School board to look at school organization options

Murphy – The July meeting of the Cherokee County Board of Education may have impacts that affect public schools for decades.

The board is expected to compare and contrast three proposals by board members to reorganize the school district’s campuses following last year’s collapse of a high school consolidation plan – and with it a missed opportunity for a $50 million state grant to fund construction of a new high school.

The meeting will be 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 20, at the new Schools of Innovation & Technology in Peachtree.

There are proposals on the table suggested by board members Steve Coleman, Jason Murphy and Jeff Tatham, although Tatham told fellow members at the June 29 school board meeting that his plan may not work.

Tatham’s plan would consolidate Murphy High and Murphy Middle schools at a new campus that would be built beside the Schools of Innovation using the same plan that would have been used had the county consolidated Andrews, Hiwassee Dam and Murphy high schools.

The old Murphy Middle School would be the location of a combined grades 3-5 consolidated from Martins Creek, Murphy and Peachtree elementary schools. The old Murphy Elementary School would combine pre-kindergarten through grade 2 from the same three schools.

Tatham said his plan would exceed the capacity of the old Murphy Middle and he would consider Coleman’s plan, which would also result in a new combined high school as well as adjusted grades at campuses in the western and eastern ends of the county.

School board member James Ellis said unless consolidation results in fewer campuses, the district won’t save money.

“We have 13 campuses – let’s get rid of a bunch of them,” he said.

The board of education will also discuss surplus property at the July meeting. At its June meeting, the board agreed to transfer temporary buildings used at the original Early College campus to Tri-County Community College, which plans to use the buildings for educational purposes.

Some members of the board traveled to the new Schools of Innovation & Technology in Peachtree for a tour of the nearly completed facility, which is expected to be ready in time for the next school year.

The facility is structurally complete, and a certificate of occupancy was signed on June 27. It will be a busy summer as the school district furnishes and equips it in preparation for the fall semester.

The school board watched a promotional video about the Schools of Innovation produced by the N.C. Lottery Commission, which provided a $15 million grant toward the $20 million overall cost of the campus. Cherokee County chipped in $5 million for the project.