Murphy – Parents overflowed into the hallway Thursday evening, hoping to persuade the Cherokee County Board of Education to back down from plans to reconfigure schools and redistrict students affecting four of the county’s 13 campuses starting next school year.
The board also discussed a proposal to merge Peachtree Elementary and Martins Creek Elementary schools, but took no action after learning about high costs.
The other plans remain in play: move middle-schoolers from Martins Creek to Murphy Middle, and from Ranger to Hiwassee Dam; and at the same time move elementary-schoolers from Hiwassee Dam to Ranger.
The plan results in possible long-term savings and concentrated resources at the affected schools, but fails to reduce the high number of campuses and disrupts families, school faculty and staff during the shuffle. The plan also has significant costs to retrofit affected campuses as well as higher transportation costs and longer bus rides for students.
The school system still must get approval from the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners for the retrofit costs, and at least two of the five board members have said they will vote against the funding without better public participation in the process. If the two, Ben Adams and Jan Griggs, remain true to their pledge, only one other vote would doom the school board’s plans.
Seating is limited at the district office under normal circumstances and is usually filled with school staff. There was no attempt to add seats for the large number of people who showed up at Thursday’s meeting. Members of the public were forced to stand in the hallway and a kitchen alcove in the board room.
Thirteen people signed up to speak, leading school board Chair Shannon Raper to reduce the amount of time for each speaker from the usual three minutes to two minutes to stay within a strict 30-minute time period for public comment that Raper chose not to relax.
School board member Jason Murphy, who voted against the school changes at the January meeting, made a motion for the board to postpone the changes to allow time for public input. His motion died for lack of a second, despite several board members – including Raper – voting against the plans in January.
Public comment
The board approved the reorganization at its January meeting without public notice under an agenda item nebulously titled “Facilities.” The board took no public comment about the changes during that meeting, and didn’t seek feedback from the principals and staff who were present.
The school district makes it inconvenient for the public. It won’t publish agendas online and will only provide a copy of the agenda at the district office, often no sooner than the day of the meeting. Seating is also limited in the board meeting room.
Raper acknowledged that “folks are very passionate” about the issue, but admonished the crowd that it was “not going to get out of hand.” Her comments were somewhat ironic, considering the current board majority was elected in response to a proposed high school consolidation plan, including claims that the previous board lacked transparency.
Members of the public who attended Thursday’s meeting were given two minutes each to state their cases. Later in the meeting, board member Jeff Tatham took several minutes to read an email from an unidentified constituent who supports the plan.
Two days before, on Feb. 13, about 50 people attended a public meeting at Martins Creek Community Center to discuss the plan and strategies to oppose it. No one at that meeting supported the plans. During that meeting, Adams and Griggs pledged to vote against funding.
The meeting was organized by Paul Wilson, a recently retired senior principal in the school district who was at Martins Creek for many years.
Faculty and staff have avoided the limelight, some fearing retribution from the home office if they express anything that contradicts school board decisions. Some said privately Wilson’s concerns are held widely among staff and faculty.
“I greatly appreciate Mr. Murphy relaying some of the concerns and making the motion,” Wilson told the Cherokee Scout. “I was deeply disappointed that no one would second the motion, but I was even more disappointed in restrictions placed on the citizens. …
“We were limited to two minutes, but one board member read a message from an anonymous parent (who didn’t attend) and unfairly gave that parent four minutes by reading the message aloud. Never mind the fact that the message was loaded with incorrect information and represented what is almost assuredly an extreme minority of opinion.”
Several parents outside the building said they were told they had to come in person to obtain a copy of the agenda.
“That combined with holding the meeting in such a small space, requiring speakers to sign up by 5 p.m. and the restrictive manner in which the meeting was conducted just doesn’t seem right or fair – almost disgraceful, really,” he said.
Wilson and several parents gathered outside the district office following the board meeting.
“I enjoyed speaking with two board members after the meeting,” Wilson said. “And from that conversation, it appeared that at least one of them had no idea that they violated board policies at the previous meeting. He couldn’t understand why people felt like it was a rush decision, but seemed to gain some insight when he learned that the vote was taken in violation of policies. He stated that he would review the policies.”
Board member Steve Coleman, who has taken lead in discussions about school consolidations and reorganizations, said during the meeting that he has been confronted by angry constituents, including one who challenged him to a fist fight.
Costs and savings
Here are the financials for the two approved reorganization plans:
- Murphy Middle School/Martins Creek Elementary School: Murphy Middle would need two or three additional classrooms to accommodate the added students from Martins Creek, at a cost of $60,000-$90,000. Adding restrooms, which are already in short supply at the school, would cost $143,000-$200,000. Since there would be few changes in faculty and staff, there would be an added annual cost of $26,400 per year, due mainly to added bus routes.
- Hiwassee Dam Middle School/Ranger Elementary School: Costs would be minimal because classroom facilities are sufficient at both schools. Additional transportation costs would range from $39,300 to $78,600. Because there are numerous faculty and staff changes, there would be a savings of around $90,000 per year.
- Totals: Annual savings for the two plans would be $63,673. One-time expenses to retrofit facilities would be about $276,500.
“This will not result in a healthy learning environment,” Wilson said during Thursday’s school board meeting.
“There will be serious problems.”
School district leadership hasn’t said when or if it will directly communicate with the hundreds of parents affected by the board’s decision. Opponents say the change will result in larger class sizes and long bus rides – some estimates put children on the bus for three hours a day – further complicated during weather events.