*UPDATE: Asheville Citizen Times Editorial says state legislature's budget cuts harm NC future*

Stretched Resources Challenge Asheville, Buncombe Schools 
By Julie Ball, Asheville Citizen Times

ASHEVILLE — As an assistant principal at Valley Springs Middle School, Wendy Hannah was already wearing a lot of hats.

She handled teacher evaluations, was the school testing coordinator, coordinated transportation, took care of sixth-grade discipline and sat in on meetings to talk about individual education plans for students with disabilities.

But this year, budget cuts mean Hannah will divide her time between North Buncombe Middle and Valley Springs.

She'll be at one school Monday, Wednesday and every other Friday, and the other school Tuesday, Thursday and every other Friday.

Some of the things she was doing at Valley Springs will be picked up by other administrators. But Hannah still worries about the effects on students as well as teachers and administrators at both schools.

“I feel like I'm not able to serve the students in the capacity I could before. I'm not able to develop those relationships,” she said.

Buncombe County students return this week to schools that have gone through yet another round of state budget cuts. Schools also are dealing with the loss of millions in federal stimulus dollars that had helped cushion previous losses.

Some cuts will be invisible to parents and students, but school officials say others, such as class sizes, will be more noticeable.

At Erwin Middle, for example, Principal Joel Hathaway says the school is putting 27-30 students in a class. Four or five years ago, that same class might have had 22-24 students.

Statewide, between new cuts and the money schools had to return to the state as part of mandatory adjustments, school systems in North Carolina saw about a 9 percent reduction in state funding, said Philip Price, chief financial officer with the state Department of Public Instruction.

The bottom line is less clear in Buncombe County and Asheville City schools, where officials are still making adjustments to soften the impact felt by students.

The trash cans might not get emptied as often. And everywhere, teachers will continue pinching pennies and trying to make their supplies go further. (READ MORE)