By Ann Doss Helms
ahelms@charlotteobserver.com

Supporters of Smith Language Academy and Harding High argued fiercely - and in multiple languages - for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board to save both magnet schools.

"We are discussing two of the best schools, not only in CMS but in the nation," said Smith parent Jibril Hough.

The 15th and final public forum in a five-month study of student assignment drew hundreds Wednesday night, though the Olympic High gym was big enough that no one was turned away.

The board plans to vote Tuesday on proposals to close eight schools and bring major changes to about two dozen more next year.

Wednesday's focus was on a plan to move Smith's K-8 language immersion magnet into Harding's building and divide Harding's magnet students among Waddell High and Berry Academy of Technology.

The original plan from Superintendent Peter Gorman called for closing Waddell, a neighborhood school, and putting Smith's program there. It was revised last week, after repeated protests from Waddell boosters.

Smith parents and Harding students grilled board Chair Eric Davis about the change. One Smith father praised Davis and acknowledged the board's tough task. But he said it's hard to believe the explanation that officials belatedly realized that guiding principles approved in August favored neighborhood schools over magnets.

"The way the board blindsided Harding and Smith was unfair," he said. The switch, he said, "appeared to be made by last-minute politics."

When Davis responded that the board "received a recommendation" last week, the crowd called, "From whom?" until Davis answered: "The staff and the superintendent."

Some Smith fourth-graders read statements in Japanese and French. Smith families repeatedly told board members that Harding's westside campus, with seven buildings, isn't as safe for young children as Waddell's single building in southwest Charlotte.

Harding families emphasized their school's strong academic record, and some noted Waddell's weaker performance.

"Why do you think if you move me to Waddell it will have a positive impact on Waddell, rather than a negative impact on me?" a student in Harding's International Baccalaureate program asked Davis.

Davis said the IB program "will be a great example of academic achievement for Waddell students." He told other questioners that board members value high achievement at Smith, Harding and other magnets, but the majority of students attend nonmagnet schools, and many of them need more help to succeed.

Davis told the group that members are considering options that would preserve Harding as a high school and put Smith at Waddell. The decision won't be made until Tuesday, he said.

Davis and Gorman say the proposed closings will save about $10 million over the next two years, a small fraction of budget cuts projected to reach as high as $100 million next year alone. Several parents said they want to know how CMS plans to make the deeper cuts.

"We don't want another one-two punch," said Harding parent Ericka Ellis-Stewart. "Show us your complete and comprehensive plan."

The board intends to start planning the 2011 budget this month, after the school-closing vote.

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