Who are the new Buncombe County Schools administrators for 2023-24?
ASHEVILLE - Superintendent Rob Jackson announced on July 27 two new administrator positions for Buncombe County Schools for the 2023-24 school year.
There are 22,079 students who attend BCS, according to the National Center of Education Statistics – with a total of 45 schools, according to its website.
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Anna Austin
Austin is the new principal of Buncombe County Early College and Middle College and the Buncombe County Center for Career Innovation. She graduated from Mars Hill University with a Bachelor of Science degree and received her master's degree in school administration from Western Carolina University. Before becoming principal, Austin was the assistant principal at Buncombe County Early and Middle College since August 2022. While she was assistant principal, she was also the School Safety Team and testing coordinator. Austin was also an administrator at Johnston Elementary School from July 2018 until June 2023 and before that she was the assistant principal at Erwin High School for three years. She has taught third, fourth and fifth grades in the Buncombe County School District. Austin has been working in North Carolina public schools for 26 years, and she is replacing Donna Lanahan, who is now the director of secondary education, according to a news release from BCS.
Michele F. Smith
Smith is the new career and technical education director. Smith earned her bachelor's degree from UNC Asheville and Western Carolina University. She went on to get her master’s in secondary education from Western Carolina University. Smith was named the Western Region Instructional Management Coordinator of the Year in 2018. Before starting this position, she was the BCS middle school career development coordinator and project lead for the Way, a STEM education program, since 2019. She was also the career development coordinator for Reynolds High School for six years and the business and information technology instructor at North Buncombe High School for 13 years. Smith brings 31 years of experience to her new role, and she is replacing Taylor Baldwin, who transitioned to a position outside of Buncombe County Schools, according to a BCS news release.
Buncombe County Schools will start on Aug. 28 for the 2023-24 school year.
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McKenna Leavens is the education reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at mleavens@citizentimes.com or follow her on Twitter @LeavensMcKenna. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Two new admin are added to the Buncombe County Schools team this year
