Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parents ask Gaston County commissioners to prioritize special-education funding
Summary
Multiple parents and advocates during public comment urged the county to direct more local funding to exceptional-children services after the county last month declined a $3.3 million school-board request, saying federal law requires appropriate services and local decisions determine whether children receive needed support.
Several parents and residents used the citizens' comment period July 28 to press the Gaston County Board of Commissioners to prioritize funding for children with disabilities, saying state funding caps and recent board decisions left students without legally required services.
"Beckett is an 11 year old boy with autism ... because of these disabilities, Beckett is entitled to services and supports under federal law," Kimberly Falls told the commission, asking the board to "push yourselves to do better for Beckett and for the other 4,707 children who are counting on you." Another speaker, Stephanie Hartman, brought her son and said the county's choice not to fund a recent school-board request for $3,300,000 for exceptional-children services had direct consequences: "This is not a debate over numbers on a spreadsheet ... it is about whether children with disabilities are treated as a priority or an expense," Hartman said.
Speakers described North Carolina's state cap on EC funding (noted in the record as 13%) and said when districts exceed that share local budgets must cover the gap. A grandfather, Doug Morgan, asked commissioners to "advocate for more funding for the EC program" and to ensure money reaches teachers and assistants. Commenters repeatedly framed the issue as one of accountability and local funding allocations rather than a request to raise county taxes.
