SALISBURY — For supporters of Faith and Enochville Elementary schools, Monday’s Board of Education meeting brought a sigh of relief.

Public hearings on plans to close both schools were canceled as board members identified a need to further evaluate funding opportunities before proceeding with the shutdowns. And school board Chairman Josh Wagner said it’s a safe bet that no closures would occur before the next school year.

The schools were slated to close as soon as the end of the current school year.

“I was happy to see them kind of stop and rethink this whole situation,” said Faith Alderman Randall Barger. “This gives them a year to really find out what they can do and have discussions on what direction they want to go.”

Since the board began revisiting consolidation in October, a definitive course of action has remained elusive. A tentative plan outlined in November addressed capital needs in three tiers.

The first tier would have seen the closure of one middle school, five elementary schools and two high schools. Three new constructions — a combined Knox Middle and Overton Elementary, mobile pods for Henderson Independent High School and a combined East Rowan elementary school — would take their place.

Tier 2 called for five additional closures: three elementary and two middle schools to be replaced with two consolidated South Rowan elementary and middle schools.

Faith Elementary’s closure would have come in the first tier with construction of East Rowan Elementary between 2019 and 2024. Enochville would have followed between 2025 and 2029 with the South Rowan Elementary consolidation.

Board member Travis Allen said Monday that the focus had shifted to the two consolidated elementary schools, a career and technical education center and the combined Knox Middle and Overton Elementary site.

Just in the last few weeks, the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education began exploring an expedited closure for Faith and Enochville as it looked at the numbers. With 2,500 empty seats, Rowan County has an excess of nearly five and a half elementary schools, according Wagner.

Wagner presented a $60 million plan in early March that would close Faith and Enochville, provide renovations to Knox Middle and North Rowan High and address capital needs across the district.

The plan would use a $60 million bond issued in 2002 and scheduled to be paid off by 2021.

But County Commissioners Chairman Greg Edds said during Monday’s meeting that the county may be able to offer additional funds through a roughly 5% increase in property tax values due to this year’s revaluation. The money could prove the early closures unnecessary.

“There may be additional funding (the county) didn’t know about until maybe even a week or two ago,” Wagner said.

Wagner said that when he presented his $60 million plan, he was under the impression that the only increase in funding from the county would come through the bond package.

“Just in the last four or so days, we’ve had a couple conversations with local legislators, representatives from the county commission,” said Wagner. “It’s come to our attention that there may be a little bit more available than we were anticipating.”

The change put consolidation and school closure talks on hold until more information was available from the county, and Wagner said it is “almost guaranteed” that no closures would occur before the next school year.

For Barger, it’s a fair amount of relief. The school has been a driver for local merchants, he said.

“We don’t have the tax base a lot of towns around have. … It’s important we kept something here so we don’t become a ghost town.”

Barger said the pause would give the board and county commissioners time to see the effects of upcoming housing developments in the area: 250 homes are being built near the school, 35 in Granite Quarry and 109 in Rockwell.

“I know the numbers are down now, but enrollment has the potential to increase a lot in the next two to three years,” he said.

Barger said the town is still exploring creating a charter school. Whether that would occur at the current Faith school or a new site would depend on the school board’s course of action, he said.

Board member Alisha Byrd-Clark said she feels canceling the public hearings was “the right decision.”

“Until we actually know which direction we’re heading with the closings, canceling the hearings was something we needed to do,” Byrd-Clark said. “I’m glad that we’re able to give the Faith and Enochville community a little bit of relief.”

She said the next steps will be decided during the board’s work session scheduled for 5 p.m. Monday.

Wagner said that while possible funding changes may have slowed the closures, that does not change Rowan-Salisbury schools’ capital needs and excess of seats.

“These problems have to be addressed,” he said, “and we’re working to find what’s the best and most equitable way to do that.”

Superintendent Lynn Moody said the board will continue to consider “all viable options and solutions so they can be sure they make the best decisions for all our children.”

“This has been a very challenging issue for our school board, district and community that we have been working on for several years,” Moody said. “This has been a tremendous and often painful process for our school board because they care deeply about the children they serve.”

Contact reporter Andie Foley at 704-797-4246.