By Mollie Lund
Photo Credit: Alamance-Burlington School System
When Dr. Aaron Fleming stepped into his role as the Alamance-Burlington School System’s (ABSS) new superintendent in September 2024, he expressed the goal of creating a strong district in which every student can thrive. A North Carolina native from rural Rowan County, Dr. Fleming grew up between Charlotte and Greensboro and graduated from South Rowan High School. He’s the former superintendent of Harnett County Schools and served as an education policy advisor to state House Speaker Tim Moore.
Emphasizing authenticity, clarity, and consistency, Dr. Fleming has prioritized stabilizing the district and rebuilding public trust. His leadership comes at a crucial time for ABSS, following several challenging years marked by financial struggles, leadership changes, and concerns over aging facilities. In 2023, the district faced a multimillion-dollar budget deficit, prompting difficult funding decisions and impacting community confidence. Several months into his tenure, Dr. Fleming sat down with Narrative Team member and Community Narrative Reporter Mollie Lund to discuss his progress and vision for ABSS.
Note: This conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity, but the meaning remains unchanged.
Lund: I just wanted to start by asking you about how these first few months have gone.
Dr. Fleming: I started in mid-September, and I will tell you that everyone in ABSS and the community and all across Alamance County have been very welcoming to me. They’ve all told stories, if they were graduates of ABSS, about what their experience was like, what their children’s experience was like, or other family members. And it’s been very refreshing to know that the community has so much faith in ABSS. They believe that we can get back to where we were at one point. It’s been good to know that our community has the back of our school system, and I think that’s probably been the most positive thing.
Lund: At the For Alamance Initiative, we really believe in the power of public knowledge and public listening. Can you tell me a little bit more about what strategies you’re using to hear from the community?
Dr. Fleming: We did a meet and greet with our community members and focused on our parents. We called it, “Subs With The Superintendent,” and so we had a sub meal. And we hosted those at each of our high schools across the county. It was an excellent opportunity for folks to come in, and for me to shake their hand and hear their concerns, or to hear what they like. I think everyone gave positives, and then every now and then you would hear a concern, whether it was about bus routes, the facilities, teacher shortages or staffing shortages. It was good for me to really hear what their biggest concerns are and to realize they align with what I have been seeing.
I know many of our facilities still need a lot of work. It’s been many years since they’ve had any type of maintenance or renovation. One of the challenges that I’m going to have to work on is making sure we can get our schools looking the best that they can. In Alamance County, economic development has been huge, and we’ve been able to recruit so many different businesses and industries into the county. I’ve got to make sure that our education system is keeping up with that. I want our schools to reflect what our community is like. We need to ensure the education and the instruction inside our buildings is what our community needs. So that’s probably been the biggest challenge that I’ve had to face so far.
Lund: What would you say is your biggest takeaway from those conversations with parents?
Dr. Fleming: What they want is leadership. They want that consistency for our staff and students. They want new programs that provide new opportunities for kids, whether that’s Career & Technical Education (CTE), Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) or Career and College Promise (CCP) through Alamance Community College. They want those types of opportunities for the kids, and they want someone who can see it through.
Lund: Our Youth Wellness Team has done a few community conversations with Alamance’s high school students, and one of the biggest concerns that the students have brought up is safety and encouraging student agency. How do you think ABSS and the wider community can help empower these students?
Dr. Fleming: I think being able to hear their voice is the most important thing. We have had a couple of student advisory council meetings where I’ve been able to hear primarily from our high school students on the issues they’re facing. Safety does come up a lot. You know, as we watch the news, we realize that a lot of these incidents we see with schools, they’re not going away. So, we need ways to boost the physical security of our schools. Additionally, public schools need more funding and support and mental health, which is something I’m advocating for at the state level. We could use more funding for nurses, and on the mental health side, social workers and counselors. That’s something I believe the state may take on.
Lund: I know you’ve been working a lot with the county commissioners. The relationship between the school system and the commissioners has been a little bit fraught in the past. You’ve been working to rebuild that relationship.
Dr. Fleming: I’ve had really good, productive meetings with our commissioners, one-on-one, as well as in a group. I’ve also met with our county management team as well — great individuals dedicated to the prosperity of our county. What I’ve tried to do is express the core needs of the school district. I mentioned facilities.
While I think we’ve done very well with teachers and some of our instructional support roles, I know we have had to work harder to find some of what we call classified positions such as cafeteria workers, bus drivers and maintenance employees. We’ve got to do a little better job there, and a part of that is pay. You know, our teachers have a choice of where they want to teach. As we bump up against Guilford County, Orange County and the bigger districts in the Triangle, we know those supplements are even higher than ABSS. So we have some challenges there with pay.
I have highlighted the fact that our budget recommendation this year will focus on those core needs rather than new programs. Our focus is getting us in a financial position so we can move forward. And I’ve enjoyed those conversations so far. They’ve been very positive, and I anticipate that they will stay that way.
Lund: What areas are you prioritizing as you move forward?
Dr. Fleming: Short term, until we get toward the end of this school year, I’ve really focused on a few key areas, and that is authenticity and owning some of the issues people have seen with the school district in the past.
Clarity is another one, making sure that we’re communicating with our community. Communicating with our parents, very clearly, and letting them know why we make the decisions we make. I believe if anyone ever has a question and we’re not being upfront or honest, not only will they lose trust in us, but they lose trust in the whole education system. I don’t want to put us in that situation.
And then finally, a focus on consistency, especially when dealing with our staff. I know the school district has had several leaders in the past five years. As we start to look at new programs or look at hiring, we want folks to be in it for the long haul, and that includes the superintendent. We’re not going to have this roller coaster over the next few years. While there will be great days, and there will be some not-so-great days, I want them to know that we’re going to try to right the ship and have steady, calm waters over the next few years with very few surprises.
