County and community leaders urge continued support for migrant-education liaison Michelle Palayo

School officials, faith leaders and community members urged the Ashe County Board of Commissioners to support continued funding and planning for the county's Migrant Education Program liaison, Michelle Palayo.

Michelle, who is employed by Ashe County Schools and supervised administratively through the county Extension Office, told the board she works with migrant families and H-2A workers across harvest seasons and provides interpretation, enrollment assistance, family engagement and tutoring. Carrie Richardson and Julie Taylor from Ashe County Schools described Palayo as a critical interpreter, compliance resource and family advocate who helps ensure federal requirements for language access and special-education meetings are met.

Speakers described Palayo's role as supporting student attendance and success, helping families access services and coordinating outreach to seasonal workers. Pastoral leaders and community members noted she assists faith-based and charitable programs such as the county's children's Christmas project and that the relationship she builds with families reduces communication failures in IEP and compliance processes.

Speakers said current federal funding for the position is year-to-year and that the school district received the necessary funds for the current year but has been warned that future federal allocations are uncertain. Commissioners and staff discussed potential local solutions and the difficulty of replacing Palayo's institutional knowledge; no county funding decision was requested at the meeting, but participants urged the board to work with schools and Extension to identify long-term options if federal funds are reduced.