Catawba County holds public meetings on potential school mergers
By Gabriel Bell
The Catawba County Board of Commissioners held a series of public meetings in October to discuss the possibility of merging the Hickory City Schools, Newton-Conover City Schools, and Catawba County Schools systems.
Four meetings were held across the county in Maiden, Hickory, Terrell, and Conover. Members of the Board of Commissioners were present at the meetings, as well as members of local school boards.
Enrollment in the Hickory and Newton-Conover school systems has been declining for several years, while enrollment in the Catawba County system has been increasing during the same period. This disparity has led to capacity issues for the county system and monetary issues for the city systems.
“We have a trend of enrollment increase in the county system as the deliberate outcome of a strategy to drive population growth and economic competitiveness,” County Manager Mary Furtado said at the meeting in Terrell. “The result is that it’s working, and that’s a good thing for all of us.”
According to studies commissioned by the county, city schools are projected to continue losing students while county schools continue to become more overcrowded. This, Furtado said, will lead to more monetary and capacity issues, and in extreme cases the possibility of school closures.
“In the worst case scenario, [the city systems see a] continued decline,” Furtado said. “When you integrate the effect of development, you see a flatline as the best case scenario.”
State and local funding is dispensed to schools based upon the number of students enrolled. With the decrease in enrollment in the city school systems, budgeting issues have become more common.
“In November 2024, the Newton-Conover administration came to the county administration and said, ‘We need money, because we have some economic issues,’’ said board Chairman Randall Isenhower. “Counties can’t just give so much money to some systems and not the others. By law, we have to fund them equally. Even if we could, do we put an infusion of cash in, which is short-term, and doesn’t give us a long-term fix?”
According to Isenhower, the Newton-Conover system has faced budget cuts and structural deficits as recently as February 2025 as a result of the decline in enrollment.
County schools have begun executing plans to address overcrowding by realigning 6th grade from elementary school to middle school and deploying mobile classrooms at Sherrills Ford, St. Stephens, and Balls Creek Elementary schools. Furtado says significant capital improvements will also be necessary.
According to studies commissioned by the county, merging the school systems could save the county $145 million in expenses related to construction and other improvements. Whether the school systems merge or not, Furtado says a tax increase will be necessary to accommodate the cost.
“We have an estimate of over $600 million in capital construction needs, and we’re gonna need a tax increase to address that,” Furtado said. “We don’t know what that tax increase is going to amount to, but we do know that this solution could bring the burden down considerably.”
Furtado said that redrawing school district lines is not a viable or permanent solution to the issues facing the systems.
“[Moving the school district lines] is a decision that the county commission does not have control over,” Furtado said. “To rely upon a strategy to address that responsibility that they don’t have control over does not feel like a prudent approach. It’s a [NC] General Assembly matter. The most flexible solution from the county standpoint is to remove those lines.”
A document on the Catawba County website notes that while monetary savings is a factor in the decision, the merger’s primary goal would be “to stabilize two systems with decline in Hickory and Newton-Conover City Schools,” a sentiment echoed by Furtado.
“It’s not just about capital savings. It’s about the fact that there are enrollment declines affecting the city systems,” Furtado said. “It’s either address it now or address it later, because the trend does not seem like this trend is going to reverse.”
After the presentations, residents were given the opportunity to personally speak to the commissioners and members of the county school board. The Hickory Daily Record reported that about 150 people attended the public meeting in Hickory, some of whom brought anti-merger signs displaying slogans like, “Resist forced merger, save our diversity.” Several dozen residents attended the meeting in Terrell.
Public opinion on the issue is mixed. Residents note the potential loss of school programs like orchestra and a decrease in local flexibility as reasons to resist the merger.
“Our district is part of what makes Hickory special,” a Hickory resident wrote. “It’s small enough that teachers know their students personally, parents have a real voice, and decisions reflect the needs of our neighborhoods. Combining three systems into one would erase much of that connection while creating new costs and complications for everyone involved.”
Some residents tie the school systems’ problems to the increase in population in the county.
“The only people who want to merge are the higher-ups in the city and county who realize they approved too many housing complexes,” a resident wrote. “So now they admit they screwed up, or push this merger through and rezone. Families buy homes to assure their children go to a certain district.”
Residents in favor of the merger cite the monetary savings associated with the plan.
“It should have happened years ago,” a Newton resident said. “When you look at the combined salaries going to all the unnecessary people in three admin buildings - think about it.”
Some residents claim their experiences have been better with larger, county-wide school systems.
“Before living in NC, I lived in an enormous [school] district,” a Hickory resident wrote. “You know what we had? Awesome resources [in] the arts, extra support for reading, math, and technology, good special education programming, and beyond.”
Both Hickory City Schools and Newton-Conover City Schools have issued statements or resolutions against the merger.
The Board of Commissioners has the authority to merge the school systems without a vote from the residents of Catawba County, but would require approval from the North Carolina Board of Education.
No. And no tax increase! All of the massive invasion of houses is bringing in buckets full of new tax dollars to Catawba County and clearly none is being spent on new roads. Those of us in Chronicle do not need to bail out the failing Hickory schools.