Public hearing scheduled for June 11

Board of Education to conduct a public hearing about school consolidation

The Gaston County Board of Education will conduct a public hearing on Thursday, June 11, 2026 from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m. in the Myers Center at Gaston College, 201 Highway 321 South, Dallas.  The purpose of the hearing is to receive comments from the public regarding the proposed closing of W.B. Beam Intermediate School and its consolidation with Cherryville Elementary School and John Chavis Middle School.

Each speaker will have three minutes to address the Board of Education; anyone wanting to speak should sign up on Thursday, June 11 in one of two ways:

• Sign up in person from 5:15 until 6:00 p.m. in the Myers Center lobby.  A sign-up table will be located in the lobby, and staff will be available to facilitate the sign-up process.
   
• Sign up in advance by completing a “Request to Speak Form” (link to the form) and e-mailing it on Thursday, June 11 beginning at 7:00 a.m. to the Board Clerk: chbeck@gaston.k12.nc.us.  E-mailed forms must be received by 4:00 p.m. on June 11.

Sign-ups prior to June 11 will not be accepted, and no sign-ups will be accepted once the public hearing begins at 6:00 p.m.  The public hearing will last no longer than two hours.

The Board of Education is not expected to take a vote during the public hearing nor will the Board members respond to comments and answer questions.  Information shared by the public will be taken into consideration by the Board; a decision is expected to be made during the Board of Education’s regular monthly meeting on Monday, June 15, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. at the Gaston County Schools Central Office, 943 Osceola Street, Gastonia.  The regular meeting on June 15 is open to the public.

About the proposed consolidation of W.B. Beam Intermediate School
Three options related to the potential closing of W.B. Beam Intermediate School and its consolidation with Cherryville Elementary School and John Chavis Middle School were presented to the Board of Education during the operations and curriculum and instruction committee meetings on May 4.  The three options are:

■ OPTION A: Closing Beam Intermediate, which had 180 students in grades 4-5 during the 2025-2026 school year, and adding the fourth grade to Cherryville Elementary School and the fifth grade to John Chavis Middle School.  

This option would place an estimated 418 students in grades K-4 at Cherryville Elementary School (there were 348 students in grades K-3 for 2025-2026, which would be the students in grades 1-4 next school year; an additional 70 students are anticipated to be in kindergarten next school year).  An estimated 462 students would be in grades 5-8 at John Chavis Middle School for the 2026-2027 year (this includes 180 students in grades 4-5 at W.B. Beam Intermediate and 259 in grades 6-7 at John Chavis Middle School; a small number of fifth-grade students at Tryon Elementary School are assigned to attend John Chavis Middle School).  

Cherryville Elementary’s student capacity is 500, and John Chavis Middle’s student capacity is 619.  Space is available at Cherryville Elementary for the fourth grade, and space is available at John Chavis Middle for the fifth grade.  Currently, Cherryville Elementary’s student capacity is at 69.6% capacity, and John Chavis Middle’s capacity is at 63.8%.

■ OPTION B: Closing Beam Intermediate and adding the fourth grade to Cherryville Elementary School and the fifth grade to John Chavis Middle School; parents who do not want their rising fifth grader attending John Chavis Middle School would have their student assigned to Tryon Elementary School for the fifth grade.

■ OPTION C: Closing Beam Intermediate and adding the fourth and fifth grades to Cherryville Elementary School.

This option would place an estimated 500 students in grades K-5 at Cherryville Elementary School.  While this option places the school at 100% student capacity, there are enough classrooms to accommodate students in grades K-5, and classroom space is available for art, music, exceptional children, academically gifted, and ESL (English as a Second Language) programs.  The one pre-kindergarten class at Cherryville Elementary would be relocated to Tryon Elementary School to free up classroom space.

The proposed closing of W.B. Beam Intermediate would save money related to personnel/salaries, supplies/materials/equipment, and utilities.  The estimated cost savings are $288,000.

About W.B. Beam Intermediate School
W.B. Beam Intermediate School for grades 4-5 opened in August 2004 to alleviate overcrowding at Cherryville Elementary School.  A portion of the former high school campus on East First Street was renovated to become Beam Intermediate; with 11 classrooms, the school has enough instructional space to accommodate approximately 220 students.  Beam’s enrollment for 2025-2026 was 180 students.  

The school is named for the late William Blaine Beam, who, according to archive newspaper articles, was a prominent community leader, U.S. Army veteran, farmer and salesman, member of the school board for the Cherryville City Schools for 18 years, and longtime advocate for education in Cherryville.

Since Beam Intermediate opened in 2004, the student population in the Cherryville area has declined over time; none of the public schools in Cherryville are considered to be overcrowded now.