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Murphy – The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners on Monday night mostly rejected a school consolidation plan submitted by the board of education, countering with a proposal of their own.
The commissioners rejected the idea of a grades 6-12 school, saying middle school students should not be on the same campus as high schoolers.
The commissioners refused to discuss other aspects of the school board’s plan, which would close elementary schools in Martins Creek and Peachtree, move their students to Murphy, and reorganize Murphy Elementary into a primary school and Murphy Middle School into an elementary school.
Commissioners said it is their job to build the schools, while it’s the school board’s job to decide how they are organized.
The board, by unanimous vote, came up with its own plan: build a new Murphy High School beside the Schools of Innovation and Tri-County Community College in Peachtree – similar to what the school board proposed – but just for grades 9-12, consolidate vocational training at that campus and allow open enrollment so all students in the county have access to those programs.
The board went even further, advising that the new campus have classrooms, a gymnasium and a cafeteria – but not a kitchen, since the Schools of Innovation already has one.
Unlike the school board, which approved its plan on a 4-3 vote, the commissioners were unanimous in their counterproposal.
Board Chair Dan Eichenbaum said the new school would create a “critical mass” for education, concentrating college prep and vocational training in close proximity to the college and Schools of Innovation.
The commissioners also said it was not their job to hold public hearings to discuss plans, suggesting that the school board do a better job of involving the public.
While open enrollment system might jeopardize high schools in Andrews and Hiwassee Dam, Eichenbaum said it is the commissioners’ job to do what’s best for the entire county.
“I don’t think the school board got that message,” he said, adding that it’s time to make a good plan for the entire county.
The school board considered four plans at a workshop and regular meeting earlier this month. The board rejected a plan proposed by school board member Steve Coleman that would have created a single K-12 school as well as addressed issues in Andrews and Hiwassee Dam in later phases.
The board then voted on board member Jeff Tatham’s plan, which passed on a 4-3 vote and was submitted to the commissioners. A plan submitted by school board member Jason Murphy did not come up for a vote, nor did a plan to create two consolidated schools.
The school board was operating on the assumption that the commissioners had asked for a plan and that it had to happen quickly in order to meet a deadline to apply for a state needs-based grant this year.
The three plans from school board members were first pitched in 2023, but the board didn’t make any decisions on them until this month.
The last time the county applied for the grant – a $50 million state grant with a $5 million local match to pay for a consolidated countywide high school – the board of commissioners killed it when they refused to pay the local match.