BCS families and teammates, we want to give you an update on the reopening process. While 42 of our 45 schools now have power, only 13 schools have water, due to the severity of damage to the City of Asheville water system.

After exploring multiple scenarios, we believe the best option to safely open our schools as quickly as possible is through bringing in portable restroom trailers with built in hand-washing stations. This comes with a large financial burden, especially in a large school system. We’ve turned to local, state, and federal emergency management authorities to help. Buncombe County Schools has put in a request to get these portable restroom facilities on our campuses as soon as possible. We are also getting guidance from the fire marshal, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, and the North Carolina Department of Health of Human Services on the requirements we must meet to safely operate schools during a prolonged water outage.

Our Facilities team has been clearing access to schools and making repairs. Our Nutrition Team is pivoting to serving prepackaged foods in schools affected by the prolonged water outage. Our Transportation team is working on remapping bus routes around washed-out bridges and roads no longer safe for buses. They are also working to identify parking lots that could be used as community bus stops.

When school reopens, we will also be prepared to meet the emotional needs of students and staff once we’re all together again. Long time partners and counselors from across the state will be helping our Student Services team support our school family in processing the aftermath of Helene and help with healing.

There’s a lot of work that’s been happening - and we’re doing everything we can to make it happen as quickly and safely as possible. While there is no exact reopening date at this time, we hope to provide that very soon. We’re making progress each and every day, and will give our families and staff as much notice as possible. At a minimum, we’ll provide 72 hours notice to help with families that may have temporarily moved away.

Here is a working list of resources for BCS families and staff as we recover from Hurricane Helene's widespread impacts. A more comprehensive list of resources can be found in this Google Doc. That resource guide, created by a third party, is a live document that is being regularly updated with the most current information, and includes a list of resources available by county. The managers of the resource guide also have a Facebook Page that they are updating regularly with information and updates as they become available.

To further support our recovery efforts, the Buncombe County Schools Foundation is actively coordinating donations to help our families and students rebuild their lives. If you would like to contribute, your generosity will go directly toward providing relief and resources where they are most needed.

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