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Peachtree – The Cherokee County Board of Education and Andrews leaders aren’t exactly sure where to go after county commissioners rejected a school consolidation plan presented and offered a plan of their own on Feb. 17.
Commissioners mostly rejected a school consolidation plan submitted by the school board, countering with their own proposal.
The commissioners, by unanimous vote, came up with their own plan: Build a new Murphy High School beside the Schools of Innovation and Tri-County Community College in Peachtree similar to what the school board proposed, but just for grades 9-12; consolidate vocational training at that campus; and allow open enrollment so all students in the county have access to those programs.
The board went even further, advising that the new campus have classrooms, a gymnasium and a cafeteria – but not a kitchen, since the Schools of Innovation already has one.
It’s the “open enrollment” piece that has raised red flags in Andrews and Hiwassee Dam, where the commissioners’ plan has been characterized as a passive-aggressive approach to resurrecting the concept of a single consolidated high school for the county.
Such a school would offer a critical mass of programs that could attract enough high school students away from Andrews and Hiwassee Dam that could endanger those two high schools’ continued existence.
During Thursday’s board of aldermen workshop, Andrews Mayor James Reid said the commissioners’ plan does nothing to address the surplus of campuses in Cherokee County Schools and could cripple Andrews High School.
“We can’t handle no more punches,” Reid said.
The plan submitted to – and largely rejected by – commissioners was drafted by school board member Jeff Tatham and recommended by a 4-3 vote of the board.
“I am hopeful that we can continue to work toward an agreement. It was great to hear that they are receptive to the new for a new MHS, but I’m hoping there can be more understanding about our need to reduce our number of campuses,” Tatham told the Cherokee Scout.
“With the un-designation of the Article 46 fund for education, the school district is at a crossroads. With a balance of about $2.5 million, but with the district needing to use almost $1 million of that fund just to balance the local budget, it is pretty clear that our current model is not sustainable.
“If the Article 46 funding was re-designated for education, it would be about 10 years before the district runs out of money. Without it, we run out of money in less than three years. So the district either needs that money re-designated for education, or we need to move forward with a plan to reduce our number of campuses.
“That is why a (grades) 6-12 was being proposed instead of just a 9-12, so that we can provide MHS a new facility but also reduce our number of campuses.
“As for middle schoolers being on the same campus, there are some educational benefits to that model. Teachers can be shared between the two schools to be more efficient and offer more to the students. This is what Hiwassee Dam has been doing for a long time, where middle schoolers and high schoolers are in the same building.
“As for open enrollment, that is a school board policy decision and seems to be out of the scope of the facility responsibilities of the commissioners. It is certainly an idea that can be looked into by the BOE,” Tatham added.
The Cherokee County Board of Education is expected to discuss school consolidation during its regular monthly meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 6, at Central Office in Marble.
School board member Steve Coleman, the at-large member of the board, is planning to hold public meetings in Andrews, Hiwassee Dam and Murphy to discuss his plan for Cherokee County Schools. His plan is more far-reaching than the one submitted to commissioners, but it was rejected by the school board on a 3-4 vote earlier this month.
The first meeting will be at 6 p.m. Monday in the Andrews Facilities Building, 85 Fourth St. Details about meetings in Hiwassee Dam and Murphy have not yet been worked out.
County commissioners rejected the idea of a grades 6-12 school, saying middle school students should not be on the same campus as high schoolers.
The commissioners refused to discuss other aspects of the school board’s plan, which would close elementary schools in Martins Creek and Peachtree, move students to Murphy and then reorganize Murphy Elementary School into a primary school (pre-kindergarten through second grade) and Murphy Middle School into an elementary school (grades 3-5).
Commissioners said it is their job to build the schools and the school board’s job to decide how they are organized. Earlier this year, the commissioners un-designated Article 46 sales tax revenue from county schools in order to balance the county budget and avoid a property tax increase.