Our Kids Can’t Wait: Fund Buncombe County Schools

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Our Kids Can’t Wait: Fund Buncombe County Schools

Buncombe County Schools Board of Education and Buncombe County Commissioners

Our students and public schools have never been more deserving and in dire need of our best efforts to overcome inequities and interrupted progress. Over the past several years, NC educators and staff, including those in Buncombe County Schools, have been tasked to serve the ever-increasing needs of our students and families with ever-shrinking resources and support. Instead of improving, the conditions have worsened and the demands are higher than ever, stretching the stamina and fortitude of even the most passionate educator to do what is best for our students. While our students need our support and expertise more than ever to overcome the effects of the pandemic and years of depleted resources, staff are at a breaking point to serve with dignity and fidelity. BCS staff needs the full commitment of resources to meet student needs, including instructional support, preservation and enhancement of planning and preparation time, and an investment in all personnel through staffing, salaries and supplements. Without such non-negotiable working conditions, the instructional pipeline will continue to collapse and our student learning conditions will not improve. The combined proactive efforts of the BCS Board of Education and the Buncombe County Commissioners are essential to establishing this foundation.

Please read the petition below and complete the attached form to sign:

Sponsored by

North Carolina Association of Educators

Raleigh, NC

To: Buncombe County Schools Board of Education and Buncombe County Commissioners
From: [Your Name]

We, BCS staff, students, parents, and supporters, call on the BCS Board of Education and the Buncombe County Commissioners to work together to create and fund a budget that does the following:

• Stabilizes our workforce and provides more consistent student support by making BCS a Just Economics living wage certified employer. Retain and recruit high-quality classified staff with a base pay of at least $17.70/hour and/or a 20% raise, whichever is higher.

• Increases the local supplement percentage for all public school workers by at least 2% in every category with a commitment to revisit on a yearly basis.
Increase bonuses to match ACS amounts as follows: $3,000 for certified staff, and $3,500 for classified staff.

Additionally, we call on Dr. Baldwin and the BCS Board of Education to:

• Establish an equitable district policy for how staff absences and class coverage will be navigated. Additionally, pay staff covering other classes commensurate with sub pay and compensate salaried employees for planning time lost.

• In collaboration with BCS staff develop and honor a policy that professional development and training should take place during the workday. State-mandated training should happen either on workdays, early release, or asynchronous virtual days added to the existing calendar for this purpose. Any training scheduled outside of regular work hours should include appropriate compensation.

• Discontinue mandated use of annual leave for COVID-related or weather-related days off when classified staff are not provided online work to complete. Workers should retain earned leave on these days when their job cannot be performed from home.

We deserve a budget that is pro-students, pro-public school staff, and pro-public schools. Our kids can’t wait, and they don’t have to.

Buncombe County Association of Educators
BCS Public School Staff
Parents and Community Supporters of BCS