Curtis Carroll, recently tapped by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to lead some of the district’s poorest and worst-performing schools, will instead become principal of Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology.

Carroll, a veteran administrator, had been named to take over one of two newly created -– and controversial -- “central zones” within CMS. Those zones will include 64 of the district’s poorest schools and account for roughly half of all African American students.

In an interview Monday with Qcitymetro, Carroll said he decided that being a principal would allow him to do what he enjoys most as an educator – working closely with students.

Carroll was principal of Harding University High School from 1999 to 2006. He left for an administrative job in Orlando, Fla., but returned to CMS in 2007 to lead a new “Achievement Zone,” which supported 11 low-performing schools.

The Achievement Zone was eliminated with recent budget cuts. In its place, the district created two central zones – one for pre-K and elementary schools and other for middle and high schools. Carroll had been named to oversee the latter.

Just weeks ago, Carroll was busy meeting with black clergy and community leaders to allay concerns about the central zones. Some critics had branded the plan a veiled attempt to re-segregate CMS.

Some of the individuals with whom Carroll met said they came away feeling reassured about the central zones knowing that he would be involved. Others, however, maintained their opposition.

Richard McElrath and Joyce Waddell, the school board’s two African American members, voted to oppose the central zones. And local NAACP President Kojo Nantambu compared the plan to a return to Jim Crow segregation.

The Rev. Gregory Moss, pastor of St. Paul Baptist Church, said he was disappointed to learn that Carroll would not be involved in the central zones.

“I have great faith in his ability to watch out for our people,” Moss told Qcitymetro.com. “I feel like he was the person who could make it work if it had a chance of working.”

Carroll said he did not believe his decision would impact the long-term success of the central zones.

“No, I don’t feel I’ve let any people down,” he said. “This is a great opportunity for me.”

Denise Watts, principal at Spaugh Middle School, will be promoted to Carroll’s administrative job. Spaugh was CMS’s lowest-performing school when Superintendent Peter Gorman asked her to move there from Mint Hill Middle in March 2009.

Watts just completed her first full year at Spaugh, and Gorman on Monday had not named her replacement.

The principal’s position at Phillip O. Berry became open after Donald Fennoy, who led the school for three years, took a supervisory job with New Leaders for New Schools, a national program to recruit nontraditional leaders for urban schools. He will be executive director for Baltimore and Prince Georges County, Md.
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The Charlotte Observer contributed to this report.

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