Asheville, N.C. — Three of seven Buncombe County Board of Education seats are up for election this November as the district faces hard budget choices that administrators say could require shedding nearly 120 jobs.
Buncombe County Schools is spending through its fiscal reserves, and only three of the district’s 44 graded schools received an A ranking in the most recent report from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, even as overall academic performance is described as improving.
The races are nonpartisan. District 5 covers the area feeding into Enka High School, where incumbent Judy Lewis is on the ballot. District 6 is tied to Clyde A. Erwin High School, where board Vice Chair Kim Plemmons seeks another term. Chair Rob Elliot is running unopposed in District 3, associated with A.C. Reynolds High School.
Enka High School, Reynolds High School and the wider Buncombe system sit at the center of local hiring, transportation and classroom decisions that voters will indirectly shape through the three board seats. School board members set policy for staffing and budgets that affect every campus from Asheville High School to North Buncombe High School.
The November election will decide who sits at the table when the board weighs next year’s budget. Administrators have already flagged reserve drawdowns and a possible round of job cuts if revenue and spending do not align.
Voters in Asheville, N.C., and across Buncombe County will cast ballots in the nonpartisan school board contests alongside other November races. The outcome will matter for how the district balances classrooms, teaching assistants and central office costs under a tighter fiscal outlook.
