Murphy – Cherokee County’s Board of Commissioners and Board of Education spent the better part of three hours listening to dozens of public pleas about high school consolidation and debating the commissioners’ Dec. 5 decision to send a $50 million grant back to the state.
As is frequently the case in Cherokee County, those 12 elected officials ended the proceedings right back where they started Monday night.
Board of Commissioners Chairman Cal Stiles reiterated that the State of North Carolina will effectively be told to keep the $50 million grant that was intended for the construction of a consolidated high school. Although several officials noted that the county can apply for a new grant in the future, the two boards didn’t appear to make even minimal progress toward agreeing upon an alternate consolidation plan that would address Cherokee County’s urgent school facility needs.
“At this point, the money has been rescinded,” Stiles said at the end of the meeting. “We meet on Jan. 3, so unless the school board comes with a request to reconsider it, which at that point we could, the issue has been handled.”
But Stiles has already said he does not expect to support the current consolidation plan under any circumstances, and a reversal by the new school board seems equally unlikely. Just as the board of commissioners switched to a 3-2 majority against the current high school consolidation plan after the November election, the board of education became a 4-3 majority against the current consolidation plan.
New school board Chair Shannon Raper and vice chair James Ellis, both of whom oppose the plan, were elected to their posts during Thursday’s meeting.
Ellis, an Andrews native and graduate of Andrews High School, has proposed multiple solutions to saving the school. He recently suggested consolidating Murphy-area feeder schools into a single K-8. He noted Monday that he previously recommended consolidating Hiwassee Dam and Murphy high schools, while leaving Andrews untouched.
Commissioner Dan Eichenbaum challenged school board members to vote on behalf of the students.
“Your only constituents are the students of our county,” he said. “They’re too young to vote, but your job is to represent their interests above all others.
“Your obligation is to do what’s best for them, not necessarily the people who put you in office. You are their only voice.”
Commissioner Jan Griggs said the grant award would not cover school furnishings and noted that more land might need to be purchased to accommodate a complete set of athletic fields for the school. Commissioner Ben Adams reiterated that he would not approve of the plan due to the potential of added tax burdens on citizens.
“If we have to send back the $50 million right now, we have to send back the $50 million,” Adams said.
The board spent an hour listening to public comment in which speakers each had two minutes. There were two signup sheets – one for speakers in favor of the unified high school, and another for those who were against it. Although pro-consolidation speakers outnumbered anti-consolidation speakers 2-1 at this particular meeting, the speaking format alternated back and forth between an individual from each list. Many who signed up chose not to speak.
“It is very hard for me to sit back and watch my town crumble because we’re moving our high school 1 mile from Clay County line,” Andrews Mayor James Reid said.
Reid noted that the Andrews Board of Aldermen passed a resolution against consolidation during the Dec. 13 meeting. Reid acknowledged during that meeting that the consolidation plan might be best for students’ education, but said the town had already lost too many cornerstones.
“I would just say, think of yourself as Cherokee County,” said Steve Forrister, speaking in favor of the consolidation plan. “Not Andrews, not Murphy, not Hiwassee Dam, Cherokee County.
“Can you imagine if we could all get on that boat? You know what we could have in terms of a school system, an athletic system, an appeal to the county?”
Student groups from Murphy and Andrews spoke for and against consolidation, respectively, while a lone student from Hiwassee Dam spoke in favor of the plan.
The majority of board members seemed to agree that Murphy High is in the worst need of a new facility. School board member Steve Coleman questioned whether the Schools of Innovation & Technology next to Tri-County Community College in Peachtree could instead be used as a new Murphy High, while fellow board member Jeff Tatham raised the possibility of using the $50 million grant for that school.
Both proposals were shot down by other members of the boards due to the belief that those plans would violate terms of their respective grant awards.
In September, Cherokee County was awarded the $50 million grant for a consolidated high school, which carried a 5 percent match clause. Commissioners withdrew authorization of the $2.5 million match on Dec. 5, just one week after the previous board approved it. The funds were to be pulled from the school system’s own Article 40/42 sales tax fund.
State Superintendent Catherine Truitt later sent a letter to Stiles in which she gave notice that the grant match must be reinstated by Jan. 4, or Cherokee County will forfeit the money. Truitt went on to say that switching to a “different strategic plan” or changing “the scope” of the work would nullify the award.
“If the $2.5 million is not reauthorized for this project by Jan. 4, 2023, the department will deem the grant statutorily invalid, and the money will automatically revert,” Truitt said.