Hello, BCS Staff and Families.
Here’s a look at the BCS Board Briefing for March 5, 2026. The full broadcast is on YouTube, and photos are posted in this Google Drive folder.
In our Good News segment, we recognized and celebrated:
· BCS Counselors of the Year:
-Jody Montrie, Enka Intermediate School- Elementary/Intermediate Counselor of the Year
-Courtney Sanders, Owen Middle School- Middle School Counselor of the Year
-Emily Walters, A.C. Reynolds High School- High School Counselor of the Year
· Lacey Davis, Erwin High School- North Carolina CTE Teacher of the Year Runner-Up
· Erwin High Taste Bud Trailblazers- 2nd Place North Carolina Jr. Chef Team
· BCS National Board-Certified Teachers
· PT Solutions- Outstanding Community Service
· BCS Indoor Track/Field and Swimming State Champions and Runners-Up
Strategic Plan Highlight
· BCS Midyear Data Update
Action Agenda
· EC Funding Resolution
· Policy for Approval (Waive First Reading):
-1120 Sustainability
· 2025-2026 Academic Calendar Revisions - Presentation
Consent Agenda
· Minutes: February 9, 2026 – Special Called Meeting
· Minutes: January 12, 2026- Policy Committee Meeting
· Personnel Report – March 5, 2026
· 2025-2026 Budget Amendment #4
· 2025-2026 BCS Academic Calendar Revision
· Technology Services Intent to Purchase E-Rate Related Network Switchgear
· North Buncombe Middle School: Request to Use Capital Athletic Outlay Funds
· T.C. Roberson High School: Request to Use Capital Athletic Outlay Funds
· Cane Creek Middle School: Request to Use Capital Athletic Outlay Funds
· Policies for Second Reading:
-3101 Dual Enrollment
-3101R Dual Enrollment
-3102R Online Instruction
-5015R School Volunteers
Information Agenda
Policies for First Reading
· 4130R Discretionary Admission Release
· 4203/5021/7273 Therapy Dogs in School
· 4203/5021/7273R Therapy Dogs in School
· 5030R Facility Use
Announcements/Future Meetings
· The Board of Education will hold a Policy Committee meeting on March 16, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. in the Executive Conference Room at 175 Bingham Road, Asheville, NC 28806.
· The BCS County-Wide Advisory Council meeting will be held on March 24, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. in the MInitorium at 175 Bingham Road, Asheville, NC 28806
· The next Board of Education Regular Meeting is April 2, 2026. Work session updates and Closed Session beginning at 4:00 p.m. in the Executive Conference Room, and the Open Session beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Minitorium at 175 Bingham Road, Asheville, NC 28806.
Superintendent's Comments
Good evening Parents, Members of the Community, Board Members, and Teammates,
This week we are celebrating National School Social Workers Week. We are so grateful for and dependent on the fact that our school social workers are exceptionally skilled in providing services to students who face serious challenges to school success, including disability, poverty, discrimination, abuse, neglect, mental illness, homelessness, bullying, familial stressors, and other barriers to learning.” The difference they make is hard to measure, but easy to feel. Thank you to each of our School Social Workers!
I would like to share with the Board and with the community that Buncombe County Schools is hosting an Educator Career Fair a week from Saturday on March 14, 2023 from 9am - 12pm, right here. This is an amazing school system and we are looking for incredible and dedicated educators to join our team. If you are interested in attending the Job Fair or in applying for a position, please call the school system or refer to our website.
This evening, we will once again launch our meeting with Good News, as we do each month, celebrating our tremendous students and teammates. Tonight, though, the celebration will not stop there. Tonight, our Associate Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, Dr. Jennifer Reed, will share our midyear assessment results for Kindergarten through twelfth grade. As she presents, count how many times she says that our midyear assessments show growth in every single student group. Our strategic plan sets an ambitious goal of growth in every single student group. Please listen for how many times she says the data shows just that.
Clearly, our students and teachers are amazing! When I consider their academic success, I cannot help but reflect that our teachers and staff are helping our students accomplish so much while they themselves have endured a functional pay cut from the state. North Carolina remains the only state in our country without a state budget. We are now ranked 48th for teacher pay and 50th in per-pupil spending.
In his budget proposal, our Governor recommended a pay raise for our teachers of 10.6% over the biennium. The North Carolina House of Representatives recommended a pay raise of 8.7%. The North Carolina Senate recommended a pay raise of 3.3%. Yet, despite all three entities responsible for creating a state budget recommending a pay raise for teachers and staff, the absence of a state budget means that there has been no pay raise.
Additionally, the employee cost of health care went up this year. Increased health care costs with no raise means that functionally our teammates have had a pay decrease this year.
When we celebrate the amazing accomplishments of our students through our midyear assessments results, I hope you see the incredible dedication of our teachers and staff. Despite the financial challenges caused by the state, still they persevere. I am in so much awe of our teachers and staff.
Please commit along with me and our Board of Education to passionately advocate at the state level for the education funding our students and teachers deserve, especially for tremendous increases in the salaries of our educators. We cannot be satisfied with 48th in the nation and going backwards.
I will pause and acknowledge a bright spot. The Public School Forum released the Annual Local School Finance Study this week. Among the 100 counties in our state, Buncombe County ranks 5th in local appropriations per student while ranking 10th in tax base per student. Our Commissioners and county government are to be commended for stepping in where the state has stepped away. They cannot bear the full brunt of what the state should be doing, but they are doing more on a per-pupil basis than 95 other North Carolina counties are doing.
We know that we still have much work to do and that we can and must continue to improve. I just want you to know that I could not be prouder of all I continue to experience in our classrooms and schools.
To our team and to our Board Members, Thank you for all that you do for the students, families, teachers, and staff of Buncombe County Schools.
Mister Chair, this concludes my comments.