Three more Charlotte-area school districts cancel classes for May 1 rally

Three more school districts are canceling classes Friday due to a high number of teachers who plan to participate in a march for higher school funding in Raleigh.

At least 15 of the state’s 115 school districts have canceled classes for May 1 due to the rally. The most recent announcements add Gaston and Cabarrus counties as well as the Mooresville Graded School District to the cancellations. They join Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and Kannapolis City Schools in the Charlotte area.

Instead, the districts will have an optional teacher workday on May 1.

Educators from around the state plan to gather outside the capitol in Raleigh Friday, demanding more state investment in public education. The rally is organized by the North Carolina Association of Educators.

A new report released on April 27 ranked North Carolina 46th in the nation in teacher pay and per-pupil spending.

Responding to the Mooresville Graded School District’s April 24 announcement of no May 1 classes, the Iredell County Democratic Party wrote:

“Thank you for allowing your educators time off to travel to Raleigh. Hopefully, our state legislators will listen!”

Gaston County Schools decided to cancel classes Friday due to the number of planned absences, Superintendent Morgen Houchard said in a Facebook post Monday.

“We have been closely monitoring the effect of this on our schools and have determined that we will not have enough substitutes and central office personnel to cover adequately,” Houchard said. “We are grateful for the work our teachers do each day and recognize that they are the most important factor in providing high-quality teaching and learning.”

Similarly, Cabarrus County Schools Superintendent John Kopicki said the district won’t be able to maintain normal operations across all campuses because of educator absences.

Gaston County Schools employees are headed to Raleigh to protest as GCS faces its own financial woes.

Houchard went to Gaston County commissioners at the end of March for an emergency $10 million bailout to avoid as many as 400 layoffs before the school year’s end. The school system still laid off 175 employees earlier this month.

Cabarrus County Schools has faced its own budget difficulties, too. Earlier this month, Cabarrus commissioners blocked the district from presenting its budget request and directed staff to keep funding at last year’s levels.

Staff Writer Joe Marusak contributed.

This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 2:17 PM.