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Public commenter urges board to end SELSA program, calling it 'dysfunctional'
Summary
During public comment John Brigham urged Asheville City Schools to discontinue SELSA/CILSA programs, saying they segregate students and produce poor outcomes; the board did not take action on the comment but acknowledged the concern.
At the public-comment portion of the Asheville City Schools board meeting, John Brigham used his allotted three minutes to urge the board to end SELSA/CILSA programs, which he described as segregating students and leaving a lasting stigma on participants.
Brigham said the programs separate students into different groups with the aim of improving outcomes by reducing classroom diversity. “This CILSA…this is a dysfunctional program. Why are they still doing this?” he said, adding that diplomas marked with the program name follow students and can be a lifelong disadvantage. “Everybody knows these these programs don't work,” he said.
Board members paused and one offered a brief restorative moment acknowledging that language used in public comment can cause harm. The board did not vote or take formal action on the remarks; the chair closed public comment after Brigham’s statement and the meeting proceeded to the consent agenda.
The transcript does not record a district response to Brigham’s substantive claims about SELSA/CILSA during the meeting. Board members later discussed program rollout, staff feedback and data requests generally during the superintendent’s report and Q&A but did not take specific action addressing the public comment during this session.
