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Citizens spoke out at Tuesday’s meeting of the Stanly County Board of Education against proposed redistricting of schools in the western part of the county.

During the public comment section, Nixon Eudy, a 9-year-old fourth grade student at Locust Elementary, spoke to the school board.

“I’ve been at Locust since kindergarten,” Nixon said.

When his mother, Ashley, told him about the proposed redistricting, which would move him to Endy, Nixon stopped his comments to say, “I feel sad. All my friends are at Locust and I would not like to move. Please don’t make me move. Thank you for listening.”

Nixon’s mother spoke before her son in public comments, saying she has lived in Locust for 44 years and her family’s home is 5.6 miles from the school.

“My family has put our heart, soul and money into the Locust community, because Locust is who we are,” she said. “My husband and I plan our work days around transportation for our three children in Locust. We travel past Locust Elementary to and from work five days a week.

“Moving my son to Endy is going to disrupt our life in a way that you could probably not understand because it doesn’t affect you directly. Trying to move 160 kids is a big deal to the families of those 160 kids.”

Nixon’s mother also added students outside the Locust district should be transferred back to their designated schools.

Lacey Helms said the redistricting proposal “is just kicking the can down the road.” She added students from new housing developments should be sent to Endy.

Helms also mentioned Ridgecrest Elementary, which according to a quote from a board member in a recent Stanly News & Press article, would serve 160 kids.

“How is the better idea to move 160 kids, to take up space at Endy, than the option of opening Ridgecrest with 160 kids to make more space at Locust? Have additional space at Ridgecrest and keep open space at Endy.” Helms said.

Phillip Blackwell mentioned long bus rides for students, including a comment from transportation director Michael Lambert about one bus route which starts at 5:50 a.m.

“I’m five miles from Locust Elementary School. My family moved to Locust to attend these schools, to be in the middle school, to go to West Stanly,” Blackwell said.

Coming Thursday

The public will have another opportunity to express its thoughts on the proposal to realign local schools.
A community information public meeting to learn about the realignment plan, factors guiding the system’s decisions and next steps is planned for 6 p.m. Thursday at West Stanly Middle School.
This meeting will not have a public comment session, but residents are encouraged to submit questions in advance or provide feedback by visiting www.stanlycountyschools.org. The online form will be open through noon Thursday.