Roughly 1,600 Buncombe County Schools employees, such as bus drivers and cafeteria workers, could get raises if the new county budget passes this summer.
The raise proposal would affect noncertified staff members, including food service employees, bus drivers, secretaries, custodians and many others.
The raises, as proposed, would bring the salaries to $15 an hour, or provide a 2.5% raise — whichever is larger for the employee. At a minimum, all noncertified workers would get $15 an hour, in coordination with a recently passed state law, according to the district.
However, BCS staff and leadership acknowledged the move would still mean some salaries would stay below the rising cost of living in Asheville, estimated to be more than $17 an hour.
The cost of these raises for school staff, which includes other certified positions, would be $15.2 million.
“This is my — going into my 14th year as superintendent — the biggest ask I’ve ever come up here for. I’ll also tell you, in my career, I’ve never seen a time where it’s needed more. We’ve got to have these people, these are our MVPs out there,” said superintendent Tony Baldwin during the BCS budget presentation to the county...
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