Conversely, merger has hardly come up at Shelby board of education meetings, and sometimes doesn't come up at all. Many parents of children in the Shelby system have expressed their opinions in other forums beside school board meetings. Many don't want merger because Shelby is a small system with a rigorous curriculum, and keeping the schools separate offers school choice. Hamrick said he hasn't had one student approach him about merger. Conversely, many students in Kings Mountain have signed petitions against merger and attended public meetings.
People identify with the schools as they are.
I think most Shelby parents identify with the Shelby schools. Mrs. Young said that most parents she's talked to have concerns about their own children first before the effects of the merger on the system. Parents have concerns that they might lose what they see as a good school system that is responsive to them as parents and to their children. It's not that Shelby parents aren't concerned about merger. They just have expressed it differently.