CMS Superintendent Defends Response to Butler High Shooting



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Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox strongly defended the actions of Butler High School administrators after a student fatally shot Monday morning.

At Tuesday night's Board of Education meeting, Wilcox said the school's main "made a brave decision" – and the correct one – to send students to their "second hour" of classes and not home on buses.

"For those who thought we were callous, I would simply say you are wrong," Wilcox said.

Bobby McKeithen, a 16-year-old sophomore, was shot in a hallway during what was said to be a fight with another student.

Jatwan Craig Cuffie, a 16-year-old freshman, was involved with first-degree murder.

Wilcox previously said that the incident "has begun with a history of control over the past few years," The Charlotte Observer previously reported.


Clayton Wilcox

At Tuesday Night's Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Clayton Wilcox said the school's principal "made a brave decision" to send students to their second hour of classes after a fatal shooting in school. 'For those who think we are callous, I would simply say you are wrong,' Wilcox said.

Davie Hinshaw Observer file photo

On Tuesday night, Wilcox told the board that "we were not continuing with normal schooling" when students were feeling their second hour of classes.

That decision allowed administrators to "know where (students) would be," Wilcox told the board.

No instruction took place in the second hour, he added.

He said it was better to keep students in school than when parents were still at work.

Still, Wilcox told the board, the shooting is in need of improvement on CMS's part.

"We are now looking at the hard road ahead, and we know where you are at somebody else, there are three points back at you," he said.

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"We were not clear enough in our parents' wording down," the superintendent told the board.

The district notified parents of the shooting about an hour after it happened, and said, "The Observer previously reported.

WSOC, however, reported that angry parents were gathering around the campus despite being told to congregate elsewhere.

Without elaborating, Wilcox told the board Tuesday night: "We had some access issues, and we'll work through those in the days ahead. We are here today with the Matthews Police Department, and we are refining all the security plans we presented last week. We have some access control issues we did not know we had before. "

"Wilcox told the board." We have a lot of work to do with a school system, and we will get it done over time.

Joe Marusak: 704-358-5067; @jmarusak

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