From any angle someone looks at it, much has changed in the six-plus decades since Andrews, Hiwassee Dam and Murphy built new high schools in the 1950s.
Deteriorating facilities, changes in the way school systems are funded, and a growing demand for advanced courses and extracurricular programs are just a few of the challenges facing Cherokee County educators today.
Although a majority of county commissioners and board of education members voted last year to move forward with plans to build a consolidated or “unified” high school, opposition to the move has remained a popular talking point among multiple candidates for local office with the 2022 primary just months away.
By a 4-3 vote, the board of education approved a motion during its January meeting to allow the school system to apply for a state grant that could provide $50 million in funding for the new high school, as long as Cherokee County contributes $2.5 million of its own. The board’s narrow decision to simply apply for tens of millions of dollars in available funding – money that otherwise would be supplied from an existing 4-cent property tax – only underscored the ongoing contentiousness tied to decades of debate over consolidation.
“I’ve learned to take it one day at a time,” Superintendent Jeana Conley said. “All we can do is move forward with the directive we have in front of us.”
Money matters
Money, as it often is, was one of the key issues in the decision to build a unified high school. The project will combine Andrews, Hiwassee Dam and Murphy high schools onto the same campus as the School of Innovation & Technology, adjacent to Tri-County Community College in Peachtree.
Conley said Cherokee County Schools’ campuses cost an average of about $50,000 a month to maintain their facilities today.
“That is pure patching,” she said. “From a utilities point of view, with a new school that combines the three high schools, we will save almost $300,000 annually on electricity alone. That’s not even factoring in the diesel that it takes to run the boilers; that’s just one savings.”
Conley said 17 different scenarios originally were considered for future Cherokee County high school facilities after the county boards began to pursue a long-range plan in 2017. A two-school proposal also received serious consideration, but that plan would have doubled the county’s price tag into the $80-100 million range.
The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 in March 2021 to commit $40 million to a new school through a 4-cent property tax increase and directed the school system to move forward with the project. Those funds are being collected, but have not yet been designated for the school.
If Cherokee County is awarded the $50 million grant from the state, the vast majority of those taxpayer funds suddenly would become unnecessary. The school system should know by mid-April whether or not it will receive the grant.
Cherokee County previously was awarded $15 million of the same type of grant funding for the School of Innovation & Technology. Conley believes the county is once again a good candidate for a grant that would fund the unified high school based on the state’s rubric.
“The rubric gives preference to schools that are in Tier 1, and we are a Tier 1 county,” she said. “It gives preference to projects that are consolidating high schools. We check a lot of the boxes.”
Equity in education
Another of Cherokee County Schools’ biggest struggles stems from the fact that North Carolina funding is allocated by county and the number of students – not by individual school. That system leaves local educators with difficult choices about how to allocate staff and other resources.
While certain electives, advanced placement courses and athletics programs are popular in many other school systems, they often are a luxury that Cherokee County Schools cannot afford – at least not in every high school. Officials say unification will significantly close those gaps among local students.
“For example, let’s say for every 450 students you have, the state will give you one shop teacher,” Conley said. “Where do I put that shop teacher?
“In Union County, Georgia, in Clay County and Robbinsville, you can begin taking AP (Advanced Placement) classes when you’re in ninth grade. ... If teachers are peanut butter, they’re spread so thin (in Cherokee County) that we can barely cover the piece of bread, let alone be able to offer advanced classes or the electives that draw students and keep them there.”
School board chair Arnold Matthews retired from the North Carolina school system in 2015 after spending time as a principal at schools in Hiwassee Dam, Martins Creek and Murphy. Since then, he has worked as a teacher at Union County High School across the line in Blairsville, Ga., where he said he has seen some of the benefits of a single campus.
“Just looking behind me here, we have the fine arts center, which is an amazing facility,” Matthews said. “In looking at things like that, hopefully through this unified or consolidated high school, we’re going to be able to offer more things like that to (Cherokee County) students.”
By contrast, Cherokee County Schools struggle with maintaining many fundamental needs, like nurses, counselors and school resource officers. Conley said Cherokee County is allotted only eight counselors by the state, but the school system pays for five more to make sure each of its 13 facilities have one of their own.
Further complicating matters is the fact that all three of Cherokee County’s high schools operate well below the student capacity they were built for. A 2020 study by the school system showed that Andrews High clocked in at just 39.6 percent capacity (208 students), while Hiwassee Dam was at 49 percent (163) and Murphy was only 69 percent full (462).
Conley said that imbalance often forces the school system to allocate teachers toward teaching required courses in classrooms that may have as few as eight students.
Common concerns
One common critique of school unification centers on the geographic size of Cherokee County and the additional time it will take many students to reach the new school in Peachtree.
Conley said years of existing GPS data from busing students to Tri-County Early College show the trip requires an additional 25-31 minutes from the farthest existing schools. Another 177 students in grades K-12 already come to Murphy schools from another district because of additional opportunities offered there.
The superintendent added that she favors delaying the start time of school for students coming from the ends of the county by 30 minutes to account for the additional travel time. That would avoid forcing high school students who don’t drive – typically freshmen and sophomores – to get on the bus any earlier than they already do.
“I know it’s an additional amount of (travel) time,” she said. “But for everybody to get to play football, to wrestle, to take AP classes, to get to take auto mechanics ... to me, that’s worth it.”
Conley and Matthews have received threats in the past over the issue of school unification, highlighting grievances that run far deeper than anything related to additional travel time for students.
Conley said she understands why members of the community have strong feelings about holding onto their school identity because she shares those local ties herself. The superintendent describes herself as a “proud Wildcat,” who attended Andrews schools her entire childhood before graduating from Andrews High in 1986. She moved back to Cherokee County at age 22 after earning her college degree and has worked here ever since.
“Your memories and your school, that’s your heart; I get it,” she said. “This was a process, and I’ve not always agreed with everything, but I’m an employee of the county. Whatever is voted on is what I’m supposed to deliver.”
A need to ‘unify’
Matthews pointed out that people who support a decision tend to be less vocal than those who oppose it. He believes students in particular will embrace a unified high school when they see everything it offers.
“There are a lot of people who are excited about a nice, new facility that will serve all the students,” he said. “I think students will say, ‘Wow, my community really cares about me and wants me to be prepared and successful.’ “
Conley transitioned to using the term “unified” high school instead of “consolidated.” While critics might see that as semantics, the superintendent said it reflects the reality of today’s students being more connected due to advances in digital communication.
Whereas past generations in Andrews, Hiwassee Dam and Murphy typically were more separated by communities and geographical distance, today’s students tend to know each other better and interact more often via cell phones and social media.
She said it is also important to remember that student needs have changed over time. Educators must attempt to prepare them for jobs that have not even been invented yet – and within a society that is rapidly evolving.
“Our community and the things we stand for, not just in Hiwassee Dam or Andrews or Murphy, we feel like our values at large are being challenged,” Conley said. “Our students need to be brought together so they can work together as a force to maintain what we believe in.”