Murphy – The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners delayed approval of several school projects until it and the board of education hold a public meeting to discuss facilities following a controversial district to reorganize several schools.
Commissioners earlier this month called for a joint meeting between the two boards – including public comment – but have been unsuccessful getting the school district to respond.
Schools Superintendent Keevin Woody appeared at Monday evening’s board of commissioners meeting prepared to ask for permission to use $203,800 in ½-cent sales tax proceeds for an HVAC at Andrews Elementary School kindergarten, an HVAC coil replacement at the Murphy High School Vocational Building, a new gym floor at Murphy Elementary School, carpet for eight classrooms at Ranger Elementary/Middle School, relocate a shed at the Schools of Innovation & Technology, and for a chiller service agreement at Andrews High School.
The school district needs approval from the board of commissioners to use proceeds from sales taxes.
Commissioner Dan Eichenbaum was chairing the meeting in place of an ailing Randy Phillips. When the school funding item came up on the agenda, Eichenbaum said the board had been unable to set a date for a joint public meeting with the board of education. He made a motion to table the requests until that meeting is held. He did not invite Woody to speak about the topic at Monday’s meeting.
It is the latest example of a school district that is at odds with a growing list of local institutions and individuals that includes county government, the county’s Needs and Solutions Advisory Committee, parents, faculty, staff and even the Cherokee Scout.
The school board’s decision in January to reorganize several schools and rezone children throughout much of the county sparked heated opposition and even provoked a last-minute candidate for the school board.
Retired Martins Creek Elementary/Middle School principal Paul Wilson will be on the November general election ballot, running against incumbent Arnold Mathews for the District 2 seat on the Cherokee County Board of Education.
Wilson and his supporters gathered enough valid signatures to qualify for the Nov. 5 ballot as an unaffiliated candidate. Wilson planned to formally file as a candidate Monday.
Wilson and his supporters gathered 1,480 signatures, of which 1,259 were verified as registered Cherokee County voters, according to the Cherokee County Board of Elections. The goal was 900 signatures to qualify.
Wilson announced his candidacy shortly after a school board decision in January to redistrict several schools. Mathews, who won the March Republican primary uncontested, voted for the reorganization.
The school board continues to be confronted by parents and faculty upset about the looming redistricting of elementary and middle school students at several schools. Six people spoke at the March 12 school board meeting seeking for the board to reconsider the redistricting decision.
That decision affects the 2024-25 school year, following $276,500 in upgrades, retrofits and renovations – mainly at Murphy Middle School. Redistricting will move Martins Creek middle-schoolers to Murphy Middle, Ranger middle-schoolers to Hiwassee Dam, and Hiwassee Dam elementary school students to Ranger.
The move eliminates the last remaining K-8 schools in the county.
Among the complaints at the March 12 meeting was about a lack of responsiveness from school board members and Superintendent Keevin Woody.
“How do people get in touch with you?” Judith Johnson asked the board during the public comment portion of the meeting.
The school district website includes a page listing school board members with their official email addresses. However, several people told the Scout that their attempts to reach board members and the superintendent by email have gone unanswered.
The local newspaper has also experienced a lack of responsiveness. When asked about it at an earlier meeting, Woody told the Scout he was sometimes too busy to respond.
To quantify just how responsive school district officials have been, on March 13 the Scout submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for all emails addressed to the Cherokee County Board of Education and Woody, internally and externally, pertaining to consolidation, reorganization, zoning, infrastructure, funding and staffing since Jan. 1 – and any responses to those emails.
The school district acknowledged receipt, saying, “Your FOIA request has been received and will be processed as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
The requested files had not been provided as of Monday. In comparison, a March 13 FOIA request to Cherokee County government for email records about a county matter was fulfilled the next day.
Continuing opposition
Wilson was among the six people who spoke during the school board meeting on March 12 defending the existing school structure and opposing the reorganization.
He said most parents and middle schoolers in the Martins Creek district oppose the change and defended Martins Creek School for its cost-effectiveness – he said it qualifies for three more teachers than it has, and “I see no fat there.”
Christine Jacobs argued that combining elementary- and middle-schoolers on the same campus is more effective for middle-schoolers than by placing them with high-schoolers. Combining middle and high school students results in an “uneasy chemistry” and puts middle schoolers in a position where they may “fall prey to clicks,” she said.
A kindergarten-through-eighth-grade configuration provides continuity, predictability and security for the older children as they enter a vulnerable period in their development, Jacobs added.
Ronda Phillips teaches English language arts and social studies at Martins Creek. She was among the six to speak to the board on March 12, saying she has a “respectful difference of opinion” with the planned school reorganization.
She reminded the board that Martins Creek middle-schoolers receive art, music and library services two days a week. She added that the school does not have a band or computer coding.
Martins Creek’s 54 middle-schoolers participated in six field trips this school year and enjoy a 17-1 student-to-teacher ratio, Phillips said.
“Martins Creek has a long history of academic excellence” in a “safe and caring environment,” she added.
School board Chair Shannon Raper responded, “These decisions are not easy.”
Candidate Wilson
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Wilson’s candidacy for school board pits him against a mentor and former boss, Mathews, who was principal at Martins Creek when Wilson was a teacher there.
“I’ve known Mr. Mathews a long time,” Wilson said. “We’re friends. He was my biggest mentor when I was a teacher under Mathews. I have tremendous respect for him.”
Wilson, who was Cherokee County Principal of the Year in 2023 before he retired, decided to run for office following the school reorganization decision in January. As an unaffiliated candidate, he did not appear on the March primary election ballot but had to gather 900 signatures by noon March 5, the day of the primary election, in order to qualify for the November general election ballot.
Running against a respected colleague and mentor was not his goal; his goal is to run on the issues. Wilson said he gathered about 20 signatures himself, with the remaining 1,460 or so signatures collected by volunteer workers.
“I really appreciate everyone’s help,” Wilson said Monday. “Many who gathered signatures were people I don’t even know.”
His petition drive attracted signatures from throughout the county, including many from outside the District 2 seat he is running for and from people who don’t have children in Cherokee County schools but who are concerned about the issues.
Wilson said his successful petition drive may show that he is respected in the community, but also reflects that people are “very dissatisfied” with the school reorganization.