Asheville City school board delays decision on staff bonuses for post-Helene volunteer work

Unsure of exactly how much it would cost, the Asheville City Board of Education voted 7-0 Nov. 12 to table a decision on bonus payment for nearly 200 district staff members who volunteered their time in the immediate aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene, Sept. 27-Oct. 12.

Asheville City Schools Superintendent Maggie Fehrman initially proposed the bonus at a Nov. 4 work session. Regardless of an individual’s volunteer status, all staff received their base pay during the two-week period when schools were closed.

“Staff went above and beyond call of duty, and I want to recognize their hard work,” Fehrman said when introducing the plan. She added that she chose the two-week period because she started asking staff to return to school sites after Oct. 12 to prepare for reopening.

Board member James Carter, who was in his last regular meeting on the board, said he would not vote for the effort until he knew details about how the district would fund the initiative.

“I know the money will have to come out of our fund balance in order to pay for this. In light of that, I would personally have a hard time voting tonight. I don’t know what that number looks like, and although I don’t have much longer on the board, I want to be as fiscally responsible as possible while I’m here,” Carter said before making a motion to table the vote. (Pepi Acebo will replace Carter on the board on Monday, Dec. 9. Carter did not run to keep his seat this year.)

Fehrman’s recommendation notes that in addition to their regular pay, classified staff such as bus drivers, nutrition workers and maintenance staff would be paid their hourly rate for all hours worked during the two-week period after the storm, plus overtime if they put in more than a week. Meanwhile, certified staff would be paid $100 for every eight hours worked with no overtime pay; or they could convert volunteer shift hours into future paid time off during noninstructional workdays.

Supervisors in the district, such as principals at school sites, would be responsible for determining who is eligible for the bonus pay based on volunteer shifts during the designated two-week period, Fehrman said. As of the Nov. 12 meeting, the number of volunteer hours worked remained unconfirmed, and therefore Fehrman could not estimate the total cost of the proposal.

At the Nov. 4 work session, Fehrman noted that staff who volunteered with organizations outside the district would not be eligible for additional pay.

Board member Amy Ray expressed concern that asking principals to determine who is deserving of a bonus and who isn’t based on where they worked after the storm would create friction among school staff. Board member Jesse Warren questioned whether access to the bonuses was equitable, since people didn’t know ahead of time that bonuses could be provided for those working at school sites.

According to Fehrman, Buncombe County Schools (BCS) and McDowell County Schools have passed similar bonus programs for employees. A BCS spokesperson did not verify details of its plan by press time. Haywood County Schools and Henderson County Schools are also considering providing bonuses or stipends to its essential workers in the aftermath of the storm, and several districts in the eastern part of the state that more frequently deal with school closures due to hurricanes have policies on the books, Fehrman added.

In the public comment section of the Nov. 12 meeting, Asheville Association of Educators (ACAE) President Timothy Lloyd presented results of a survey conducted by ACAE on the matter.

Lloyd sent the survey to all ACS staff Nov. 7 and heard back from 175 employees — both members and nonmembers of the advocacy group.

An “overwhelming majority” of respondents — 76% — supported the proposal as is, Lloyd said. Less than 6% opposed it outright, with the rest undecided or supportive with tweaks to Fehrman’s recommendation.

Reasons for hesitation include concerns about fairness to those who could not work because of impacts from the storm and concerns about executive leadership receiving bonuses in light of the district’s budget concerns, Lloyd said.

“While we understand these concerns, we do not believe that the perfect should be the enemy of the good when it comes to compensation for public school staff. The benefits of this proposal far outweigh the imperfections, and given the direction we have received from our survey results, we ask you to support,” Lloyd said.

Board Chair George Sieburg said the board should consider drafting a policy in case such a situation arose in the future. The matter will come to a vote at a meeting Monday, Dec. 4.

Montford school gets old name back

The William Randolph name has officially returned to ACS’ Montford Avenue campus.

The board voted unanimously to rename the former home of Montford North Star Academy the William Randolph Campus at the Nov. 12 meeting. The campus is home to the district’s new alternative school.

The board voted to close Montford North Star Academy — a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) middle school — in March and merge the population with the larger Asheville Middle School. Before it was a middle school, the campus hosted an alternative school for 10 years known as the Randolph Learning Center.

The location has a long history as a school dating to the 1800s. It was first renamed for William Randolph, the first secretary of the Asheville school board, in the 1930s, according to an ACS presentation.

Along with the name change, the school will get a new logo, complete with a cougar to signify its status as a feeder school for Asheville High School, whose mascot is also the cougar.