Buncombe committee weighs shifting early‑childhood fund toward focused, multiyear investments

Buncombe County’s Early Childhood Education Committee met Oct. 7 to consider a possible shift from short, dispersed grants toward focused, multiyear investments in early‑childhood care after a presentation from Buncombe Partnership for Children highlighted local workforce instability, growing classroom behavioral needs and the end of COVID‑era stabilization support.

Grama Lamott, senior staff with Buncombe Partnership for Children, told the committee that local programs have lost temporary federal stabilization funds and are now ‘‘scrambling’’ to cover compensation and operating costs. ‘‘All payments, almost $25,000,000 has come in between October 2021 and March into Buncombe County,’’ Lamott said, adding that more than half of that money went to educator compensation and that the payments have ended.

The presentation grouped immediate classroom pressures into three areas: teacher and director turnover, increased mental‑health and behavioral needs among children, and financial stress on providers and families. Lamott said 149 teachers in Buncombe…