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Editor’s note: This article has been revised from the printed version to correct a factual error about areas affected by the proposed merger.
Marble – A divided Cherokee County school board picked a consolidation plan suggested by school board member Jeff Tatham to pitch to county commissioners at its next meeting Tuesday, Feb. 17, one that focuses efforts on central county schools and leaves Andrews and Hiwassee Dam untouched.
The board rejected a plan suggested by school board member Steve Coleman that was more wide-sweeping and would affect schools across the county, leading to a higher cost.
The board discussed the plans during an hour-long workshop on Feb. 6, followed by a vote during the regular meeting.
Coleman’s plan came to a vote first and seemed to have passed on a 4-3 vote. However, school board member Jeannie Gaddis, who was sick at home and called in to the meeting, said she was confused about the motion and asked that it be reconsidered.
Gaddis voted against Coleman’s plan on the second try, resulting in a 4-3 vote against it.
Board policy allows members to vote remotely in circumstances like this, but Gaddis’ vote would have not had any effect either way. Coleman’s plan would have not passed as a result of a 3-3 tie.
Tatham’s plan was offered up next and passed on a 4-3 vote, with Gaddis again voting against it. Had she not voted, the plan would have still passed 4-2.
The plan will be forwarded to the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners at its next meeting for further discussion. School board members have said they believed commissioners were expecting the school board to propose one plan.
The plan
Tatham’s was one of four plans the board considered at its Feb. 6 meeting.
It would use plans drawn up for a proposed high school consolidation that was rejected in December 2022, but instead of using it as a consolidated high school for the entire county it would consolidate grades 6-12 for the Murphy, Peachtree and Martins Creek areas.
The expanded school would be on school-owned property neighboring the Schools of Innovation in Peachtree.
Tatham’s plan does not include a gym nor stadium. It is expected that a new Murphy High School would continue to use the existing gym and stadium in Murphy.
The plan would also convert Murphy Elementary School into a pre-kindergarten through-second grade school, and Murphy Middle School into a school for grades 3-5.
The plan would close elementary schools in Peachtree and Martins Creek and require a state needs-based grant to pull off.
The county turned down a $50 million grant to consolidate its high schools in 2022 and hasn’t been eligible to apply for another grant until this year.
School board member Arnold Mathews made the motion to accept Tatham’s plan. Members Tatham and Coleman, along with board chair Shannon Raper, voted with him. Gaddis, Jason Murphy and James Ellis voted against it.
In voting against Tatham’s plan. Ellis pointed out that it does nothing to address issues in Andrews, which include structural problems at Andrews Elementary School.
“It will be 10 years before there’s anything in Andrews,” Ellis said.
In supporting the plan, Mathews said it would more likely be embraced by the community and would be most easy to accomplish of the plans being considered.
Coleman’s plan would consolidate pre-kindergarten through eighth grade on a single campus for the greater Murphy area, rebuild Murphy High, consolidate Andrew middle and high schools in a new high school building, move Andrews Elementary to the old middle school and create a single pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade campus in Hiwassee Dam.
Murphy presented a plan that did not come up for a vote.
It would have combined Ranger and Hiwassee Dam into a single K-12 campus, combined Andrews High and Middle schools and move Andrews Elementary to the old middle school, combined Peachtree Elementary with Martins Creek in Martins Creek, combine Murphy High and Middle schools in a new school in Murphy, converted the old Murphy Elementary School campus into a pre-kindergarten through second grade school, and the old Murphy Middle School into a school for grades three through five.
A fourth proposal, which came out of a 2017 study commissioned by the school district, would have created two or three K-12 schools spaced evenly in the county. Other options were not discussed.