Murphy – Cherokee County Schools faces a perfect storm – angry parents and faculty, a board of commissioners holding routine school maintenance projects hostage and an upcoming annual budget process that requires buy-in from that same board of commissioners.
To that, school board member Steve Coleman has had enough.
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Coleman, the school board’s at-large member and vice chairman, is the most vocal school board member regarding the reorganization of Cherokee County Schools, a de facto spokesman. In a Facebook video he posted following a board of commissioners meeting on March 18, Coleman held nothing back.
“We do not have time to waste on petty BS crap that they’re pulling,” Coleman said in a 33-minute video he posted on his Facebook page.
At that March 18 meeting, the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners delayed approval of several school district projects until it and the board of education hold a public meeting to discuss facilities following a controversial decision to reorganize several elementary/middle schools.
Commissioners called for a joint public meeting between the two boards – including public comment – but say they have been unsuccessful in getting the school district to respond.
Schools Superintendent Keevin Woody appeared at the commissioners’ March 18 meeting to ask for permission to use $203,800 in half-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, relocation of a shed at the Cherokee County Schools of Innovation & Technology and for a chiller service agreement at Andrews High School.
The school district needs the funding so work can be completed in time for the 2024-25 school year.
“These things are critical to the success of these schools,” Coleman said in his video. “I really don’t know what their problem is,” adding that county commissioners’ personal agendas are taking priority over the needs of students.
Stay in their lanes
Commissioner Dan Eichenbaum was chairing the March 18 meeting in place of an ailing Randy Phillips. When the school funding item came up on the agenda, Eichenbaum said the board was unsuccessful at arranging a joint public meeting with the board of education.
Eichenbaum then made a motion to table funding requests until that meeting is held, which the board approved. He did not invite Woody to speak about the topic at the meeting.
Coleman was also at that meeting. He said he approached Phillips and Commissioner Cal Stiles afterward, offering to set up a joint meeting, but was told the earliest it could happen is May. That makes completion of the $203,800 in projects – and any others that come up in the meantime – difficult to accomplish by the next school year.
Coleman said the respective boards should stay in their lanes – the school board deals with education, while school facilities are the board of commissioners’ responsibility.
Following decades of deferred maintenance and budget cuts, Coleman said Cherokee County Schools can’t count on county funding to maintain or upgrade school facilities. He added that the school board must come up with plans that don’t involve the board of commissioners.
Coleman also had sharp words directed at Eichenbaum, who was on both the board of commissioners and the Department of Social Services board when DSS used custody and visitation agreements to place children outside of their parents’ homes without court approval, as opposed to going through a judge.
In June 2022, the county approved a $48.5 million settlement that resolved more than 20 remaining lawsuits against the county stemming from past practices by the DSS.
Under the agreement, Cherokee County paid $4 million of the settlement in 2023, and the county will then pay about $2.9 million per year for seven years, beginning in July and ending in 2031. The payments will not accrue any interest.
The settlement resulted in an additional 8 cents added to its millage rate in the county, which Coleman holds Eichenbaum responsible for.
School facilities
Coleman said the school board has to reduce the number of campuses.
“There is no other option,” he said. “We have no choice.”
Cherokee County Schools operates 13 school campuses, a number the board of education regards as excessive. The board decided earlier this year to reorganize Ranger and Martins Creek elementary/middle schools into elementary schools, with affected middle-schoolers moved to Hiwassee Dam and Murphy. Meanwhile, Hiwassee Dam elementary students will move to Ranger.
The reorganization should be completed in time for the 2024-25 school year. It does not close any campuses and requires $276,500 in upgrades, retrofits and renovations – mainly at Murphy Middle School. It also adds more transportation costs.
Coleman said the reorganization will result in better educational opportunities and in-person teaching for all affected students. He defended the school board’s reorganization decision and said the legality was affirmed by the board’s attorney.
The board must hold public meetings if it is considering a campus closure, Coleman said. “To merge a school together, I don’t have to do anything,” he added.
Coleman said the board listened to constituent complaints and understands their concerns, but added, “I don’t care, because I cannot care about that. I cannot let emotions determine the outcome of the decisions I make that involved 3,300 students. I cannot let 54 students determine the outcome of 3,300 students,” he said, referring to Martins Creek’s enrollment.
As for a joint meeting with county commissioners, Coleman said, “I don’t need their assistance to learn how to fix things and how to do things. Thank you, but I don’t need you.”
However, the school district does need funding approved by the board of commissioners.
“We cannot do our job unless they do theirs,” Coleman said.
‘A bright future?’
He appears poised to roll out a wide-ranging consolidation plan he mapped out in 2023 that requires tens of millions of dollars in state grants and county matches. However, because Coleman, other school board members and commissioners rejected a $50 million state grant in 2023, it can’t apply for other state grants for two years.
Coleman said Cherokee County Schools can have a “bright future” starting with the 2025-26 school year with his plan. That plan comes in three phases, affects campuses throughout the county and requires $180 million in state grants, $9 million in local matches and $15 million in debt service – along with board of commissioners’ cooperation.
The plan closes six schools – Murphy Elementary, Murphy Middle, Martins Creek, Peachtree, Andrews Elementary and Ranger Elementary. It adds one school in Peachtree, expands Hiwassee Dam, and rebuilds Murphy and Andrews high schools.
The net: Coleman’s plan reduces the number of campuses from 13 to eight and results in new or renovated campuses throughout the county. However, it depends on several state grants with local matches, both far from guaranteed.