 Jefferson says council members of not just the fire department, but all city staff will have meetings with managers for merit-based raises. For school districts across North Carolina, summer is proving a critical time to determine how to deal with the loss of federal COVID relief funding, otherwise known as elementary and secondary school emergency relief funds. Buncombe County Schools Superintendent Dr. Rob Jackson says, We are not going to fail our students, and we're not going to fail our parents, and we're not going to fail our teachers.