First, the Rumor:
- Gaston Christian Schools has acquired the old and large Kings Mountain Central School with the intention of converting it into a Private Christian School.
Now, the facts:
- The North Carolina General Assembly has passed laws, and the laws are now in place, where state tax money allocated per child for education will follow that child wherever the child’s parents want their children to attend school. This includes Christian schools, Religious Schools, Home Schools, Charter Schools, and traditional Public Schools.
- Gaston Christian Schools has already opened a Shelby Campus at Elizabeth Baptist Church with an attendance of over 100 students.
- Children attending the Gaston Christian Schools-Shelby Campus are said to be way ahead of their grade level in their educational progress than at CCS Schools. Note that CCS’s Strategic Plan is to get third-grade students up to grade level by 2030. (That is NO MISPRINT–2030) With this fact alone, any parent that willfully sends their children to CCS is defacto guilty of Child Neglect!!! Maybe Child Abuse too!!
- The Cleveland County Schools, with an enormous measure of stupidity, voted to sell the old KM Central School to a “Group” of people from Kings Mountain for $1 Million. That Closing happened sometime this past October 2023. The “particulars” about Gaston Christian Schools’ acquisition of the KM Central School from this “Group” are still blurry in reports to Robert A.
Also, related news is CCS Superintendent Stephen Fisher is asking the CCS School Board for $25 Million (or more) additional funding to do repairs at Bethware School as well as to build 11 new classrooms.
The KM Central School is estimated to contain at least 40 classrooms. Which is 800 students at 20 students per classroom.
Therefore, Robert A, as a Cleveland County Commissioner candidate, and especially as a taxpayer and concerned citizen recommends and would require that Cleveland County Schools fill up vacancies in CCS’s remaining Schools as Gaston Christian Schools pulls students away from CCS. Also, Robert A would encourage other Christian Schools, Home Schools, and even a major expansion of Pinnacle Classical Academy Type Charter Schools to significantly improve the education of Cleveland County Students in the shortest amount of time and at NO ADDITIONAL TAXPAYER FUNDING required. Not to mention that the Marion and Graham Schools in Shelby are presently declared SURPLUS by the foolish CCS School Board.
Folks, the link below is a Shelby Star article about the Gaston Christian School-Shelby Campus at Elizabeth Baptist Church. You don’t have to be an Einstein Grade Genius to understand that Gaston Christian Schools, Pinnacle Classical Academy, Home Schools, etc. are the way to go for better educating our children here in Cleveland County. And, yes, for once the Shelby Star has gotten their story straight. This is a must-read story that every parent should read and heed!!!
