Wanda Greene, her son Michael Greene, who also worked for the county, and daughter-in-law, Celena Greene, have agreed to pay the county $502,500 by December 2025, said Philip Anderson, an attorney representing Buncombe County in the case, at the Oct. 3 board meeting. The payments are related to the improper use of county funds to purchase sponsorship and advertising at equestrian-related venues, he said.
The red-clad advocates filled the commission chambers and two overflow rooms, with about 25 speaking during the county’s budget hearing. They said the 10.3% increase for both Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools in the proposed $423.6 million fiscal year 2023-24 budget was far below the level needed to meet local education’s needs.
Dozens of teachers, parents, school staff and supporters gathered in Pack Square Park on Monday, March 20, to demand higher pay for Asheville City and Buncombe County schools employees and deliver a petition to elected officials.
A local teachers group presented a grim picture to the Asheville City Board of Education on March 14 illustrating that Asheville teachers are paid less but face a higher cost of living compared with eight similar North Carolina districts. While the state sets a base salary for various levels of teacher experience and education, local […]
“As if our city needed one more example of citizen voices being sidelined, on Aug. 24, Asheville City Council pushed through the nomination of George Sieburg for the Asheville City Board of Education just hours after the vacancy was known to anyone.”
Removing Asheville’s Vance Monument will cost between $114,150 and $495,000, according to five bids submitted by North Carolina-based construction and demolition companies.
“I’m really struggling with this process as a parent, as a councilor,” said Asheville City Council member Sage Turner, as her colleagues considered how they would appoint three members of the Asheville City Board of Education. “I’m really struggling with us not listening to teachers.”
Daniel Withrow, president of the Asheville City Association of Educators, says that his organization had been preparing to make its first-ever endorsements for Asheville City Board of Education seats this year but was caught off guard when Asheville City Council voted to trim the candidate pool ahead of its posted schedule.
“You can’t keep doing that year in and year out. You need to keep an eye on that,” external auditor Michael Wike told the Asheville City Board of Education about the school system’s spending at a Dec. 7 work session. “What happens when you don’t have a fund balance is almost like an individual living paycheck to paycheck: You can’t plan for the future whatsoever.”
Instead of bringing students back to the classroom under the Plan B model outlined by Gov. Roy Cooper, as had been announced on July 14, the Asheville City Board of Education voted unanimously to follow the remote-only Plan C for at least nine weeks at a July 23 special called meeting.
The Asheville CIty Association of Educators is holding a protest march today, gathering at Asheville Middle School at 5 p.m. The march is at the same time as one held by the NCAE in Raleigh to protest the latest education overhaul, including cuts, an end to teacher tenure, no pay raises, and no bonus for pursuing higher education.
