ACS swears-in first fully elected board, selects new chair

For the first time, all members of the Asheville City Board of Education have been elected by the voters.

Newly elected Pepi Acebo joined incumbents George Sieburg and Jesse Warren on the dais after the swearing-in ceremony at the board’s Dec. 9 meeting.

“I want to say how excited I am to be working with the board,” Acebo said at the end of the meeting. “I will just say that my big goals for the next four years, when I look at all the gaps that we need to address … in order to close the equity gaps, the achievement gaps, opportunity gaps and testing gaps [that we have], where I start is closing the early childhood education gap and early literacy gaps.”

Acebo brought copies of Why Our Children Can’t Read and What We Can Do About it: A Scientific Revolution in Reading to distribute to other board members and Superintendent Maggie Fehrman.

The N.C. General Assembly passed a law in 2021 switching the city school board from being appointed by the Asheville City Council to being elected. It also expanded it from five to seven members. Four members were elected in 2022, and with the 2024 election Asheville was the last school board in North Carolina to do so, according to BPR. The Thomasville City School district in Davidson County switched from appointed to fully elected in 2023, according to its website.

“That’s really significant,” noted Sarah Thornburg, who was selected as the new chair at the beginning of the meeting. Thornburg takes over for Sieburg, who held the gavel for the past two years.

Thornburg thanked Sieburg for his leadership and guidance to new members during the transition and promised to provide similar help to Acebo as he settles into his role.

Board member Rebecca Strimer was elected vice chair. Board member and former Vice Chair Amy Ray was absent.

ACS awards bonuses to staff who volunteered during Helene aftermath

The board passed a measure, 4-2, to provide bonuses to Asheville City Schools (ACS) staff members who volunteered in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene between Sept. 27 and Oct. 12. Board members Liza Kelly and Sieburg voted against providing the bonuses.

About 200 district staff worked almost 5,000 hours during the two weeks following the storm at ACS properties. Fehrman said in November that she wanted to reward staff who went “above and beyond the call of duty.” All employees received their base pay while schools were closed.

“I would prefer that every staff member in all of Asheville City Schools get a bonus. But this is what we have been brought, and I’ve been encouraged by the Asheville City Association of Educators (ACAE) to go ahead and approve something that is not perfect. … [It] recognizes staff who, regardless of what was going on at home and with their families and with their neighbors, were able to be in attendance and help out at critical times,” said Acebo after making the motion to approve the measure.

Salaried staff will be paid an additional $100 for every eight hours worked, and hourly staff will be paid their hourly rate and overtime as appropriate, according to the proposal. The measure will cost the district $112,000, including benefits.

Fehrman said the district would likely be able to take from savings elsewhere in the budget for the bonuses but would dip into reserves if necessary.

Kelly was concerned with the fairness of offering bonuses to some staff when not everyone knew the option was available.

“The reasons that I do not support this recommendation are … the inequity of the ability of all staff to have the opportunity to show up and volunteer. I didn’t feel comfortable supporting this recommendation without a policy in place,” she said.

Board member Jesse Warren urged staff to establish a policy so staff members know they could get paid for showing up, for example, after a snowstorm.

Strimer supported the motion because of the support it earned from the ACAE and because Buncombe County Schools (BCS) passed a similar measure.

In a survey of 175 ACS employees conducted by ACAE, 76% supported the proposal, according to ACAE President Timothy Lloyd.

BCS spokesperson Ken Ulmer verified that BCS approved a similar policy for employees who worked between Sept. 26 and Oct. 19.

Chief Financial Officer Heidi Kerns said staff could potentially get their bonus by Christmas.

ACS receives clean audit

ACS received a clean financial audit at the Dec. 9 meeting from auditor Anderson, Smith and Wike, PLLC.

“This is the best opinion you can receive. I know a lot of hard work has come from the finance team and the district as a whole to achieve this, so I do just want to congratulate you,” said Tyler Barwise, an auditor associate with the firm.

There were no significant accounting estimates not typical for any school board in North Carolina, no misstatements by district staff, and the auditor had no disagreements or difficulties with management during the audit, Barwise added.

The district added about $2.1 million to its fund balance last fiscal year, leaving about $12.7 million in reserve. After spending around $3.5 million from that fund in the current fiscal year to cover expiring federal funds, the district is set to have about $9.1 million in reserve at the end of 2024-25, if income streams come in as projected, Barwise said. ACS has an overall budget of about $85 million.

School consolidation update

Buncombe County Strategic Partnerships Director Rachael Sawyer updated the board on the state-mandated school district consolidation feasibility study.

Prismatic Services, contracted by the county to conduct the study, is on track to deliver a completed report to Asheville City Schools, Buncombe County Schools and Buncombe County by the end of the year. A joint meeting is scheduled with both school districts and the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners on Thursday, Jan. 16, at which elected officials can endorse Prismatic’s recommendations or make additional observations to be included in the final report.

The final report is due to the N.C. General Assembly by Saturday, Feb. 15.