avlwatchdog.org – JOHN BOYLE, PETER LEWIS and LINUS SCHAFER-GOULTHORPE – 2025-02-18 06:00:00
Part two of three
Asheville and Buncombe County officials face a dilemma of enormous consequences.
If they refuse to cooperate fully with the Trump administration’s orders to deport millions of unauthorized immigrants nationwide, the president has threatened to cut off access to all federal funds to the storm-ravaged city and county, and instructed the attorney general to pursue possible legal action against local officials. The loss of potentially hundreds of millions in federal assistance could bankrupt the city and county, cripple local social and legal justice agencies, and significantly delay recovery from Helene.
If they allow local law enforcement to fully cooperate with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in deporting potentially thousands of local residents, they and their constituents will incur huge social, cultural, and economic costs, and they will destroy whatever trust the immigrant community has with the police.
Coming in Part III: “I love this country, and I want to stay here.”
“It’s hard to figure out what a winning position here is,” Western Carolina University political scientist Chris Cooper said. “If you ‘stand up’ to the federal government and to ICE, you might make the citizens of Asheville happy, but you are going to run the risk of running afoul of the federal government in general and Donald Trump in particular.”
Trump has visited Asheville twice in recent months, once during the campaign and again, on Jan. 24, as president. Trump visited the disaster zone in Swannanoa, east of Asheville, both times.
“If Trump ever thinks of Asheville, I doubt it’s fondly,” Cooper said. “He sees Asheville as a sign of things he’s fighting against. A loud and proud pushback against Trump would likely draw his ire, and his public ire.”
State law prohibits sanctuary cities
President Trump issued executive orders Jan. 20 that would deny all federal assistance to sanctuary cities. They ordered federal officials “to ensure that so-called ‘sanctuary’ jurisdictions, which seek to interfere with the lawful exercise of Federal law enforcement operations, do not receive access to Federal funds.”
The order also threatened legal action against “any such jurisdiction’s practices that interfere with the enforcement of Federal law.”
There are no sanctuary cities or counties in North Carolina, Brad Branham, city attorney with the city of Asheville, said.
City Attorney Brad Branham // Credit: City of Asheville
“With regard to ‘sanctuary city’ status, it is important to be aware that such a designation by a local government is prohibited in this state,” Branham said, citing North Carolina General Statutes 160A‑205.2.
That statute specifically prohibits any city from enacting any policy, ordinance, or procedure that “limits or restricts the enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than full extent permitted by federal law.”
“This includes a restriction on a variety of activities that would frustrate law enforcement officials from gathering information,” Branham said. “In accordance with this statute, the city of Asheville has not designated itself a ‘sanctuary city.’”
Further, Branham said, “The city currently has no intention of taking action which would render us out of compliance with this law.”
Protesters at the Feb. 8 rally in Pack Square, downtown Asheville. Social service organizations say many “mixed status” families in Buncombe County could be separated under new Trump administration policies. // Watchdog photo by Katie Shaw
Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer did not respond to Asheville Watchdog’s questions about what steps the city is taking in preparation for the promised mass deportations. Instead, she issued a statement:
“Asheville has a long history of being a diverse and welcoming city,” Manheimer wrote. “We have repeatedly come together as neighbors to support one another in times of challenge or crisis, as witnessed in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene.”
Manheimer, an attorney, continued: “We are served, as a whole community, by a police department dedicated to public safety and the enforcement of existing state laws and ordinances. The Asheville Police Department (APD) neither operates a jail nor is authorized to enforce federal immigration laws. City Council and staff value our strong relationship of trust with all members of our community. “
Antanette Mosley, Asheville’s Vice Mayor, also issued a statement to The Watchdog: “We are facing challenges in our nation and questions those challenges create in our communities. We want to send our hearts out to anyone who does not feel safe and secure in their homes, businesses, or in our communities. We think of Asheville as a place that’s open and welcoming to everyone, and I hope that continues to be the case.”
Is Buncombe a sanctuary county?
The city of Asheville is wholly contained within Buncombe County, which in 2019 served notice that it would not cooperate with ICE. Buncombe Sheriff Quentin Miller was one of 11 county sheriffs to sign an open letter to state legislators opposing House Bill 10, the “Require ICE Cooperation” law, which was passed in 2024, vetoed by then-Gov. Roy Cooper, but overridden by the Republican-controlled General Assembly.
On Jan. 21, the Justice Department instructed U.S. attorneys offices to investigate and prosecute noncompliance with immigration enforcement initiatives.
The Watchdog askedDena J. King, then-U.S. attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, if her office has been in touch with officials in Asheville or Buncombe. King, who was appointed by then-President Joe Biden, resigned Wednesday at the request of the Trump administration. Her office responded via a spokesperson: “The U.S. Attorney’s Office declines to comment beyond the information contained in the DOJ memo.”
Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin E. Miller
In an extraordinary statement of defiance last week, following The Watchdog’s request for comment, Sheriff Miller wrote:
“As the Sheriff, I am not in charge of operating the churches or schools within this community but I am elected to ensure the safety and security of ALL the residents in Buncombe county. WE are a community of WE and because I have deputies positioned in schools as School Resource Officers, my stance is clear and strong that immigration enforcement is not allowed on our school campuses unless forced through a valid court order.”
“I have repeatedly spoken out against cooperation with ICE, saying federal immigration law is not the responsibility of local officers and damages law enforcement’s trust within the immigrant community,” Miller continued. “I also indicated in the past that I would not comply with just an ICE “detainer” to hold undocumented immigrants taken into custody, however the passing of HB10 amended that compliance to involve the issuance of both a detainer and an administrative warrant in order to hold someone undocumented in custody for up to 48 hours. As much as I have constitutional concerns about holding someone who is able and willing to post bond and subsequently be released, I do not make the laws, I only enforce the laws.
“The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) will not be partnering with ICE to help enforce federal immigration laws beyond following HB10 which is only after someone has committed a crime. BCSO deputies will not be arresting and detaining persons to solely investigate immigration status in the absence of probable cause of an independent crime, that is racially profiling and unconstitutional.”
Noem, Hamilton meet with local leaders
In an email to Buncombe County Commission Chair Amanda Edwards, America First Legal, a foundation co-founded by Stephen Miller, now Trump’s deputy chief of staff and a Duke graduate, threatened legal action against any Buncombe or Asheville officials who resist cooperating with ICE.
“Federal law is clear: aliens unlawfully present in the United States are subject to removal from the country, and it is a crime to conceal, harbor, or shield them,” the email stated. “It is also a crime to prevent federal officials from enforcing immigration law.”
Edwards, who was in Raleigh for meetings related to Buncombe’s disaster recovery, declined a request to be interviewed on Buncombe’s preparations for possible mass deportations.
On Feb. 8, Edwards, Manheimer, and City Councilman Bo Hess spoke at a news conference in Swannanoa with Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who on the previous day had visited Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to view progress in erecting tents capable of housing as many as 30,000 detainees.
Appearing Feb. 9 on CNN, Noem refused to rule out sending undocumented immigrants found guilty of non-violent offenses — like theft or shoplifting — to Guantanamo Bay.
Joining Noem at the Swannanoa event was Cameron Hamilton, acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Last October, Hamilton criticized FEMA for providing shelter, food, and medical aid to undocumented immigrants in North Carolina in Helene’s aftermath.
Edwards and Manheimer told The Watchdog that the topic of immigration did not come up in the meeting with Noem and Hamilton.
Asheville Police: ICE detainers ‘not relevant’
Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order authorized Noem “to the maximum extent permitted by law, and with the consent of State or local officials as appropriate,” deputize local sheriffs and police officers “to perform the functions of immigration officers in relation to the investigation, apprehension, or detention of aliens in the United States under the direction and the supervision of the Secretary of Homeland Security.”
However, Rick Rice, spokesman for the Asheville Police Department, said last week that “the APD is not authorized to enforce federal immigration laws.”
“We are here to protect and serve everyone, regardless of immigration status,” Rice said. “The Asheville Police Department’s focus as a law enforcement agency is to uphold and enforce criminal laws. Once an individual is in custody, they are processed by the Buncombe County Detention Facility, and APD is not involved in that process.”
“ICE issues detainers for persons in the custody of jails,” Rice said. “The Asheville Police Department does not operate a jail, so ICE detainers are not relevant to our work.”
On Jan. 22, North Carolina’s two Republican senators, Thom Tillis and Ted Budd, and U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-Hendersonville, introduced bills allowing crime victims to sue sanctuary cities that shelter undocumented migrants. Under the bills, Buncombe County could face civil lawsuits for failing to deport undocumented immigrants who later commit felonies.
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonpartisan research organization, Buncombe, Chatham, Durham, Forsyth, Guilford, Mecklenburg, Orange, Wake, and Watauga counties all operate as “sanctuary jurisdictions.”
In his monthly newsletter to Buncombe County Republicans, chairman Doug Brown wrote that “recently appointed Border Tzar Tom Homan is so popular that retired agents are signing back up to help, and sanctuary cities will end.”
The Town of Woodfin, bordering Asheville on the northwest, has a sizable population of Latinos, primarily Hondurans and Guatemalans.
Jim McAllister // Photo credit: Town of Woodfin
In response to a Watchdog question about how the town and its police are preparing for possible deportation actions, Town Manager Shannon Tuch issued a statement: “Municipal police departments are minimally impacted by changing federal priorities and immigration enforcement is anticipated to be managed by federal agencies. Should we be contacted by any federal agency, we would continue to perform our responsibilities as a local law enforcement agency, which includes ensuring the safety of all residents.”
James McAllister, the elected mayor of Woodfin, told The Watchdog, “You can quote me on this: It angers me that a number of residents of my town live in fear every day because of the color of their skin or where their parents might have been born. It angers me. We are a nation of immigrants. We’ve turned our back on them, and for that I am ashamed.”
“I am going to state publicly that, other than criminals with outstanding warrants, ICE has no business in this town,” McAllister said. “Our people work, they go to church, they send their kids to school, they pay taxes.”
“Leave us in peace,” McAllister said.
Shortly after learning that The Watchdog had spoken with McAllister, Tuch called The Watchdog to say the mayor was not authorized to speak on behalf of the Woodfin government. “He does not represent the views of the town,” Tuch said.
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. John Boyle is a staff reporter and columnist. You can reach him at (828) 337-0941, or via email at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org. Peter H. Lewis is The Watchdog’s executive editor. Email plewis@avlwatchdog.org. Linus Schafer-Goulthorpe is a student reporting intern. The Watchdog’s local reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.
SUMMARY: The video showed a human skeleton, deeply affecting the family, especially their brother, Evatar, who is critically ill and near death. He’s described as a kind, musical soul who plays guitar, sharing music with the narrator, who plays the piano. The family is devastated, unable to watch the video, but focused on saving him. Doctors say Evatar has only days left and urgently needs food, medical care, and vitamins to survive. Despite his fragile state, his spirit remains unbroken, and both he and his family believe he will recover. The narrator longs for his warm hugs and smile.
ABC News’ Ian Pannell spoke to the brother of Evyatar David, an Israeli hostage seen in footage released by Hamas over the weekend.
Evyatar’s brother, Ilya, says the release of the video “crushed” his family and that doctors say his sibling has only a “few days to live.”
www.thecentersquare.com – By David Beasley | The Center Square contributor – (The Center Square – ) 2025-08-05 09:57:00
A new charter school in Fayetteville, Agape Achievement Academy, may not open as planned on August 21 after the Charter School Review Board recommended the state Board of Education deny its charter. The school failed to present an acceptable budget despite multiple revisions; its financial projections were deemed incomplete or incorrect. Agape aims to serve grades K-3 with 168 students and emphasizes literacy as key to academic success. The state requires evidence of operational readiness, including a balanced budget, before approval. Agape recently submitted a revised budget showing a surplus, which includes employee contributions to health insurance costs. The final decision is expected soon.
(The Center Square) – A new charter school in Fayetteville may not be able to open as planned later this month following a recommendation by a state school board panel on Monday.
The Charter School Review Board recommended that the state Board of Education not approve a charter for Agape Achievement Academy. It has been scheduled to open Aug. 21.
“Agape has not been able to present an acceptable budget within the required time frame despite a number opportunities,” school board member John Blackburn said Monday following the panel’s review of Agape’s application. “We support that finding,” Blackburn said.
The state school board is expected to issue a final vote on Agape at its meeting later this week.
“Agape Achievement Academy recognizes that a foundation in literacy is crucial to academic achievement in the upper grades and life-long scholarship,” the school says on its website. “We also recognize a foundation in literacy provides students with the strongest likelihood to meet their full potential as students.”
But questions over both enrollment and finances cast doubt on the school’s chances of opening its doors this month.
Agape was scheduled open for grades K-3 with an enrollment of 168, Ashley Baquero, director of the state’s Office of Charter Schools, told the school board panel Monday.
The application for a charter school was originally submitted in 2022.
Before opening, charter schools must first complete a year-long planning program called “Ready to Open,” Baquero said.
Schools must also present evidence of “readiness to operate,” which include proposed budgets that show the school at least breaking even financially, Baquero added.
Agape’s budget projections were either “incorrect or incomplete,” Baquero told the school board panel.
The proposed budget was returned to the school four times for revision, Baquero said.
“The fourth submission of the budget was deemed insufficient,” she said.
On Monday, school officials submitted another revised budget which projects the school having a surplus, William O’Kelly, chairman of the Agape board of directors, told the state board panel Monday. Changes in the new proposed budget include requiring employees to pay 20% of their health insurance costs, saving $19,200 per year.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
The article provides a straightforward report on the challenges facing Agape Achievement Academy’s charter school application and does not promote a particular ideological stance or viewpoint. It presents factual information about the decision-making process of the state school board, including quotes from board members, details about budget concerns, and procedural requirements for charter schools. The language is neutral and focuses on presenting the sequence of events and official statements without editorializing or using loaded terms that could indicate bias. Thus, the content adheres to neutral, factual reporting by covering the issue without advocating for or against the charter school or any broader political position related to education policy.
Alpha School, an AI-powered private school, is launching K-3 campuses in Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, with plans to expand to K-8. Its model replaces traditional teachers with “classroom guides” while students complete core subjects via AI-driven software in personalized, mastery-based learning blocks. The guides focus on social, emotional, and motivational support. Tuition is $45,000 annually. Experts note this approach uses differentiation through AI but caution about data privacy and social-emotional development. Alpha markets strong academic outcomes, though some skepticism remains about access and selection bias. The school may seek to accept state vouchers amid evolving education policies.
by Kate Denning, Carolina Public Press August 5, 2025
Alpha School, an “AI-powered” private school, is preparing to make its mark on Charlotte and Raleigh this year.
North Carolina is part of an expansion into five additional states this fall for the private school company, which currently operates Texas and Florida. It plans to expand into Puerto Rico in 2026.
How does the school operate, and what do education experts have to say about it?
Co-founder MacKenzie Price told Carolina Public Press a typical day at Alpha begins with a 15 minute exercise to get students excited for the day and encourage a growth mindset. These exercises are led by Alpha’s classroom guides — at Alpha, there are no teachers. Then students transition to a two-hour learning block where they split that time between core subjects like math, reading, science and language. This is conducted entirely via AI software and apps.
By lunchtime, students are done with their academic work for the day. The rest of the day is spent learning life skills like leadership, public speaking, financial literacy and entrepreneurship through workshops led by the guides.
Alpha utilizes a mastery-based approach to learning, so children in the same classroom could all be on different levels of the same lesson depending on how each child moves through the material. The AI “tutor” is designed to recognize what each student is grasping well and what they need more work on.
“Let’s say you only need five repetitions of a concept to understand that concept,” Price said. “I teach you a basic lesson on fractions, and then I give you five problems, and you show ‘yeah, I understand this well,’ then you move forward to the next concept.
“But if I need 15 repetitions to understand that, then I shouldn’t only get five or 10. I should be able to get 15. That’s the beauty of personalized learning — each child does have a tutor that is going at their pace.”
Executive Director of the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools Stephanie Keaney said this is a strategy known as differentiation, which teachers have done for decades. But instead of teachers or Alpha’s guides, it’s artificial intelligence.
While students are taught a standard common core curriculum, they aren’t being given traditional grades. K-8 students’ progress is measured three times a year through the Northwest Evaluation Association’s MAP assessment test. High school students’ success is tracked by SAT scores and Advance Placement exams.
The North Carolina campuses each come with a $45,000 price tag and will offer K-3 for the first year of operation with plans to expand to K-8 during its second year. Price said students are already enrolled in Charlotte and Raleigh, and families are eagerly awaiting their first day at Alpha.
Krista Glazewski, the executive director of NC State’s Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, said there is a long history of AI in the classroom. It’s important to acknowledge the historical use of intelligent tutoring software to not cause confusion and to be clear about some of its limitations, she said.
“Some of the limitations are that they have a narrow area of scope,” Glazewski said. “Intelligent tutoring isn’t always going to be sensitive to the kind of learning that might be happening, so it certainly would not be the only thing that you would want to use in a learning environment.
“Alpha’s not saying that’s their only instructional model. In fact, if I’m bringing my lens to what they’re doing, I think they would argue that they are able to select from some impactful instructional models. … I would say they’re probably choosing the best from different instructional pedagogical models and applying them in some thoughtful and seemingly creative ways.”
Glazewski has been researching AI in education for more than a decade, but she is also a parent herself, so she understands hesitancy and skepticism about using AI for learning.
When implementing more technology into education, she said it’s important to ensure schools are using it thoughtfully to meet specific goals and for the purpose it was intended. Schools should also take steps to ensure student privacy is protected.
“We are now going to have a generation of learners that are going to have metrics and instrumentation about their learning that could follow them throughout their whole schooling career, so we want to make sure that the right day data privacy agreements are in place, that those agreements are held if companies either fold or are reserved into other companies,” Glazewski said.
“We want to make sure that over a child’s life in schooling, that they are not being monitored in a way that parents haven’t consented to and that their information is not being used in ways that, again, parents haven’t consented to.”
As a parent, Glazewski said she would be wondering what the guides are doing to support her child’s social emotional growth, curiosity and development. Price said since the guides are not directly teaching the academics, they are fully dedicated to providing motivational and emotional support to students.
When people hear of AI in education, they often think of robots in front of a classroom teaching students, Price said. But she said the technology actually makes it so this is the opposite of true.
“What artificial intelligence is allowing us to do is create personalized learning programs that meet a student at the level and pace that is best for that student, and it allows our teachers to be able to focus on that emotional and motivational aspect of a student, which is critical to creating a successful learner,” Price said.
“What it’s really enabling is our teachers to be able to do what only humans can do, which is connect with the child and get to know that child and help them develop their interests and growth mindset strategies.”
When it comes to innovation in education, Glazewski said it’s critical to explore promising creative approaches to learning. But that also means asking questions like how can we ensure everyone has access to innovative instructional models, what would this look like if it was implemented on a broader level and what metrics are we basing “promising” models on?
Alpha markets eye-catching statistics like its students’ ability to learn two times as much content in two hours as their peers do and consistently placing in the 99th percentile. Glazewski said parents should consider whether these results are tied to true academic progress or an inherent selection bias that comes along with the school’s hefty tuition.
“At that kind of price point, what we can readily infer is that that’s a very narrow demographic,” Glazewski said. “So I would be interested in the question of selection effects here, whether these outcomes are due to the program itself or the background and the abilities of the learners that they’re admitting.”
Price isn’t yet sure whether Alpha’s North Carolina campuses will be able to collect school vouchers, which have been the subject of controversy after recent changes to North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarships. She is personally a fan of school choice, however, and is hopeful Alpha will be able to participate in the program.
It’s possible North Carolina is seeing a rise in new education options like Alpha because of the loosening of restrictions on school vouchers, Glazewski said. Being a private institution also means more freedom to implement innovative approaches and cutting edge technology that would take much longer to approve and fund in public districts.
While every independent school is different and has its own approach, many private schools and educators are leveraging AI to better their classrooms in some way, Keaney said. Because independent schools are consistently smaller than an entire public school district, they have the opportunity to be more nimble and offer more autonomy to teachers in the classroom.
Artificial intelligence sometimes scares people off, but Price said it’s the most exciting development in education right now because of its benefits to both students and teachers and the ability to give back the most valuable resource — time.
“There has never been a more exciting time to be a five year old than now because of what’s going to be available through artificial intelligence,” Price said.
“I also think this is going to be the best era for teachers, because teachers are finally going to be freed up to be able to spend their time doing what they do best, which is connect with students, instead of having to plan time doing lecturing and lesson planning and grading papers and homework. This is a really wonderful time in education.”
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
This article presents an informative and balanced overview of the AI-powered private school Alpha School without showing a clear political leaning. It covers the potential benefits of AI in education, such as personalized learning and increased teacher-student interaction, while also addressing concerns like access inequality, data privacy, and skepticism about the use of AI. The discussion of school vouchers is presented with factual context and notes the controversy without endorsing a specific viewpoint. Overall, the coverage is objective and analytical, reflecting a centrist stance focused on education innovation rather than political ideology.
