Key Takeaways
- The Board of Education voted Tuesday to eliminate $2.4 million in funding for Capturing Kids' Hearts, an outside social-emotional learning vendor
- $1.6 million will be redirected to in-classroom social-emotional learning investment
- $800,000 will fund a competitive request for proposals for student-facing social-emotional learning services
- The change was part of the six-part budget amendment the board approved unanimously
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will end its use of Capturing Kids' Hearts — an outside social-emotional learning vendor — and redirect the program's $2.4 million budget toward classroom-based instruction and a competitive procurement process.
The Board of Education approved the reallocation Tuesday night as part of the amended 2026–27 budget package, which the board adopted unanimously.
Dr. Melissa Balknight presented the change to the board. "The amended recommendation for the budget is to eliminate the $2.4 million funding for Capturing Kids' Hearts, reallocate $1.6 million for deeper investment in social emotional learning, to directly impact the classroom, and reallocate $800,000 to support an RFP for social emotional learning services that are provided directly to students," she told the board.
The reallocation preserves the district's commitment to social-emotional learning while shifting how that work is funded and delivered. Rather than contracting with a single outside vendor, CMS will put services out to bid — an approach that could bring in new providers.
The Capturing Kids' Hearts decision was one of six adjustments in the budget amendment the board approved unanimously Tuesday, a package that also restored four DSS foster-care liaison positions the board had previously cut.