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Gaston County, NC (WNN) - With funding issues surrounding Gaston County Schools at the forefront of everyone’s mind, the commissioners and school board began meeting in a closed committee to discuss how to address the current state of the school system. On June 18, 2026, a public records request was released at the link here. It contains email correspondence over the issues, as well as the breakdowns used in these discussions. The summaries for each day the request covers are as follows:
The records begin with Brandy Decker, the Assistant Director of Finance for Gaston County, discussing three possible scenarios to fund the Gaston County School System. The rough estimates included 3 options:
These were planned to be discussed at the previous committee meeting. However, it was expressed that if the appropriation causes the fund balance to drop below 15%, it would enact a reinstatement period lasting no more than 3 fiscal years to return the fund balance to an amount over 20%.
On this day, Brian Sciba, the Assistant Gaston County Manager, provided a memorandum for the June 11, 2026, meeting. The first major point was that while $1.5 million of the COVID relief fund had been used for grounds maintenance and positions in the district, the majority had been spent on one-time expenses. This shows that the system did not use COVID funding to overhire during this period.
It then discusses some potential cost-saving methods that can be employed within the school system. It discusses current and future plans to consolidate and close schools to save on staffing, utility costs, and building maintenance expenses. It goes on to note staffing adjustments made by eliminating vacant positions, addressing attrition and retirements, and reassigning personnel to other vacancies. According to the document, Superintendent Morgen Houchard was aware that this restructuring was overdue. As a result, only six current employees remain unassigned, and it is expected to be reduced to as few as two.
The concern that this is the result of long-term issues was then raised. The group acknowledged that funding schools is a shared responsibility among all three levels of government (county, state, and federal). Inflation, educational requirements, enrollment, and employee compensation all affect the funding required. In this section, an issue with how charter schools receive funding was also mentioned. This details that if a student enrolls in a charter school and stays there past the 20th day of a school year, the funding does not return to the public school balance if the student transfers to a public school. The loss of the county's low wealth funding only exacerbated the issue. This led to the committee's mission: to find sustainable solutions to address these issues.
The original request made by Houchard was mentioned, noting it was $8 million higher than the revised request in the 2026-2027 county budget. This would’ve included $3.6 million in supplemental teacher funding, raising the supplement from $4,082 per teacher to $6,000. Allowing this would make Gaston County more competitive with the surrounding areas. Currently, the county provides more than $9 million in supplemental teacher funding each year.
The proposed increase after this meeting was for $9.77 million and would include:
It then goes on to outline that the question is not whether the need exists, but how these needs should be funded. The answer is likely to be a combination of pulling from the fund balance, raising property taxes, and reducing county services. The primary concern is that this would result in service disruptions for county residents. However, if funding is not provided, it will result in another reduction in force of 75 positions for Gaston County Schools, and mean that no additional employee compensation is provided. After Sciba’s report, the email thread then discusses available times for the next meeting.
This section introduces a breakdown of the proposed funding needs and includes previous meeting summaries. This proposal includes a total appropriation of $10.05 million for the school system. It would see an increase in operating expenses by $7.7 million, broken down as follows:
This proposal notably does not include any of the requested $3.6 million in supplemental funding for teachers.
This portion of the records request does not include new information and consists primarily of email communications requesting changes to the previous documents.
The front of W.B. Beam Intermediate School located in Cherryville, NC | March 4, 2026
Ashley Reep (WNN)
The proposal is updated here due to the meeting held that day. It increases the proposed funding amount to $8.98 million from the county’s general fund balance. The changes include:
Cherryville’s intermediate school had to be addressed here because the current 2026-2027 Gaston County School Budget was devised under the assumption that Beam would be consolidated. This meant it lacked any funding for the school.
This section goes on to outline one of the main concerns more closely. Under the current proposal, the county would fall to a 14.37% fund balance. This would mean that they would have to enact the reinstatement period to return the fund balance to above 20%. Furthermore, County Manager Matthew Rhoten notes that Gaston County has recently taken on $190 million in debt service through bonds. Rhoten also mentions that providing these budget increases to the schools would mean that other county employees would not be able to receive salary supplements. It also notes concern about the long-term financial impact of these actions and the uncertainty of future funding.
While this records request includes staff pay and benefit increases, keeping W.B. Beam Intermediate open, operational cost increases, needed Chromebook replacements, and much-needed EC funding, it is important to remember that these are proposals. Ultimately, these changes are still subject to the voting decisions of both the Gaston County Board of Education and the Gaston County Commissioners. The next Gaston County School Board meeting will be held on July 20, 2026, at 5:30 PM at 943 Osceola Street, Gastonia. Two days later, on July 22, 2026, the Gaston County Commissioners meeting will be held at 6:00 PM at 325 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Way, in the Harley B. Gaston, Jr., Public Forum - second floor.
While some of the original pages have been trimmed, such as those containing only logos, the majority of the requested records can be viewed here. These dates correspond to the page numbers listed in the section headers.
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