Area school districts checked their state report cards, which indicated moderate gains at many local public schools. Henderson County Public Schools launched a virtual public school with district teachers to expand educational offerings and settings for any high school student in the system.
Thanks to a second round of state grant funding announced in early August, area students will have access to an expanded series of coding programs and courses at the high school and middle school levels. Local employers and economic development boosters say tech skills are vital to securing good jobs now and in the future.
Thanks to funding approved by the the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, Sept. 4, the system will soon have six additional SROs in its elementary schools — an expansion that carries an estimated recurring cost of more than $400,000 per year.
Commissioners will vote Tuesday, Sept. 4, whether to commit to a forensic audit of Buncombe County finances.
Shortly before greeting students for the start of the 2018-19 school year, a small group of local educators rallied at the Buncombe County Courthouse on Aug. 24, pressing for more investment in public education. The Asheville demonstration was one of six held across the state.
The resolution sets the stage for the county to reimburse itself through bonds should it initially finance planned construction projects with operating funds. According to Internal Revenue Service regulations, wrote Interim County Manager George Wood, a bond resolution must precede spending money on projects that might later be refinanced using bonds.
“Of particular interest is the surprise that the Buncombe school system is ahead of the Asheville system in sex ed, despite Asheville not having viable fundamentalist opposition, unlike in Buncombe.”
“The Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools policy codes state that e-cigarettes are prohibited within schools and consequences may include restorative justice programs, but these programs are extremely vague, and there have been no signs of follow-through.”
As of June 11, Buncombe County has $458.5 million in debt. Over half of that debt balance ― $270 million ― has paid for facilities for A-B Tech and the county’s two public school systems, the Asheville City and Buncombe County schools.
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will hold two public hearings at its regular meeting on Tuesday, June 5.
Tuesday, May 15 will mark the first opportunity for citizens to hear about Buncombe County’s proposed budget for FY 2019.
Parents of students in Asheville City Schools pushed back against what they saw as a tepid response from district leaders after the Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland, Fla., saying local administrators were slow to acknowledge families’ fears and provide concrete information. At a March 6 parent forum, some additional details about the district’s safety planning were made available.
Despite tight budgets and bureaucratic hurdles, school nutrition directors are accessing more locally grown foods for area students.
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will consider issuing bonds to finance $60 million in projects during its meeting on Feb. 20.
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.
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.
Food access can be a huge challenge for families in WNC’s hard-to-reach rural areas — especially during summer break when children are not receiving school lunch assistance.
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.
While many don’t seem to object to the Gideons’ handing out Bibles to graduating high school seniors outside the U.S. Cellular Center in downtown Asheville, others say the practice is incompatible with policies that strive to keep education and religion separate.
Each week, Xpress highlights notable WNC crowdsourcing initiatives that may inspire readers to become new faces in the crowd. This week features a female duo’s traveling tribute to iconic songstresses before them; a parent’s efforts to end lunch debt shaming in local schools; and a team of Erwin High track athletes’ trip to compete at nationals.
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners held a nearly five-hour budget workshop May 16, a forum dedicated to presentations and requests from county departments. However, talks also showed a possible path toward nudging closer to a revenue-neutral property tax rate. A taxing issue County Manager Wanda Greene’s proposed budget for next fiscal year is $419,289,728, […]
