CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will be closed to students on Wednesday, May 16 due to the statewide teacher rally in Raleigh.

• RELATED: Momentum builds for CMS teachers to join rally
• Several other districts around the state decided to also close schools for the rally
• Teachers are rallying to fight for better pay and resources

Superintendent Dr. Clayton Wilcox announced that decision Friday afternoon. He says it will be an optional teacher workday. The decision was made with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education.

According to North Carolina Association of Educator's Facebook post about the event, several educators, parents and public school supporters will be in attendance.

Here is a statement from the Dr. Wilcox:

Teachers and educators in this district are taking their own personal-leave days to join their colleagues,” Dr. Wilcox said. “As of late this afternoon, the current count of teacher and staff absences is approximately 2,000, the majority of which do not have subs. It is important to note that this does not include normal sick days. We expect the number to increase as the day of the rally gets closer, and we don’t have substitute-teacher capacity to cover all of the requests. I can’t guarantee we’ll be able to open all schools on May 16 with the staff needed to maintain student safety – so we’ve decided to make it an optional teacher workday.