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Asheville City Schools announces free meals for all students, highlights summer programs; consent agenda approved
Summary
Board received district updates including free breakfast and lunch for all students in partnership with Chartwells, FAFSA completion rates, summer program highlights and facilities work; the consent agenda passed unanimously.
At its Aug. 1, 2025 meeting, the Asheville City Schools Board of Education heard district updates that included a new universal meals arrangement, summer-program highlights and facilities work, and approved the consent agenda unanimously.
Kim Deckett (staff member) told the board the district will provide free breakfast and lunch to all students in partnership with Chartwells. "This means that our families won't have to pay a fee or complete any meal applications, and that all students are eligible to receive free breakfast and lunch at no cost," Deckett said.
Deckett also noted several student achievements and summer programs: Asheville High School and its wind ensemble were accepted to perform at the North Carolina Music Educators Convention; the district ranked second in the state for FAFSA completion with 77.4 percent of eligible students completing financial aid forms; and the "Together We Thrive" weekly events fed roughly 150–200 students and families each week for five weeks.
Community partnerships and donations were highlighted. Joe Hooten organized a guitar donation drive that collected more than 100 instruments for Asheville Middle School. United Way volunteers and Asheville City Schools student volunteers helped distribute 275 backpacks from a school-supply drive; Deckett gave a breakdown of the distribution as 75 elementary, 75 middle and 125 high-school backpacks.
Superintendent Maggie gave a facilities update summarizing summer projects across multiple campuses, including HVAC and window replacements, paving and a new security vestibule at Lucy Herring, chiller replacement and asbestos abatement at Claxton, and ongoing projects at Hall Fletcher and the CTE building. She also welcomed three new principals joining the district.
The board approved the consent agenda by unanimous voice vote; the consent items included minutes from prior meetings, closed-session minutes, personnel reports, policies on second reading, and a contract listed for board attorney review (described in the agenda as the Trane contract, subject to attorney review).
