2024 General Voter Guide: Asheville City Board of Education

Until 2022, the Asheville City Board of Education was fully appointed by Asheville City Council. But that year, voters elected Liza Kelly, Amy Ray, Rebecca Strimer and Sarah Thornburg — four of the board’s seven members. Now the remaining three seats are up or election.

Among the candidates running are current Chair George Sieburg and current member Jesse Warren — who was appointed by the school board to replace former member Peyton O’Conner, who resigned at the end of 2022. Also running is Pepi Acebo, who received more votes than Warren in the 2022 race, and William (Bill) Young Jr., who finished last that year.

After years of high turnover, Superintendent Maggie Fehrman is in her second year at the district’s helm and appears poised to stay amid significant challenges. The district continues to struggle with the recruitment and retention of teachers and staff who say Asheville’s rising cost of living is outpacing wages. Student enrollment remains in decline. And the district continues to struggle with a wide achievement gap between its white and Black students, although that gap appeared to narrow slightly in Fehrman’s first year.

The district also closed one of its two middle schools in March in what some observers said was a rash decision, leading parent Daniel Shetley to launch a write-in campaign for the board.

Additionally, the potential consolidation of Asheville City Schools (ACS) with its larger neighbor, Buncombe County Schools (BCS), is being seriously studied this year by an independent consultant. Led by the county, the study won’t be completed until January, with recommendations due to state legislators in February.

Notably, the Asheville City Association of Educators, a teacher and education staff advocacy group, has endorsed Acebo, Sieburg and Young for the three seats.

Editor’s note: Xpress reached out to this year’s candidates prior to the devastation our community experienced from Tropical Storm Helene. Please keep this in mind as you review our 2024 Voter Guide.

Pepi Acebo

Website: pepiforasheville.com
Occupation: Manufacturer of wooden children’s products
Previous candidacy or offices held: Ten years attending nearly every ACS Board of Education meeting. Eight years as a PTO officer in three different Asheville City Schools. Successful primary candidate in 2022.
Key endorsements: Asheville City Association of Educators, Buncombe County Association of Educators, N.C. Association of Retired School Personnel
Top three donors: Self-funded

What’s the No. 1 challenge facing the district in the upcoming school year?

Reduced funding. State and national political realities: Our state legislature appears to be in a race to the bottom in per-pupil funding, and we’re facing a COVID-19 relief funding cliff. Self-inflicted: The district has closed successful schools of choice and discouraged enrollment through out-of-district fees that apply to more than half the residents of the City of Asheville. Political: Our TDA-accelerated housing crisis makes renting and homeownership extremely challenging, driving out families, which also lowers enrollment. Systemic: Our moth-eaten district map excludes large portions of Asheville and exempts many hotels and commercial interests from the Asheville City Schools tax.

In addition to lobbying the state for more funds, what could local school districts do to better support and retain teachers?

I believe that adopting the proposed Meet, Consult and Collaborate policy to give the Asheville City Association of Educators seats at the table will make a big difference in teacher retention, effectively addressing issues as they come up and avoiding unintended consequences. We also have to address a culture of fear and retaliation from previous administrations and work to repair harm with our current and former staff.

Enrollment at Asheville City Schools has been declining for several years. What do you think the district should be doing to limit the loss of students, which corresponds to a loss in state funding?

We need to mirror the internal “You belong” messaging out to our entire community, within and beyond the district. We need to address the sticky issue of our legacy district boundaries that give big-box stores and commercial zones a free ride and exclude families from our enrollment. We need to address the myth that charging extra fees to “out of district” families in our community is “fair.” We need to confront our funding issues without a culture of scarcity or an austerity mindset that leads to a downward spiral of diminished schools and reduced enrollment. We need more “Yes, and” and less “Yes, but.”

What actions should Asheville City Schools take in addressing its well-documented achievement gap between white and Black students?

We need to recognize, as the county commissioners have, that the first and best way to close every testing, achievement and opportunity gap is universal access to quality early childhood education so that every child starts kindergarten ready to learn.

To close gaps, we must work with government and community partners to provide universal access to quality early childhood education, to food and health care, to safe and affordable housing, and to educational opportunities in our public schools. Public schools cannot close all gaps in isolation.

We must also radically commit to educating ALL students, not allowing any student to fall through the cracks, with the dedication and funding that this requires.

What are your top safety concerns for students, and what policies could be implemented to address these?

I share concerns about vaping and self-harm for our middle and high school students, and the impact of cellphones and unlimited social media on the mental health of all students and their families. I am also concerned about mass shootings and the next pandemic. But we can’t make every decision based on fear. It’s not healthy for our schools. I believe in teachers, families and school communities to problem-solve and prioritize the safety needs of their students. For 10 years, I have advocated for school-selected professional development and resources to address issues like behavior management and approaches to discipline from the grassroots so they take ownership over their shared school culture.

Do you think a potential consolidation of Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools would be good for the collective of public schools in Buncombe County?

There is no data or rationale that indicates that consolidation would save money AND improve education for any student in Buncombe County. All avenues of consolidation lead to lower funding, fewer staff available to serve Asheville City Schools students, more chaos, higher staff attrition and lower enrollment across the board. Politically, consolidation might mean a supermajority of Democrats voting for the Buncombe County Board of Education. I believe that once the Republican-controlled state legislature looks at the voting math, they’ll be more inclined to expand the Asheville City Schools district than to eliminate it.

George Sieburg

Website: N/A
Occupation: Finance director, Asheville Community Theatre
Previous candidacy or offices held: Board chair, Asheville City Schools (appointed by Asheville City Council 2021)
Key endorsements: Asheville City Association of Educators (ACAE)
Top three donors: No funds raised so far.

What’s the No. 1 challenge facing the district in the upcoming school year?

The importance of Asheville City Schools to our community makes picking just one challenge impossible. So here are a few, and our children deserve all people in our district, whether you have school-aged children or not, working on solutions: 1) the N.C. General Assembly (NCGA) must fully fund our public schools, including the Leandro decision. Not doing so is a dereliction of their constitutional duties and in violation of court order; it also puts the onus on our county commissioners to fund our public schools, which therefore stresses property taxes in the entire county. 2) We must address the racial achievement and opportunity gaps. We have done a disservice to ALL our students by not supporting and serving our Black and brown students. 3) Our community is going to be asked for their input A LOT this school year, with a district consolidation study, a facility study and strategic planning. There is the risk of input fatigue. I am asking that the entire community please continue to provide your input, as it is critical that your voice be heard. The majority of the students in our district will be graduating within the next decade, and they are the next business leaders, City Council members, community activists, creatives and employees in our city, county, state and nation. Who they become is up to all of us.

In addition to lobbying the state for more funds, what could local school districts do to better support and retain teachers?

The most important thing our district is doing to support and retain teachers — while we wait for the NCGA to fulfill their constitutional duty to fully fund our public schools and pay our educators what they deserve — is to work collaboratively with the Asheville City Association of Educators (ACAE) on their proposal for Meet, Confer and Collaborate. I am proud that as a current board member, I have worked with Superintendent Dr. Maggie Fehrman to rebuild trust between educators in our buildings and central office staff. School-based staff, including cafeteria staff, bus drivers and custodians (many of whom see every single student each day), know what is happening in our buildings with a specificity that is critical to district decision-making. Valuing educator voice is one of the ways we can better support and retain teachers.

Enrollment at Asheville City Schools has been declining for several years. What do you think the district should be doing to limit the loss of students, which corresponds to a loss in state funding?

Simply put, our school district needs to do a better job telling its story. Amazing learning happens in Asheville City Schools buildings each day. Our educators make deep connections with our students, our school-based and central office leaders build lasting relationships with families and community partners, and our schools provide unique programs and opportunities for youth from pre-K to 12th grade. Asheville City Schools are the heart of our community. I want families to contribute to that heartbeat.

What actions should Asheville City Schools take in addressing its well-documented achievement gap between white and Black students?

I am pleased that Superintendent Dr. Maggie Fehrman has centered the achievement and growth of Black students this academic year. In her report at the September work session and regular board meetings, she shared proficiency data for Black students and strategies for achieving her goals, including peer-to-peer problem solving and “catch and release” for practicing high-quality instruction. It is the board’s role to revisit achievement data throughout the school year and connect those data to the superintendent’s goals. The board should continue to champion the work of the Racial Equity Ambassadors Program (REAP) at AHS/SILSA and its expansion into Asheville Middle School — especially the Asheville 6, the six strategies for increasing cultural responsiveness. Additionally, the board and the district must continue to advocate for more state and local funding for universal pre-K programs for kindergarten readiness.

What are your top safety concerns for students, and what policies could be implemented to address these?

The biggest safety concern facing our students is the student mental health crisis that has been growing over the last decade and a half and has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. I have seen district teachers and school-based leaders over the past couple years building deep relationships with students and providing time and space in their classrooms and buildings for students to build community; we need to continue to highlight the powerful work that educators are doing to support our youth. The board can also further advocate for funding from the state and from county commissioners for mental health positions in our schools, like school counselors, social workers and site-based therapists. It needs to push for updated allotment formulas from the state, formulas that haven’t seen substantial revisions in years. And it can also advocate for more flexibility in state allotments, trusting local districts to move monies to areas of the budget with greater need. As a board member, I will continue to network with school boards across our region and the state to build coalition to lobby the General Assembly for such funding changes.

Do you think a potential consolidation of Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools would be good for the collective of public schools in Buncombe County?

I am curious to see if the assumed benefits of a possible consolidation, like organizational efficiencies (i.e., having one central office) and potential financial savings (and the consulting firm has cautioned that there is no guarantee of financial savings) will be borne out by the consolidation study. And I am even more curious to see if consolidation would positively impact student academic, social and opportunity outcomes — especially for the Black and brown students of Asheville City Schools. If outcomes for students will not be significantly improved by consolidation, then any other benefits of consolidation are not even worth considering.

Jesse Warren

Warren did not respond to multiple requests for participation in the Xpress Voter Guide.

William Young, Jr.

Young did not respond to multiple requests for participation in the Xpress Voter Guide.

Editor’s note: To look up which races you will vote for, visit avl.mx/6nq.