Politics

'No, I'm not resigning,' Absher says

Michael Absher (right) listens to School Board discussion on Monday.

By Bill Moss, Published: July 24, 2017

The Henderson County School Board took just eight minutes to call for the resignation of board member Michael Absher on Monday afternoon — delivering a form of public censure that Absher immediately vowed to defy.

“No, I’m not resigning,” said Absher, 27. “I was constitutionally elected to the position.” He said he plans to return to his board service when two pending court cases are resolved or “maybe before.”
Absher faces a misdemeanor criminal charge that he allowed a 15-year-old resident to consume alcohol at a group home operated by his nonprofit organization, Only Hope, and a civil complaint that he threatened an East Henderson High School teaching assistant in June.
School Board Chair Amy Lynn Holt opened the discussion of the only agenda item — a call for Absher’s resignation — with a 2½-minute statement in which she detailed why the Buncombe County school system fired Absher as a school bus driver.
“The three most troubling” of five reasons Buncombe administrators gave for the firing were “talking on his cell phone while operating a bus, using inappropriate and/or profane language to students while on the bus and finally unsafe bus movement. Mr. Absher was ‘brake checking’ students on the bus (abruptly jamming on the brakes). This could have caused bodily harm to these children.
“It is troubling that a School Board member would engage in these type of actions,” she said. “The second reason is Michael has admitted to several board members and to an administrator that he did in fact threaten a school employee. As board members we are in a position that we cannot threaten school employees under any circumstance. This puts our school system at a great risk and erodes our ability to effectively perform our duties as a board. …
“Pursuing his resignation from this board has nothing to do with the outcome in court,” Holt said. “That is between him and the judicial system and we need to leave that up to the courts. Far more importantly than the outcome in court is he has admitted to threatening to assault a school employee and the reasons Buncombe County has outlined for his termination. It is my belief that with this information we have no choice but to publicly request his resignation. This is not an easy thing to do but it is the right thing to do and it is what the voters of Henderson County have elected us to do.”
Board members Lisa Edwards and Colby Coren both read statements endorsing the call for Absher’s resignation.
“His continual pattern of disregard for the well being of students in his care while an employee of Buncombe County Schools and his conduct on a school campus here in Henderson County led me to join this call for resignation today," said Coren, who offered the motion calling for Absher to resign. "Regardless of the outcome of the two charges in Henderson County courts, his actions on that bus in Buncombe County provide more than ample grounds for our action today. In my opinion, the disregard for the safety of kids in his care, displayed by the unsafe bus movement and the use of a cellphone while driving, prove to me that Mr. Absher does not have the best interest of students, whether in Buncombe County or Henderson County, in mind. The concerns of his own personal interests and not those of students in his care, again in my opinion, display a strong lack of judgment and moral character.”
Absher, who sat in a jacket and tie at his usual seat at the School Board table even though he remains on a leave of absence from board service, refused to respond to the board members’ comments about his Buncombe school bus driving termination. Those questions, he said, should be directed to his attorney, Doug Pearson, who was not present.
Rick Wood said when he read about Absher’s dismissal as a school bus driver in Buncombe County he at first thought he should resign.
“After a lot of thought I think it should be his decision and the board should not get involved,” Wood said. “23,855 voters voted for Mr. Absher. Who’s speaking for them?”

The School Board's vote carries no authority to force Absher to resign.

Several people attending the meeting Monday afternoon said they were upset that the School Board refused to allow public input on the board's call for the resignation.

"I think it's a shame that someone who has done so much for youth in our county is being bullied," said Kay Wilson, who said she is associated with Only Hope.