Gaston County Schools says it will eliminate 175 positions next year

Gaston County Schools projects 175 position cuts next school year despite a $10 million bailout from the county last week.

The school district, just west of Charlotte across the Catawba River, averted 100 layoffs last week and potentially 300 more by the end of the school year with an emergency $10 million from Gaston County commissioners. The district will still need to right-size its workforce, however, and leaders project 175 positions will need to be eliminated ahead of the start of next school year.

GCS currently has around 3,900 employees and is the biggest employer in Gaston County, according to the Gaston County Economic Development Commission.

“We have been working to better align positions to the state allotment (positions the state pays for) for the 2026-2027 year,” GCS Chief Communications Officer Todd Hagans told The Charlotte Observer in an email Wednesday. “In other words, we will have about 175 fewer positions next school year as a result of the alignment process.”

Positions will be eliminated across the school district, not within a particular grade, subject area or school, Hagans said.

GCS projects about 230 currently-held positions to be vacated before the start of next school year, with planned retirements, resignations and contract non-renewals. That doesn’t mean all of those positions will directly align with the 175 the district will need to eliminate. So, the district will still likely still need to hire new employees or move around existing ones, Hagans said.

He said the district “will work to offer” available positions to employees that are displaced by the downsizing.

The additional $10 million the school district received in emergency funds last week is a one-time cost, and Gaston County Schools Superintendent Morgen Houchard’s 2026-27 budget recommendation remains unchanged by the bailout, Hagans said.

Houchard recommended the district seek $13 million in additional funds from the county next school year in his budget recommendation presented March 16.

Why is Gaston County Schools short on money?

A combination of a significant decrease in low-wealth funding from the state, inflation, the end of federal COVID relief funds and “staffing levels not aligned with declining financial resources,” led to the shortfall, Houchard said.

He also said he and the Gaston County School Board received false information from a “trusted, long-term employee” about this year’s budget. Houchard did not name the employee.

“I was led to believe and supplied with pre-audits to show that our numbers and budget were in-line with revenues that we would be able to balance by year’s end,” Houchard said. “Four months into the school year, I began to question whether this information was correct, and it was not.”

Gaston County Commissioners said they felt a “moral” obligation to give GCS the emergency funding.

“We have no responsibility for this shortfall of yours, but we understand that it affects Gaston County. It affects our image, our ability to recruit new businesses, new employees. It affects us everywhere,” Gaston County Board of Commissioners Vice Chair Bob Hovis told Houchard March 24. “Statutorily, we don’t have a responsibility, but morally, we do.”

The $10 million accounts for 2.1% of GCS’ budget and will come from the county’s fund balance – a kind of “rainy day” fund. Hovis indicated the county and school district will work out a plan for the funds to be repaid, though they haven’t hammered out the details.

This story was originally published April 1, 2026 at 1:29 PM.