From Staff Reports 

The Buncombe County School Board expressed dissatisfaction with an 11th-hour change to the county budget. Just prior to its adoption, Buncombe County Commissioner Al Whitesides made a motion to grant both the Buncombe County and Asheville City school boards only a portion of their requested disbursements.

 Reading prepared remarks prior to the vote, Whitesides asked the commissioners to allocate $1,116,068 to the county school system and $209,428 to the city’s schools, and put the remaining $1,863,907 of the request in the county’s fund balance.

 Commissioner Ellen Frost, throughout the process, had raised concerns that her peers allocate funds to the county’s fire departments and school systems, but they have no way of knowing if the funds given are ever used for the stated purposes.

 Whitesides repeated the commissioners’ mantra of, “It’s a new day in Buncombe County.” Following the discovery of mass inappropriate expenditures of public funds that opened a federal investigation involving the former county manager, Whitesides explained the commissioners are tightening down even on themselves as public stewards.

 Per Whitesides’ amendment, the balance of the schools’ requests would still be available to them; the school boards would only now have to submit a formal request and make a public presentation before the commissioners. Whitesides’ amendment was seconded and approved with the budget.

 At their June 28 meeting, members of the board of education spoke generally against the sudden blow to their anticipated budget. The move was described as discriminatory, since the commissioners did not require county department heads to demonstrate similar “proofs of poverty.”

 Whitesides had spoken abstractly, about “some questions [the commissioners] wanted answered.” To that, Buncombe County Schools’ attorney Dean Shatley countered that the school had concerns about what questions Whitesides had that were important enough to withhold requested funding.

 Making his presentation before the commissioners in May, Superintendent Tony Baldwin had said the increases were needed for payroll and escalating utility costs. Academically, the school wanted $198,000 for math workbooks. 

Most of his emphasis, however, was on escalating needs for addressing behavioral health issues. Speaking in euphemisms, he alluded to the serious weight the latter loads on schools today.

 After Whitesides’ motion, Baldwin observed money for teacher pay is a recurring expense that cannot be addressed sustainably by a one-time fund-balance appropriation. Had the schools been given their full asks, the baseline for ongoing continuation budgets would have adjusted accordingly.

 While accusations flew that the amendment created distrust between the board and commissioners, supporters noted that any distrust could be cleared up with a simple presentation.