Buncombe County asks residents to weigh in on early childhood spending as committee prepares $4M recommendations

Buncombe County officials are asking residents to complete a community survey to help shape how the county invests roughly $4,000,000 each year in early childhood care and education.

Rachel Sawyer, director of strategic partnerships for Buncombe County, said the Early Childhood Education and Development Committee uses the survey to hear directly from parents, caregivers and community members about needs and priorities as it prepares funding recommendations for the county commissioners. "Well, you can fill it out now through March 20," Sawyer said.

The committee, chaired by County Commissioner Martin Moore, is made up of 15 board members appointed by the county commissioners, including named-role seats for health and funder perspectives as well as at-large members. Moore said the panel balances county staff, commissioners and community members to identify gaps and make funding choices. "We have a huge demand for slots," he said, describing particular shortages for infant and toddler care that push families onto long waiting lists.

The survey asks about current child care use and barriers, interest in parenting supports (from apps to peer groups), and preferences for program types and services. Sawyer said many questions use sliders and that responses can include open-ended comments. The committee plans to use survey findings — plus data gathered during site visits to local centers — to inform its recommendations to the county commissioners for the fiscal year that begins in July.

Officials stressed the county's investments are supplemental. "This isn't something that county governments have to do," Sawyer said, noting many North Carolina counties do not provide extra local funding for early care. Moore added that Buncombe has sustained funding through difficult budget years and relies on volunteers and staff to steward the programs.

Panelists highlighted county partnerships with employers and local organizations to support the early-care system, citing local partners named in the conversation such as Biltmore Farms, MAHEC, the Chamber of Commerce, the Verner Center for Early Learning, the Irene Wortham Center, Buncombe Partnership for Children and AB Tech.

Sawyer and Moore also described program-level pressures: state licensing standards and additional program components such as pre-K, Head Start, and health and family supports increase operating costs, and staff wages are the largest single expense for centers. Those cost pressures, they said, affect both programs' ability to expand and families' ability to afford care.

Community members who want to take part can find the survey at engage.buncombecounty.org. Committee meetings are open to the public on the first Tuesday of each month at 1 p.m.; the March schedule was shifted because the first Tuesday conflicts with the primary election. The committee will review survey results and site-visit findings before finalizing funding recommendations to the county commissioners.

No formal votes or motions were recorded during this radio interview segment; the discussion focused on outreach and planning for the committee's next funding cycle.