Gastonia, N.C. – Gaston County Schools will be closed on Wednesday, May 16 for students. It will be an Optional Teacher Workday.
Thousands of teachers from across North Carolina are planning to participate in an education advocacy rally in Raleigh on May 16 – this includes teachers from Gaston County.
The school district has currently received more than 400 leave requests from employees for May 16, which makes it extremely difficult to staff classrooms and provide proper instruction and supervision for students.
The school district has a pool of approximately 300 people who serve as substitute teachers regularly. School leaders had hoped to rely on substitute teachers to keep school in session on May 16. However, the number of leave requests now exceeds the number of available substitute teachers.
Students will not be required to make up the day missed on May 16 since there are enough instructional hours in the calendar to meet the state minimum of 1,025 hours.
Superintendent of Schools W. Jeffrey Booker stated, “We realize that closing on May 16 interrupts our regular school schedule for students, employees, and parents. However, with such a high number of absences, it presents a significant challenge for us to provide an instructional environment that would be productive and orderly.”
Please note the following:
- Advanced Placement (AP) exams for high school students will be given on May 16 as scheduled. The high schools will provide specific information to students. The College Board, which administers the AP exams, has encouraged school districts to maintain the testing schedule. This will ensure that scores are reported to colleges and universities on time.
- High school athletics (practices and state playoff games) will continue as scheduled.
