Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather has requested the state Bureau of Investigation conduct a criminal investigation into Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
Merriweather said he asked SBI last month to conduct an informal inquiry into "reports of alleged financial irregularities within transactions."
As a result of that inquiry, Merriweather has requested a "formal criminal investigation" into potential violations of state law on embezzlement and fraud related to local government payments.
Merriweather didn't specify the alleged irregularities. But it comes after Superintendent Crystal Hill released a blistering memo this week, accusing CMS Board Chair Stephanie Sneed of secretly directing money to a controversial consultant. And it also comes after the board suspended Hill for two months as it investigated allegations related to misuse of federal funds and conflicts of interest related to contracting. Hill has said the investigation turned up empty, and she was returned to work in August.
The accusations were part of a 14-page memo Hill sent to the board Wednesday that included more than 200 pages of attachments and supporting documentation. The memo was first obtained by The Charlotte Ledger and later published in its entirety by The Charlotte Observer.
The memo offers the clearest account yet of the behind-the-scenes tensions that built in the months that led to Hill’s suspension in June. It comes as the board prepares to possibly remove Sneed as chair, and release more information about its $380,000 investigation into Hill, at next week’s school board meeting.
Connections with controversial consultant
In the memo, Hill questions board contracts with law firm Poyner Spruill that routed money to a consulting company called Qonnect, LLC, owned by former CMS Chief Executive in Residence Raki McGregor.
“There is a lot I do not understand about the events listed here, particularly the ongoing involvement of Poyner Spruill or Mr. McGregor,” Hill writes. “If I don’t understand the Board’s decisions from my seat as superintendent, we can’t reasonably expect employees or taxpayers to understand.”
She suggests that her strained relationship with Sneed began in the 2024-25 school year, when she chose not to renew McGregor’s contract after controversies involving his wife’s educational consulting company, SYDKIMYL, and his involvement in school board elections.
“I became concerned that Mr. McGregor was looking to take advantage of his role as Executive in Residence, his proximity to sitting members of the Board of Education, and his association with candidates running for seats on the Board of Education,” Hill writes.
Hill writes that Sneed, who is reportedly close with McGregor, was “not supportive” of that decision. Hill also notes that the district decided not to sign another contract with SYDKIMYL after its last one expired in January.
Public records and Hill’s memo show that McGregor remained involved in district business through the Poyner Spruill contract, though Hill claims she and most board members didn't know that until recently.
Public records show Poyner Spruill signed a contract with CMS in February to work on its At Home in CMS initiative. At Home is an effort to connect educators with affordable housing, which McGregor had been involved in while he was chief executive in residence.
That contract included a monthly $30,000 consultant retainer. The contract and invoices do not list the consultant. But a separate services agreement from March between Poyner Spruill and Qonnect confirms it was McGregor.
WCNC reported this week that a CMS employee filed a grievance against Sneed. The employee claimed Sneed pressured her to continue to process the payments even though district staff had flagged it as not compliant with district policy or state law. The district never entered into a contract with Qonnect.
Poyner Spruill also had a $220,000 contract to carry out a district-wide compliance assessment. Officials had previously said the review was not prompted by anything specific but was meant to minimize risk to the district. Poyner Spruill had another services agreement for $132,000 with Qonnect on that project as well. As WFAE reported Tuesday, that assessment was paused last week after board members flagged a “potential conflict of interest” in the arrangement.
Hill questioned why McGregor was given the contracts, particularly on the compliance assessment, which focused on the Human Resources and Finance Department.
“Mr. McGregor does not have public school administration experience in the areas of HR or finance and is not qualified to conduct this review,” Hill writes. “Mr. McGregor is motivated to identify problems with my leadership because I ended his relationship with CMS.”
Invoices from Poyner Spruill show Sneed continued to meet with a “consultant” — which Hill says she understands to be McGregor due to the services agreement — throughout the winter and spring as part of the affordable housing contract. Some invoice items suggest Sneed and McGregor discussed the 2026-27 budget, which the board would ultimately vote down in a dramatic 8-1 vote on April 28. That vote was the first indication of conflict between Hill and the Board.
An April 13 Poyner Spruill invoice line item, is labeled, “Review Consultant information RE Budget Concerns.” Another invoice from May 7 reads: “TC Chair and Consultant re: reports budget updates and response to Board budget questions/presentation.” That came as the board and Hill wrangled over the budget in a series of contentious special meetings.
Sneed did not answer a phone call from WFAE Thursday.
During budget discussions, board members said they wanted to hire a local business to provide services for social and emotional learning. Hill writes that she interpreted the requests, which were included in the final budget, as a way to benefit SYDKIMYL.
Investigation
On June 9, Hill writes, the board told Hill it had received “several serious allegations” related to her management of the district and that it would be suspending her. She said she was told if she resigned by the following Friday, the information would never be made public.
“I consider this extortion,” Hill said.
Hill says she tried to negotiate her separation from CMS, but when she wouldn’t agree to the terms, the investigation began.
“I do not understand why the Board did not buy out my contract from the beginning, but I suspect the investigation was used as leverage in hopes that I would accept a severance agreement that included a confidentiality provision,” Hill said. She says she has still not seen the scope of work of the investigation or the final investigative report.
The board is set to release at least parts of this report on Tuesday in a long-awaited summary. It’s also set to vacate Sneed from her position as chair after a motion brought by board members Cynthia Stone, Monty Witherspoon and Lenora Shipp.
WFAE tried contacting multiple board members but did not hear back.
Speaking to WSOC Thursday night, board vice chair Dee Rankin declined to comment on matters involving McGregor, but denied that any “extortion” had taken place.
“You saw that memo," he told the station. "Some of those things are her perspective. That doesn’t make it true.”
