SHELBY, N.C. — Neighbors wonder what is going to happen to a former elementary school in shelby.
Marion Elementary School was shut down at the end of the 2021-2022 school year, alongside Graham Elementary School on the west end of Shelby, and neighbors are wondering what will happen to the vacant building.
Channel 9’s Ken Lemon spoke with residents who hope it will be a school again.
“It’s going to be something, and we don’t know what,” said resident neighbor Martha Noblitt.
Noblitt and Kelley Lannind went to school at Marion Elementary and still live within walking distance.
They hope there is only one real option for the school board.
“Tell them to the please reopen the school,” Lannind said.
The building and the grounds are in somewhat disrepair.
“The grass got really tall, so my husband went over and cut the grass,” Lannind said.
“People have broken windows and gone in through the back. We did see some children that were up on the roof,” Noblitt said.
They said other elementary schools in the district are showing signs of overcrowding as more people move in, including parent Taylor Hastings.
She is the mother of a two-year-old who moved across the street after the school system closed Marion Elementary.
“We had high hopes for it to reopen,” Hastings said.
In the last Cleveland County School Board meeting, a board member said they are waiting for an offer from the city of Shelby.
“If interest has not been expressed before the October board meeting, then the committee recommends the board considers selling the Marion property,” said school board member Walter Spurling.
Residents told Lemon they don’t want the city to sell it.
They fear new home development on this property would disrupt the look of the neighborhood and cut into their property values.
There is a Cleveland County Board of Education special meeting at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Central Services.
The agenda has one item, which is Marion Elementary School, and there will be public comment.
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