Curtis
As a member of the Cherokee County Board of Education, Keesha Curtis said she tries to be a voice parents can relate to. That relatability is how she was first recruited for the board’s at-large seat four years ago.
“There was a guy from the county who went to my husband and said, ‘I know she has a lot on her plate, she works full time, she takes care of you full time, she’s at the fire department, but we need somebody like her that parents can relate to,’ ” Curtis said.
“(Parents) know that my phone is open. There’s actually been a few times where I’ve had to put my phone on ‘do not disturb’ because my husband comes to me at 1 o’clock in the morning and he says, ‘That’s it, you have to go to sleep so you can go to work tomorrow morning.’ ”
Curtis and her husband are parents to three children, including one still in Cherokee County Schools. She grew up attending school board meetings with her grandfather, who was heavily involved in the Polk County, Tenn., system. Decades later, she became a substitute teacher – primarily at Ranger and Martins Creek – and found she had a passion for working with kids in Exceptional Children’s classes.
The Republican candidate said many of the concerns she has received since she joined the school board in 2018 are related to policies.
“I feel like if more parents, teachers, administrators, grandparents came to school board meetings, they would see what really goes on,” Curtis said. “You get to voice your opinion, and that’s what I wish parents would do.
“Policy is strictly fluid. It can be reviewed and amended.”
School consolidation has been another recurring issue during Curtis’ term. While she has consistently voted against consolidating schools, she said her toughest decision was whether or not to merge some classes at Ranger Elementary & Middle School with Hiwassee Dam Elementary & Middle School.
“It was a sudden change,” Curtis said. “It was going to be moving these middle school kids to Hiwassee Dam, where tons of repairs (were needed). This school was not going to be prepared for these kids.”
Curtis said she felt like she received better reasoning for the move after the vote had already taken place, and she might have voted differently if she had to do it over again.
Today, high school consolidation is a contentious topic in the county. Curtis likewise opposed the current plan in which a majority of school board members and county commissioners approved a consolidated high school in Peachtree. However, she believes the future of the project may ultimately depend on grant funding.
“If the money is there, it would be wrong for me to not fully support our kids,” she said. “It would be disrespectful to our students if they had somebody that was representing the board of education to keep saying, ‘I didn’t support that.’ At that time, you do whatever you can with your voice to make sure this school is exactly what these kids and teachers deserve.”
Curtis said she’s heard from parents upset that the board held meetings about consolidation during a pandemic, and she believes it lost respect from the community as a result. She does what she can to unite people around the School of Innovation & Technology that is under construction in Peachtree. That facility will house Tri-County Early College High School and The Oaks Academy alternative school as well as the new Career Academy, which will offer vocational opportunities for students from all Cherokee County high schools.
“This is going to be huge for our kids,” she said. “Teach these kids a trade.”
Curtis added that she believes some of the biggest issues facing Cherokee County students in the future will come from the state and federal levels.