Will CMS Sell The Morgan School? Neighbors Fear Yes
Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board members will hold a meeting and a vote tonight. While COVID-19 is a hot topic there is another issue on the agenda getting some intention. The board is scheduled to vote on whether or not to move forward with the sale of the district’s surplus properties. And one of those properties CMS could sell is the historic Morgan School.
The Morgan School, located in the Cherry neighborhood, dates back to the 1920s. The school was built to provide black students with an education in the first Charlotte community where working-class African Americans could own a home. The school has stood empty since 2017 and the Cherry Community Organization has made known their desire to own the building. Neighbors worry that the sale could put the building in the hands of someone who would alter the building and its important history. The property has been designated a local historic landmark.
School board member Carol Sawyer, who is a representative of the area, supports selling the school according to WBTV. She told the news station that the sale will not prevent the Cherry Community Organization from acquiring it. She suggests that the deal be written to explicitly lay out what the new owners could and couldn’t do with the property.
Neighborhood looks to preserve Charlotte’s historic Morgan School https://t.co/QkeWtiDfln
— WBTV News (@WBTV_News) September 14, 2021
In addition to that vote tonight, the board will also discuss masks and consider allowing superintendent Ernest Winston the authority to move students to online learning as a result of COVID-19.
Do you think CMS should be able to sell the Morgan School? Or should they hold on to it until the Cherry Community Organization is ready to purchase it?
Get more info on the Cherry Neighborhood’s history here
