GASTONIA, N.C.,None — Several families of students at Rhyne Elementary School in Gaston County protested the proposed closing of the school Sunday, along with two others schools that are under capacity.
According to a report by the University of North Carolina Charlotte Urban Institute, closing the schools (Rhyne, McAdenville and York-Chester) and transferring students to other under-populated schools would save the Gaston County School District more than $25 million over the next five years.
"I'm stressing," said Keyonia Barnett.
Barnett has four children that attend Rhyne and three of them have special needs. "I see the (teachers) giving them that undivided attention, that love, that caring," Barnett said. She's worried they won't get the same at another school, sitting in larger classrooms with new students who might bully them.
11-year-old Johntia Barnett Jr. suffers from hearing loss and says the teachers at Rhyne have gone above and beyond to make sure he feels comfortable in class. "I do my work and they make sure I'm doing it good or doing it right," the fifth-grader said. "They love us, we love them. They treat us right."
Worried her kids might not get the same treatment at another school, Keyonia Barnett has started a petition. She has already collected several hundred signatures, which she plans on presenting to the school board during a series of public forums on the issue.
A district spokesperson told Eyewitness News that the district doesn't want to close any schools but that the report highlights a potential cost savings that could be a big boost.
The spokesperson also said that no teachers would lose their jobs in the transition and special-need students would not lose any services.
WSOC
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