The recently proposed 2025-26 Buncombe County budget gives Asheville City Schools(ACS) no choice but to lay off staff, the Asheville City Board of Education discussed at its May 12 meeting.
Schools Superintendent Maggie Fehrman briefed the school board on the county’s draft budget, which became public May 6. She said County Manager Avril Pinder’s presentation was misleading in its characterization of recent education funding and felt the school district was disproportionately “singled out” in cuts.
“In their slides, it looks like we’re getting more than we got last year, but we’re really not. They put in the amended allotment, which is less than what we got last year,” Fehrman noted. In its budget summary, the county compared the proposed 2025-26 budget with the current year’s amended budget, which significantly changed in January when commissioners voted to claw back more than $700,000 from ACS after Tropical Storm Helene slashed revenues…