Marble – Though lacking hard statistics, a just-released statewide survey of teachers sheds insights into each of Cherokee County’s 13 public school campuses.
An article in the Aug. 7 edition of the Cherokee Scout gave an overview of results from the survey, which looked into teacher working conditions. Starting this week, the Scout looks into the survey results campus by campus. The report compares the latest survey results against district-wide and state results, plus historical results when provided.
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In general, Cherokee County teachers are happy with their jobs, loyal to their schools, pleased with their facilities and resources, but have issues with leadership and empowerment. Student behavior issues are there but are better than statewide statistics. And parental involvement, though there, could be better.
Here are some trends, school by school:
Andrews Elementary School
(26 out of 26 responded)
Andrews Elementary performed well in the survey compared to district and statewide results.
More than 90% of teachers said the school is a good place to work and learn, there is an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect, they look forward to work, feel loyal to the school, would recommend the school to parents, feel they are an important part of the school, are proud to work there and wouldn’t want to work at any other school. Slightly less, 83%, felt comfortable raising issues and concerns.
There were similar results for school leadership, teacher leadership, managing student conduct, safety and well-being, community support and involvement, professional learning and support, instructional practice and support, time, and equity.
The school outperformed the district in student conduct issues, with 16% agreeing that there is drug and alcohol use and 25% reporting tardiness and skipping class as issues.
Regarding facilities, 30.77% were concerned about building cleanliness, 53.85% were concerned about building comfort, and 34.62% were concerned about building maintenance.
As for student safety, 65.38% reported bullying, 30.77% reported cheating, 61.54% reported disorder in class and outside class, 19% reported drug/tobacco use, 61.54% reported physical conflicts among students, 88.46% reported student disrespect of teachers,42.31% reported threats of violence toward teachers, and 19.23% reported vandalism.
Gang activity, cyberbullying and student possession of weapons were negligible.
Teachers felt less agreeable about participating in leadership activities: 41.67% agreed that they assist in determining the school budget, slightly less than the state result (46.16%) and well under the district (62.93%).
Historical trends at the school remain largely level with the following exceptions: In terms of atmosphere of trust and mutual respect, 100% agreed in 2020, 67.86% agreed in 2022 and 76.92% agreed in 2024 (there was no data for 2023).
Andrews Middle School
(15 out of 15 responded)
Andrews Middle School’s faculty tends to be a fairly happy bunch, with a few exceptions.
While 93.33% said they look forward to work each day, 73.33% wouldn’t want to work in any other school. Faith in school leadership was 100% in all categories, while teacher leadership was 93% to 100% in all of the categories.
In managing student conduct, 95% agreed that a majority of students follow student conduct rules in 2020, dipping to 46.67% in 2022 but rising again to 80% in 2024, but still below 2020’s level.
Student conduct issues were high: 60% reported bullying, 46.67% cheating, 60% cyberbullying, 53.33% disorder inside and outside classrooms, 33.33% drug/tobacco use, 40% physical conflicts and robbery or theft, 53.33% student disrespect of teachers, 20% student possession of weapons, 60% tardiness/skipping class, and 66.67% vandalism. Gang activity came in at 6.67%, while threats of violence came in at 13.33%.
One-third of teachers disagreed that air quality, building cleanliness and building maintenance were sufficient.
Andrews High School
(17 out of 17 responded)
Andrews High School underperformed compared to the state and district in retention, with 58.82% agreeing there is an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect, 52.94% saying they feel comfortable raising issues and concerns, and 52.82% saying they wouldn’t want to work in any other school.
Just 64.71% said leadership at the school sets clear expectations for instruction, 52.94% said leadership communicates a clear vision, 58.82% said leadership knows what’s going on in their classrooms, 41.18% said leadership helps teachers improve instruction, 52.94% said leadership ensures teachers receive coaching and support to implement new practice, and 35.29% said leadership creates a culture of trust in the building. Less than half, 41.18%, said leadership makes decisions that are reasonable and justified.
In managing student conduct, Andrews High performed comparably with other Cherokee County Schools, except in two areas: school leadership routinely enforces rules for student conduct (just 58.82% agreed), and the school uses positive behavioral interventions and supports (41.18% agreed).
As is common comparing high schools to middle and elementary schools, student conduct took a hit. Bullying, cyberbullying, disorder in and out of class, and student disrespect of teachers were all in the 30%-47% range. Cheating was reported 94.12% and drug/tobacco use was 76.47%. On the other hand, gang activity was zero and robbery or theft was 11.76%.
Faculty was generally satisfied with their facilities, except cleanliness (67.5% agreed that it was sufficient, compared with 74% district-wide. On the flip side, 81.25% agreed that building maintenance was sufficient, compared to 65.87% district-wide.
Under community support and involvement, Andrews High underperformed: 64.71% agreed that parents know what is going on in school, compared to 89.58% district-wide; and 58.82% agreed that parents support teachers, contributing to their success with students, compared to 78.76% district-wide.
Andrews High reported lower scores in professional learning and support and instructional practices and support, compared to district-wide.
As for equity, 64.71% agreed that all students are treated equitably, compared to 86.87% district-wide.
Hiwassee Dam
Elementary/Middle School
(11 out of 11 responded)
Hiwassee Dam Elementary/Middle School, which becomes just a middle school in the coming school year, was generally a happy, satisfied place, with good facilities, teacher empowerment, strong leadership and excellent retention, with high scores in positive areas and low scores in negative areas.
Faculty agreed with subject areas nearly unanimously nearly across the board.
Here are the exceptions:
Just 63.64% said they participate in the hiring process.
Bullying was a problem, at 36.36%, but other areas of student conduct were generally in line with other comparable schools in the district except gang activity, with 9.09% of teachers agreeing there is a problem – a level similar to drug/alcohol use. Student disrespect of teachers received a score of 45.45%.
HD elementary students will be bused to Ranger in the fall.
Hiwassee Dam High School
(14 out of 14 responded)
Like HD Elementary/Middle School next door, HD High reported positive results in all areas. Better even, with 0 percent gang activity reported, compared to the 9.09% next door.
As with high schools in general, issues with student conduct are noted, with 50% of teachers agreeing that bullying is an issue. Other issues include cheating, cyberbullying drug/tobacco use and tardiness/skipping classes, but at lower values than district-wide.
Community support and involvement were rated high, with nine out of 10 teachers agreeing that they observe community support and involvement.
Under facilities and resources, 100% agreed with every category except one, reliable internet access, which received a 92.31 percent score.
Next week: The rest of Cherokee County’s schools.