Board approves feasibility study after debate over enrollment data; vote 6–1

The Asheville City Schools board voted 6–1 to hire a consultant to complete a districtwide feasibility study aimed at guiding long-term capital and facility decisions.

Maggie, presenting the recommendation, said the study would "help support our strategic planning for long term success" by examining how the district uses capital resources, projecting enrollment changes and assessing facility conditions. She told the board the contract before them would set scope and that the board would have opportunities to advise the vendor once the contract is approved.

The vote followed extended questioning about scope and data. Board member Pepe argued the proposal was premature unless the district validated enrollment inputs and expressed concern about a slide previously showing a "30%" figure for capacity at Montford North/William Randolph, which Pepe said derived from fire marshal occupancy numbers and not classroom instructional capacity. "I don't want to do garbage in, garbage out," Pepe said, urging either a formal or informal process to review the data the vendor will use and recommending consultation with an economist (Susan Kask) for forecasting feedback.

Maggie and the chair acknowledged the concerns and said the scope-setting meeting with the vendor would be an opportunity to address them. The proposal documents note the proposed fee does not include an engineering assessment of Asheville High School because of site complexity; the board was told such an assessment could be added if warranted.

Board member (Speaker 4) moved to approve the feasibility study recommendation; the motion was seconded by Board member (Speaker 5). In a roll-call vote the motion passed 6–1. The roll call recorded Pappy as the sole no vote; other affirmative votes listed in the meeting record were not all named individually in the transcript.

The board's action authorizes staff to finalize a contract to begin the feasibility work; board discussion indicated members expect to set or refine scope, including data validation steps, during upcoming vendor scoping meetings. The motion and vote conclude the action item; staff will follow up on the contracting process and scope details.