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.
Superintendent Maggie Fehrman told the Asheville City Board of Education at its meeting Oct. 14 that she still wants to explore drilling wells to increase the district’s resiliency, but is shifting her focus to obtaining enough drinking water to reopen schools by Monday, Oct. 28.
Asheville City Schools Superintendent Maggie Fehrman said the district is aiming to reopen its schools to students by Monday, Oct. 28.
The following is an ongoing list of news about education-related resources in Western North Carolina in the wake of Tropical Storm Helene. This list will be updated as new information comes in:
Asheville City Schools Superintendent Maggie Fehrman reported that the well-documented achievement gap between Black and white students closed slightly last year, while overall achievement for ACS students increased by 2.5% in 2023-24.
“It escapes me how this could impact overworked, underpaid and probably unappreciated teachers interacting with students in classrooms.”
On Aug. 22, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners called a first-of-its-kind joint meeting within the Asheville City and Buncombe County boards of education to identify the three elected bodies’ shared purpose.
Asheville City Schools (ACS) Superintendent Maggie Fehrman said the district was able to close its $5.7 million budget deficit just in time for the new school year, largely through cuts in central office and by consolidating the district’s two middle schools.
Candidates talk about spending, support for education and what regulating short-term rentals should look like.
A new EMS base and library could be coming to the corner of Haywood Road and Interstate 240 in West Asheville if the county can figure out how to pay for its plans on land owned by Asheville City Schools.
After the Asheville City Board of Education decided to consolidate the district’s two middle schools for the 2024-25 school year, the families of Montford North Star Academy students were left with a choice: Send their children to Asheville Middle School or leave the district.
“Today, North Carolina ranks 48th in the country in per-pupil funding ($4,655 below the national average and dead last when it comes to school funding effort).”
Even after making some cuts to increased expenditures and allocating $3 million from reserves, the district may need to cut staff to close the $1.2 million budget gap, she said.
The Buncombe County Board of Education is not happy with the direction state legislators are taking in funding schools.
“Putting the city logo on the park is a small but important symbolic gesture letting people know this is a place where they are welcome and that the city supports and cares for this park.”
On June 10, the Asheville City Association of Educators delivered a letter signed by the Parent Teacher Organizations or parent teams from all eight of the district’s schools.
Kate Wargo moved to Asheville in fall 2021 with hopes for a fresh start. Teaching elementary school during the COVID-19 pandemic had left her exhausted, anxious and depressed. “It was the first time I felt dehumanized,” she says of the previous two years teaching fourth grade in Pennsylvania.
For the last year, officials with both Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County have debated what to do with the centrally located, ACS-owned facility on the corner of Haywood Road and Interstate 240. The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners got a plan update at its May 7 briefing meeting.
“The bottom line is that the turnover rate for teachers and the unfilled positions of police officers in Asheville is unacceptable.”
As state funding falls with enrollment and $1 million in COVID-era federal funding ends, the district is facing a $5.7 million gap before new funding requests and projected savings are considered, Superintendent Maggie Fehrman reported to the board April 15.
It’s been 10 years since Asheville City Schools displaced its once successful majority-Black alternative program from its home on Montford Avenue. At least one longtime educator calls that the worst decision the district has made this century.
