Maybe, maybe not.
A year ago, in September of 2023, the North Carolina General Assembly mandated that the Asheville City and Buncombe County school systems jointly study the feasibility of a merger and designated Buncombe County government as the lead entity for this project.
This is one of the three ways that the state’s laws offer for joining duplicative school districts:
- County and city boards of education can jointly request a merger and can call for a referendum
- A county board of commissioners can mandate a merger
- Legislative action can force a merger
More than sixty years after the first study was undertaken in 1963 to consider merging the two school districts—a study that recommended doing so—the legislature has chosen the third option. The move took some Buncombe County legislators by surprise, as it was hastily slipped into a different bill by Republican House members last September, but all indicated some support for the study.
Prismatic Services, the firm chosen by Buncombe County commissioners to study the issue, is conducting surveys and will also lead nine drop-in community meetings, as well as one online forum to gather community input that will be presented to the NCGA in February 2025.
Online surveys are available through Sept. 30, 2024, and include individual surveys for parents, BCS teammates, community members, and high school students. In addition, BCS high school students will be given the opportunity to take a survey in school. Principals will be sharing more information in the days ahead with parents of high school students.
Details on the study and links to the survey can be found at engage.buncombecounty.org/schoolsfeasibilitystudy.
The drop-in community input sessions are designed so community members can participate for 15-30 minutes at the time and location that best suits their schedules. Spanish interpretation will be provided. For those who…
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