Murphy – Cherokee County Schools could look very different in 10 years.
Superintendent Jeana Conley proposed Thursday that school board members consider a long-range plan that reduces the number of campuses in the district from 13 to four – one high school with three elementary/middle schools – in addition to the Schools of Innovation already in progress in Peachtree.
As a result, board members decided to move forward to the next step and hold a public hearing from 2-5 p.m. March 21. However, because of Gov. Roy Cooper’s executive order Saturday that closed schools and banned gatherings of 100 people or more, Conley said the hearing would have to be postponed.
The plan has three phases:
- The schools are already in Phase 1, the Schools of Innovation project, which puts Tri-County Early College High School, the vocational career academy and The Oaks Academy alternative school on one campus adjacent to Tri-County Community College in Peachtree. This phase’s expected completion is fall 2022, with an estimated cost of $23-26 million.
- Phase 2 is building one new high school for Cherokee County, on the same campus as the Schools of Innovation as additional property was purchased at that time. By 2025, total high school enrollment in the county is expected to be below 1,000 students at 964, according to enrollment projections, and by 2029, it is expected to be at 809 students. This phase is expected to be completed by fall 2025, with an estimated cost is $36 million.
- Phase 3 is the consolidation of elementary and middle schools to create a kindergarten through eighth-grade school in each of the current high school subdistricts. Conley said she thinks it is critical to keep feeder schools in each community. She said she could see options to transform the Murphy high and middle school campuses, as well as Andrews Middle School, into the feeder school for those subdistricts, but was unsure what would be best for the Hiwassee Dam/Ranger subdistrict.
Conley said there was time to consider these options, as those completion dates range from fall 2026 to fall 2028. She added that the plan is flexible if school population trends change, and that she did not recommend closing any schools immediately.
However, she did say that within four years, Martins Creek Elementary/Middle and Peachtree Elementary School will not be able to sustain their own buildings. In fact, Conley started her presentation by explaining what happened at Marble Elementary School two years ago.
“The way it played out should never have happened,” Conley said. “What happened at Marble Elementary School was a financial crisis.”
She explained that every year a feasibility study should be done on every school, which wasn’t happening. When she became superintendent, she saw how much trouble the school was in financially.
“It was a failure on the administrative process of Cherokee County Schools,” Conley said, adding that enough planning should have been done so that it was a 2-3-year process. The district is working toward making sure a situation like Marble doesn’t happen again.
Studies include projecting the cost of keeping each school open. She said birth rates are down, causing Cherokee County to have about 90 fewer students per grade level per year. Demographically, the county is growing older and lacking in the age group with children.
She added that Cherokee County is competing with districts in north Georgia for teachers. While those districts do not have bigger budgets, they are spending their money so they can offer more to teachers.
Conley said she would love to run 13 schools, but she wants the district to be good stewards of taxpayers’ money.
“I first want to ask of you kindness and patience,” she said. “You’re talking about being a Bulldog, Eagle or Wildcat. I get that. Our identities are tied to those icons.”
While growing up in Granny Squirrel, Conley remembers going to watch Andrews football practices.
“It’s our people who make us what we are, not the bricks,” she said.
Conley said she wants the plan to work so everyone keeps their job, too. Possible funding options for the plan were also discussed, varying from use of grants, the quarter-cent sales tax and bonds.
Only two people spoke in reference to consolidation during public input. Shannon Raper asked about the timeline of consolidation. Ray Cook of Brasstown requested that the board consider putting consolidation on the November ballot and giving voters three options to choose from.
He explained he had done more research and talked to officials since speaking at an earlier meeting. Cook believes the school board and county commissioners were “about to make one of the biggest and most important decisions concerning our school system that has ever been made in anyone’s lifetime that is attending here today.”
“Think about that,” he said. “That’s a big statement.”
Cook said he has been trying to come up with a solution for consolidation that wouldn’t cause a “major uproar” in the county. He added that after hearing opinions from people on various sides of the issue, he doesn’t know who’s right or wrong.
“In fact, I believe that once a decision is made in any direction, it will take many years to play out and see who was right, and the different ways it has affected the schools and the students,” he said.