Parents of children who attend Asheville High School, the School of Inquiry and Life Sciences at Asheville and Asheville Middle School tell Xpress the experience of a perimeter lockdown Sept. 1 was rattling, and assessment of that response was mixed.
Asheville City Schools still needs to fill about 50 positions for the school year that starts Monday, Aug. 29. With only 18 of 29 ACS bus routes staffed to roll, some of the system’s youngest students may need to board the bus as early as 6:45 a.m.
Uvalde, the deadliest school shooting in a decade, underscored persistent questions about school safety, stricter gun laws and ways to “harden” schools to help keep students and staff safe. In Asheville and Buncombe County, those topics are on the minds of families, law enforcement and school personnel.
State data show that the gap in academic achievement between white and black students in the Asheville City Schools is the largest in North Carolina. The district is launching a new initiative to address the persistent problem — but only time will tell whether this effort will succeed where so many have failed to show results.
