Thursday, October 1, 2026
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Gaston County (WNN) - What do the Gaston County Schools' multiple hiring freezes, the potential dissolution of W.B. Beam Intermediate, and the loss of 83 total positions across the system so far have in common? According to Superintendent Dr. Morgen Houchard, the largest factor is the loss of multiple federal funding sources.
During the March 24th, 2026 meeting, teachers, community members, and Houchard spoke on issues befalling the Gaston County School System. Ray Cylod, a teacher at Cramerton Middle School, was the first to speak. Cylod spoke about a $3.6 million budget request for teacher supplements in Gaston County, asking the commissioners to approve this. He noted that, currently, Gaston County's supplement ranks somewhere between 78th and 96th among 115 districts, with the range due to the exclusion of the low-wealth supplement from some counties' data. The loss of the same low-wealth supplement is at the heart of current issues, but for teachers, it has resulted in a $ 1,100 loss in supplemental teacher pay in Gaston County.
Cylod goes on to say that the surrounding areas have higher teacher pay, a concern echoed by the next two speakers. Brittany Elkin, a realtor in the area, spoke on how this discrepancy adversely affects the whole county. According to Elkin, Gaston County ranks 85th in per-pupil funding in NC. This represents 10% to 15% less educational spending in Gaston County than in similarly sized counties. The last speaker before Houchard was Joshua Winburn, another Cramerton Middle teacher. He spoke on how the Gaston County Schools need help. Hoping for approval of the increases to next year's budget, he noted that the schools have faced hiring freezes, the loss of COVID and other federal funding, and other financial constraints, leading to the issues Houchard would speak on next.
Superintendent Houchard came forth to ask for much-needed help from the Gaston County Commissioners. The $10 million allotment, in addition to last month's $3.5 million, was needed to prevent layoffs during the 25-26 school year. Houchard has a plethora of reasons why the system has entered this critical deficit. To start, the NC General Assembly has not approved a comprehensive state budget since 2023. This means schools have less revenue amid financial uncertainty. In September 2025, Gaston County Schools experienced a $7.2 million reduction due to the county's revaluation, making it no longer eligible for state low-wealth supplemental funds. These funds were already expected and allocated to faculty payments. The next issue is one we all face: inflation. The total budget for the 25-26 school year sits at $461.7 million and, adjusted for inflation, represents a loss of approximately $49 million in total buying power since the 2021 budget of $435.1 million. He moved on to mention the loss of ESSER funding, the COVID-19 federal funding that expired in 2024. Planning for this year had taken funding loss into account by eliminating 69 school-level positions and 14 central office positions. At the time, Houchard was given pre-audits that showed that the budget was in line with the revenues needed to balance the school year. After suspecting this was incorrect, Houchard found that four spending areas were overallocated. Overspending happened in non-instructional positions, mental health positions, classroom spending, and enhancement teachers.
To combat these issues, two hiring freezes were implemented: the first in November 2025 for 34 central office positions, and another in December for all positions except those required by law and exceptional children positions. He went on to enact a spending and purchasing freeze, requiring all purchases to be approved by him or the assistant superintendent.
Houchard went on to hire HIL Consultants to review the current budget, which determined that the school system would require assistance to complete the 25-26 school year. Their analysis mirrored the aforementioned points, which led to the current situation. They estimated a 2.1% shortfall in the current budget, which is the $10 million the Gaston County Commissioners needed to approve.
Later in the meeting, Houchard spoke again. At this time, he was asked to explain how he plans to prevent this from happening again. With planning started in November 2025, Houchard expects cuts to result in a "right size in the ship" approach to the 26-27 budget year. He did not publicly share the planned numbers at this time; however, he mentioned a comprehensive plan including the potential consolidation of schools. This likely refers to W.B. Beam Intermediate. Gaston County currently supports 52 schools, and with Cherryville's intermediate school being the only one, it is likely under review simply for standing out. Commissioner Scott Shehan then asked Houchard to extrapolate how many positions would be laid off if this $10 million allotment weren't approved. He explained this would have resulted in 100 layoffs by Friday, March 27th, 2026, with a total nearing 400 by the end of the school year. To add to this, Houchard accepted full responsibility for these oversights.
When reviewing the budgets for Gaston County Schools over the past five years, a few things stand out. The first is a significant drop in federal funding every year from 2021 to 2024. During the ESSER funding in 21-22, the system received $123.6 million in federal funds to keep the ball rolling. In 24-25, this dropped to $5.6 million in federal funding, then rose to $26.6 million in 25-26. However, this still represents a drop since the last year of ESSER funding. In 23-24, there was $52.8 million in federal funding, which roughly doubles the amount allotted this year.
When reviewing the budget, however, it is important to note that much of the money does not go towards employee wages. The 25-26 funding may be higher than in any previous budget year, but that does not mean it can be spent on employees. Specifically, $120.6 million of this year's budget was allocated to capital outlay projects, which are for building and maintenance, not wages. When adjusted for these numbers, the system totaled $341.1 million. This represents a total of $126.6 million in buying power lost since 21-22, when both are adjusted to exclude capital outlay projects from the total.
Yearly, the largest expenditure is "Instructional Services," accounting for 55% to 71% of all budget expenditures. This is where the teacher salaries are budgeted. The amount spent here has also been on a general downtrend, with the 21-22 budget year starting at $289.2 million and falling to $252.5 million on the most recent budget. Across the system's 56 schools and the central office, Gaston County Schools currently employs 3800 individuals. This makes them the second-largest employer in Gaston County. Out of this, roughly 1950 are teachers. With roughly 30000 children, our teacher-to-student ratio is 1 teacher per 15 children, which is directly in line with the national average. If teacher staffing decreases due to the cuts, we will see more students per classroom, resulting in less one-on-one attention for each student.
We will continue to provide updates on developments in Gaston County Schools as new information becomes available. With May 15th as NC's deadline for budget submission, we will likely have answers on how the school system plans to address the reduced funding and Superintendent Houchard's plan within the next two months.
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