Gaston County Schools

One-fourth of North Carolina's third graders didn't master reading skills, even after summer camps designed to prepare them for fourth grade, a new Read To Achieve report says.

Gaston County Schools officials say employees have faced short or missing paychecks, overpayments and delayed deposits to retirement accounts, with no clear end in sight. Problems arose with a new Oracle payroll system.

The latest North Carolina test scores show Union County Public Schools outperformed most districts while Gaston County trailed. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has huge racial gaps.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Gaston face significant teacher vacancies as a new year begins and hiring remains competitive. CMS will pay teachers extra to sign up for a semester of filling gaps during their planning period.

Students return to Gaston County Schools on Wednesday, 12 days before state law allows. Like most districts, they're easing COVID restrictions and scrambling to fill vacancies.

Most North Carolina school districts must wait until Aug. 29 to bring students back this year. But a few are starting sooner, with legal exemptions or in defiance of the state calendar law.

Filing closed Friday for five seats on the Gaston County school board. Two incumbents and one newcomer have no competition in November.

In a road trip to Gaston County, Rep. John Torbett says his panel on education is hearing about teacher pay, restructuring classes and changing North Carolina's school calendar law.

Leaders of Gaston County Schools and members of the public will talk about the future of education in North Carolina at a legislative committee's public hearing Monday.

The Gaston County school board voted 4-3 Thursday to keep masks optional in schools, even after the county health director reported a "breathtaking" spike in COVID-19 cases.