina in 1957. But the number has shrunk in part because of efforts to save money and to integrate districts after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that struck down racial segregation in schools.
Charlotte and Mecklenburg County merged their school systems in 1960. Raleigh and Wake County merged in 1976.
The legislation comes at a time when some residents have voiced support for splitting up big districts. These transplants are used to smaller municipal-based school systems.
North Carolina’s mostly county-based districts can lead to questions such as why all schools closed when some areas don’t have snow or haven’t lost power.
“If you realize that the schools don’t just draw their students and teachers from the surrounding community but the entire county, you understand why we have to make countywide decisions,” Wake school board chair Chris Heagarty said in an interview.
Does district size matter?
It’s not the first time that state lawmakers have looked at the size of school districts. In 2018, a legislative committee adopted a final report saying additional study is needed before the General Assembly creates a process for the public to try to break up large school districts.
A pair of researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill told the committee that there’s not much research on school district size, so there are concerns about using the “mixed bag” of data to make major decisions.
The committee heard that existing studies don’t document a relationship between school district size and student educational performance. But there’s a strong inference that smaller school size contributes to improved student performance.
Charles Jeter, executive director of government affairs, policy and board communications for CMS, pointed back to the 2018 findings.
“So in essence, the NCGA has already taken up the efforts to determine if a district school size affects students.,” Jeter said in an email to the N&O. “And after all their work and expert testimony, the committee determined that the size of a school district does not impact student performance.
“However, large individual schools do. Which is why our recommendation to this proposed committee would be to look at ways to create small population schools through a statewide school construction bond. The data is clear that choice will improve student performance across North Carolina.”
Heagarty questioned the efficiency of breaking districts up, saying the state would have to do things such as pay for more superintendents.
Commission would make recommendations in 2026
Under the bill, the nine-member study commission would consist of five legislators, two school board members from the targeted districts and two members recommended by the state Department of Public Instruction. The members would be appointed by House Speaker Destin Hall and Senate leader Phil Berger.
“It will be assigned a committee or two for a hearing,” Lambeth said. “It will work through the legislative steps for a fair hearing and determination if it merits support.”
State agencies, local governments and school districts would be required to provide information requested by the commission.
“The Commission shall study any negative outcomes in the five largest local school administrative units in the State, determine if any of those outcomes are caused by the large population of the unit, and develop recommendations on methods of addressing the outcomes,” the bill says.
The commission would report back the results of its study and its recommendations, including any proposed legislative changes, to next year’s session of the General Assembly. The commission would terminate Dec. 31, 2026 or when it files its report, whichever is sooner.
Heagarty, the Wake school board chair, pointed to how the district is already commissioning third-party studies of its staffing levels and employee compensation. He said Wake would gladly share that information with the commission.
“There’s always opportunities to investigate ways to increase efficiencies and improve student outcomes,” Heagarty said.
This story was originally published February 11, 2025 at 11:51 AM.
