While it makes logical sense that students who’ve spent years attending Asheville City Schools would know better than anyone what is and isn’t working to promote their educational success, asking those students for input is nonetheless a radical proposition. That’s not stopping the system and the Asheville City Schools Foundation from carrying out The Listening Project to allow educators to learn from students’ experiences and insights.
Looking back on 2017, Xpress highlights some of the hundreds of stories we covered in our print editions and online over the year.
“Gwen is working every day to improve Asheville for our children through her efforts to protect our natural environment, improve our built environment, make our city more equitable and improve our public schools.”
Cyberbullying is an issue that comes up all too often. It can include any type of intimidation with electronics or internet use, from texting to posting on social media. Research shows that it has doubled among middle and high schoolers in the U.S. from 2007 to 2016 — from 18 to 34 percent. But research also shows that North Carolina has the second lowest rate of cyberbullying — 30 percent, higher only than Massachusetts at 23 percent. Since October is National Bullying Prevention Month, Asheville City Schools held a rally to create awareness of the issue.
Denise Patterson has already begun her work as the new superintendent of the Asheville City Schools. A native of North Carolina, Patterson says she is looking forward to becoming a part of the Asheville community.
As students go back to school, construction projects will continue on some campuses of both the city and county school systems. At historic Asheville High School, a $25 million renovation project is expected to continue through May 2020.
The Asheville City Schools district follows a different boundary line than the city limits — and in some areas, the line is very different indeed. The Buncombe County Board of Education ratified an updated map of the city district on June 30. The map had previously been approved by the city school board on June 5.
We continue to share more of the engaging student art and writing from the 2017 Kids Issue. In this post, we feature contributions from students at Asheville School and Claxton Elementary School.
“Neither of my parents ever complained about the low pay; they just loved their work and were not doing it for money.”
When seasoned teachers leave the classroom, everybody suffers. Students lose out on the benefits of the educators’ experience, school systems struggle to find and train replacements and the larger community often mourns the departure of a valued contributor with established relationships. While Asheville and Buncombe County public schools have lower teacher turnover than in other parts of the state, retaining and attracting the best teachers is increasingly challenging.
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners started consideration of the property tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year during its meeting on Tuesday, May 2.
Amid the continuing debate over school choice and whether North Carolina should even allow charter schools, people on both sides of the issue seem to agree that Buncombe County’s five charters stand apart from their counterparts across the state. Asheville has about as long a history with charter schools as any Tar Heel city. Francine […]
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.
No funding has officially been approved, but commissioners presented a united front in committing to a three-pronged approach to curbing opioid use. The effort will include community paramedics, residential treatment for new mothers and a media blitz focused on prevention.
An diverse and influential group looks to incrementally implement universal preschool in Buncombe County. Xpress takes an in-depth look at the organization, logistics and potential costs behind the effort.
“Read to Succeed believes that learning to read proficiently early on is the best chance — perhaps the only chance — a child from an impoverished family has to rise out of poverty.”
“A package to attract those jobs would require many moving parts, but the longest lead-time component would be an effort to get all our kids into an Asheville City Schools computer literacy pipeline.”
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners wrapped up the budget season during its Tuesday, June 21, meeting by approving a $413,574,951 spending plan for fiscal year 2017. During a more than five hour meeting Commissioner Tim Moffitt proposed an alternate budget, that would lower the property tax rate, but it was shoot down, via party lines, in favor of the approved budget.
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners is approaching the homestretch for finalizing a budget for Fiscal Year 2017. During its meeting on Tuesday, May 31, the board heard concerns about attracting and retaining teachers amid budget requests from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools.
Buncombe County Manager Wanda Greene is recommending a total budget of just over $407 million that would hold the property tax rate at 60.4 cents per $100 of valued property. However, property revaluations will take place this year with new values expected to sent out mid-January 2017.
“These personnel changes — and others we have recently announced — are part of a bigger picture as we move forward to address early childhood education, academic achievement and the ‘whole child’ for the students and families we serve.”
