CMS Superintendent Crystal Hill reveals allegations behind investigation

In her first substantive comments on her summer suspension, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Crystal Hill said Tuesday that she was told that the school board was investigating her for misusing federal funds, creating a hostile work environment and having a conflict of interest on vendor contracts.

She said she was told that an outside investigation found no substantiation of those allegations.

In an interview with Mike Collins on WFAE’s “Charlotte Talks,” Hill answered detailed and probing questions for more than 30 minutes about her relationship with the school board and its investigation into her – a topic that until Tuesday had been shrouded in secrecy. She answered almost every question, though she deflected inquiries about the board’s thinking or motivations.

The school board has declined to answer questions about the investigation into Hill, citing state personnel privacy laws — although it has voted to release some information by the end of this month. And Hill had previously deflected questions, saying she wanted to focus on the start of school.

“I knew that I had not done anything to violate policy,” Hill said on the program. “I knew that I had not done anything that was illegal, immoral, unethical. … I’m not perfect by any means. I’m a human. I make mistakes every single day, but I knew in that moment and through the entire nine weeks of the investigation that I had not done anything that was a violation of board policy.”

The school board announced in June that it was placing Hill on paid leave as it investigated unspecified operational and management issues. It reinstated Hill as superintendent in August, again without providing details.

Hill joined CMS in 2022 as chief of staff and has led the district as superintendent since 2023.

Hill said she did not have a copy of the investigation’s report by an outside law firm, as she was told it was protected by attorney-client privilege.

But she said she was told the general nature of the investigation.

“I can tell you that I was told during the early negotiations that the ‘nature’ — and I’m using that in air quotes — the ‘nature’ of the allegations were misuse of federal funds, creating a hostile working environment and a conflict of interest for some vendor contracts,” she said.

And she said she was told that the investigation found nothing to substantiate the allegations, though it also identified areas to work on. She said she talked to investigators for six hours in August.

“There were no findings of mismanagement of those funds. There were no findings of improper spending,” she said, “… I hire people because they get results, not because they’re my friends.”

She said that the board had received some complaints “from disgruntled employees that are not my employees” that the board was looking into, and that there were “no findings of a hostile working environment.”

And she implied in the interview that school board leaders pressured her to resign in June: “I was also told that because of the allegations that there would be an investigation, and that I had until [that] Friday to decide what my future would be with the district. So I was a little caught off-guard.”

Asked how this period in her life felt personally and professionally, Hill sighed and waited a few seconds before responding that she drew on her faith: “It didn’t feel great. But one thing I have learned is I am not in control. There is only one person for me personally who’s in control, and that’s God. … I am much stronger in my faith, and I’m ready to rock and roll.”