School district consolidation not recommended

JOINT EFFORT: Buncombe County Board of Education member Charles Martin, second from left, and Chair Rob Elliot are flanked by County Commissioner Al Whitesides, far left, and Board of Commissioners Chair Amanda Edwards, far right, as they listen to a presentation Jan. 16 on school district consolidation. Photo by Greg Parlier

Dating back to 1963, there have been at least 10 studies analyzing the feasibility of consolidating Buncombe County’s two public school districts, Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools. While those studies came to differing conclusions, the districts have remained independent.

The latest report, presented Jan. 16 by Charlotte-based education consultant Prismatic Services to the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners and the Asheville City and Buncombe County boards of education, recommended continued independence for the districts.

“Based on the literature review, constituent input, local environmental factors [and] the current operations and academic outcomes of each school system, Prismatic does not recommend consolidation of ACS and BCS,” the report concluded.

Essentially, said Prismatic founder Tatia Prieto during a presentation to elected officials, consolidation wouldn’t necessarily increase student achievement, close the achievement gap between white students and their Black and brown counterparts or increase overall enrollment. Consolidation would save less than 1% of the districts combined budgets, she said. The lack of savings was made more significant as the districts face a 4% post-Tropical Storm Helene funding cut from the county.

Ultimately, the N.C. General Assembly, which mandated the report in 2023, will have the final say on consolidation after the report is submitted Feb. 15. As of Jan. 17, Buncombe County has been unable to get reimbursed for the $300,000 study from the state, said County spokesperson Lillian Govus.

Eleven consultants spent nine months diving into 10 operational areas in both systems, covering everything from governance, policies and procedures to facilities, business operations, child nutrition and transportation, said Prieto. In the end, consultants based their final recommendation on five factors: student performance, cost-saving potential, current levels of collaboration, school system culture and support for consolidation in the community.

On student performance, the “primary factor” in assessing potential consolidation, the study found “no evidence that consolidation of ACS and BCS, by itself, would be likely to lead to those types of improved student outcomes.”

Prismatic added that neither system is operating at a much higher level than the other. “Both have disappointing current results with various student subgroups. Although both systems are making efforts to reduce achievement gaps, neither has yet demonstrated that it [is] on a certain path to success.”

Board reactions

Buncombe County Board of Education member Kim Plemmons was surprised by the study’s recommendation to not consolidate. Asheville City Board of Education Chair Sarah Thornburg said she went into the study a skeptic but was pleasantly surprised with the outcome.

“[Initially], I thought it was a diversion and a waste of resources, and I’m really surprised at how useful it is,” Thornburg said. “This report and this conversation reflects issues we have. We have issues of racism, we have fiscal responsibility issues, and we are all charged now with collaborating.”

That collaboration, which the report made clear was lacking between the two districts, became a central discussion topic among the boards at the Jan. 16 meeting.

County Board Chair Amanda Edwards said the districts’ lack of collaboration came to a head in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene, when the two districts couldn’t agree to reopen schools on the same day. “We have to do better for our kids,” she said.

Several others repeated the refrain that greater collaboration between the districts in areas such as transportation, nutrition and facility maintenance might now be a more palatable substitute, given the possibility of consolidation.

Another topic was the “Swiss cheese” appearance of ACS’ boundaries that has caused significant confusion among residents. In parts of the county, particularly in North Asheville and Woodfin, some houses are zoned for ACS while others on the same street are zoned for BCS.

“That level of confusion and nonsense is not good government. It’s bad government. It gives the people in our society who are lazy and loud ammunition to throw at a government to say that it’s bad,” said Commissioner Parker Sloan. He added that he’s “very interested” in talking more about how better maps could help solve some of the issues, including in managing facilities in both districts.

According to the study, all of ACS’ nine facilities are underutilized, and 37 of BCS’ 45 schools are underutilized, presenting some potential savings by decreasing the number of schools. If ACS’ district had larger borders, perhaps more closely reflecting the City of Asheville’s municipal boundaries, it would have a larger enrollment, which could lead to a useful realignment, the study suggested.

As in any conversation about Buncombe’s school districts, the achievement gap was another persistent theme.

Commissioner Al Whitesides argued that between the wide achievement gap between white students and their Black and Brown counterparts, combined with the underutilization of many school buildings, adds up to inefficiencies the leaders in the room can no longer wait to address.

“When I read your report, within four or five years from now this [train] is going to go over the cliff if we don’t do something now. Forget about consolidation at this point. But my question is, shouldn’t we be addressing the problems that I mentioned, today?”

Buncombe County Schools Board of Education Chair Rob Elliot mentioned that some of the challenges that the study highlighted are tough to address without adequate funding.

“We’ve heard that equity work can be very expensive. We’re facing budget constraints from likely all levels of government going forward, and so it’s tough to be charged with solving the achievement gap, but we’re going to take away 20% of your funding, because things happen in the federal government or the state government or local government that’s a challenge” he said.

“But I think if we are well facilitated, and we are collaborative, then we can solve these problems together, even if funding does come up a bit short.”

This story was supported by the Fund for Investigative Reporting and Editing. 

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