Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will receive $500,000 from the C.D. Spangler Foundation to refurbish and repair instruments across the district, the school system announced Thursday, Sept. 24.

The new gift builds on $350,000 in direct Spangler contributions during 2024 and 2025, plus an additional $25,000 the foundation helped secure from another organization. Total Spangler-generated support for CMS arts education now exceeds $875,000.

The money will go toward band, orchestra, chorus, theater, dance and visual arts programs from elementary through high school, according to the district. CMS has not said how the funds will be divided among schools or when repairs will begin.

The announcement landed on the websites of four Ballantyne-area schools: Ardrey Kell High School, Ballantyne Ridge High School, Ballantyne Elementary School and Community House Middle School. Ballantyne Ridge, which opened in August 2024 and has a jazz ensemble and orchestra program, has 1,425 students and capacity for 2,500.

Instrument shortfalls are not new to CMS. In September 2024, The Charlotte Ledger reported that the district's repair budget averaged about $700 per school per year. East Mecklenburg High School band director Chris Moreau told the Ledger at the time that $700 covered only three or four repairs. "I've got directors telling me they've got kids sitting in classrooms without instruments," Moreau said in September 2024.

Justin Pierce, CMS director of arts education since July 2024, said in the district's announcement that arts programs give students skills and confidence "both inside and outside the classroom" when they have opportunities to create and perform. The Charlotte-based Spangler Foundation, which holds roughly $740 million in assets, has also supported the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and Charlotte Ballet.

The gift comes as CMS navigates leadership changes. The Board of Education fired Superintendent Crystal Hill in a 5-4 vote Tuesday, Sept. 22, and Deputy Superintendent Melissa Balknight was named interim superintendent, as WFAE reported. A state criminal investigation into financial irregularities at the district is also underway, as we reported Wednesday.

CMS has not announced a timeline for distributing the instrument repair funds to individual schools.