Parents urge Asheville City Schools to align 2026–27 spring break with county and AB Tech

Two community members urged the Asheville City Schools board to adjust the 2026–27 calendar so spring break aligns with Buncombe County Schools and AB Tech, citing family and student impacts.

Laura Gosnell, a parent of two ACS students and a middle‑school teacher in Buncombe County Schools, said the current calendar could leave her family without a shared spring break: “If the school district decides to leave spring break where it is, our family faces a senior with no spring break at all and us missing our last spring break with our son at home,” Gosnell said. She told the board many Asheville High students attend AB Tech and that alignment matters for dual‑enrollment students.

Sally Grau, a parent at Claxton Elementary, described overlapping district ties in neighborhoods and said the mismatch “impacts only a small percentage of ACS families. But those families are real kids and parents.” She urged the board to prioritize families’ ability to use that one week between Christmas and summer for shared time together and said there is plenty of time to make a change for 2027.

Context: The board chair told members the district calendar committee will meet next Monday, March 16, to reexamine spring break for the 2026–27 school year, and board members said they welcome the committee’s review. Several board members said they expect staff to bring proposed revisions at a later meeting if the committee recommends changes.

What the board said it would do: Chair noted the calendar committee review and asked the committee to report back; no formal action or vote on the calendar was taken at the meeting.

Next steps: Board members will await the calendar committee’s report after its March 16 meeting and consider any proposals at a future board meeting.