School Board Q&A | Cherokee Scout, Murphy, North Carolina

Cherokee County Board of Education

Arnold Mathews

Tell us about yourself:

I am from Haywood County, North Carolina, and lived there until I left for college after graduation. I earned a Bachelor of Science in Education degree from Western Carolina University in 1985 and taught French and Spanish in Haywood County. I later earned my Master of School Administration degree from WCU in 1998 and then moved to Cherokee County.

I am married to Patricia Mathews, who is the principal at Peachtree Elementary School. We have three children who attended school in Cherokee County and graduated from Murphy High School: Colton Mathews, Caleb Mathews, and Abigail Mathews. We live in the Peachtree Community and attend Peachtree Memorial Baptist Church where I serve as the Minister of Music, a deacon, and the Sunday School Director. I worked in Cherokee County for seventeen years, serving as an assistant principal at Hiwassee Dam School and Murphy Elementary School. I later served as the principal at Martins Creek School and Murphy Elementary School.

If you have something in your record that is problematic, such as a felony conviction, please explain. N/A
What are the three main points you want voters to know about your goals if elected or re-elected? Cherokee County Schools needs to pick up the pace if we are going to be able to meet the expectations of our mission statement. There needs to be more equity in academic programs and athletic opportunities for our students. With limited funds, it is extremely difficult to meet this goal. Our individual schools receive very little money to operate. I would like to see our schools receive more from the Small Schools Funds that are given to our school system each year. Most of the money is used for salaries.
What areas of public policy are you particularly focused on? There are many policies that govern our school district. One of the responsibilities of the school board is to create and review policies. There is often a misunderstanding as to the responsibilities of the school board in the day to day running of the school system. Hopefully a better understanding of the policies would help to make this more clear to the public. The policy manual itself is vast and involved; however, I encourage the public to review the policies that are available on the website cherokee.k12.nc.us. I also believe we as board members need to have more dialogue taking place at our board meetings. When we are able to talk and share our thoughts with each other, there are fewer misunderstandings. Our conversations also help the public to have a clearer picture of what our beliefs and goals are as individuals and also as the school board as a whole.
What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder? I worked in the school system as an assistant principal and principal for over 17 years. I also had three children go through the school system as students, graduate, and continue their education at a four-year university. I know firsthand what is needed in the schools and can also attest to how prepared my own children were as they continued their academic careers. The preparation could have been better. I was also fortunate to be able to teach Spanish in Union County, Georgia, for six years before I decided to retire again. This experience afforded me the opportunity to experience the school as a teacher again after serving as an administrator for so long. It was definitely eye opening and helpful in understanding the struggles our educators face each day.
What is something that has been a struggle in your life? I was bullied unmercifully as a child by some of my peers (and even some teachers) and have had to come to terms with these battle scars over my 60 years of life. As an administrator and as a teacher, I have always tried to be aware of the struggles students face as they attend school. I have consistently tried to advocate for the students to make sure they feel safe in school and are able to focus on learning instead of simply surviving to the next day. As a school board member, I will continue to fight for these students and will also try to make sure our school personnel are treated fairly.
What do you perceive to be Cherokee County’s greatest challenges over the next decade? We are doing very little to change our instruction and expectations as far as preparing our students for life in the 21st century. There are some changes, but not enough. As a former language teacher, I believe we need to have a stronger emphasis on learning other languages and cultures. We as a school system are falling behind in making sure our students are prepared as is presented in our mission statement: “Cherokee County’s Board of Education’s Mission is for every student to graduate from high school and to be globally competitive for work, post-secondary education, and prepared for life in the 21st Century.” The consolidated high school would have helped to bridge the gap as far as being competitive with other students throughout the nation. Unfortunately, this school did not happen, so now we are forced to figure out what might work to help our students achieve success.
Wild card: Provide any additional information you deem relevant here. I encourage the public to contact the teachers, superintendent, central office, and board members if there are questions. Oftentimes, there is misinformation on social media that could be cleared up with an inquiry to the appropriate person. There are times I have been tempted to comment on various posts, etc. when I see the information is not accurate; however, I make the decision not to comment because I believe it might encourage further dialogue that is false or combative. I encourage the public to have good working relationships with the staff of the schools and other educators that are involved in trying to do what is best for students. I am not saying everyone is perfect, but there is often a lot of miscommunication.

Jeff Tatham

Tell us about yourself: I am a Cherokee County native and resident of Andrews. I am a graduate of Andrews High School, and I have bachelors and masters degrees from Western Carolina University. I have worked in the Information Technology field for over 20 years. Cherokee County is my home, and I am very much invested in my community. I am a Sunday School teacher and deacon at my church, I am a Gideon, I have helped coach several sports from youth to JVs, I am a member of the Four Square Community Action board, a member of the SECU advisory member in Andrews, and I have served two terms on the Cherokee County school board.

If you have something in your record that is problematic, such as a felony conviction, please explain. Other than a few minor traffic violations, I do not have anything in my record.
What are the three main points you want voters to know about your goals if elected or re-elected? If re-elected, my main goal is to see that Cherokee County students have equal opportunities, or at least as much as feasibly possible. While it might not be feasible to get a football team started in Hiwassee Dam due to the extremely small enrollment of the school, those students deserve a track for their track team just as much as the students in Andrews and Murphy do. It’s very sad that we accept this as normal that their track team practices by running around the school building in the parking lot. And student class offerings shouldn’t be dictated by where they live in the county. The new Schools of Innovation Career Academy has helped with this, but there is still much work to be done. My other main goals are to improve our school facilities either through renovations or new construction, particularly MES and MHS. Some of our facilities are in very bad shape, and our students deserve better. We also need to continue to be more efficient in our spending, but we need to start with cuts at the top from the district level on down, not start with cutting services to our students and teachers.
What areas of public policy are you particularly focused on? As a BOE member, obviously my duty is to serve our students, teachers, and school staff. But we also need to make sure we are working closely with Tri-County Community College and the commissioners. A good working relationship between all three entities is key to the economic development of our county. A good starting point is to begin utilizing TCCC instructors to help teach our CTE courses at the Schools of Innovation. The TCCC campus is within walking distance from the SOI, and utilizing that valuable resource is a win-win for everyone.
What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder? I am a principled conservative – in my values, in my opinions on limited government, and on fiscal matters. I feel that my principles align with the values of our county. I am always going to side with Cherokee County over the opinions of Raleigh or Washington DC. Using these principles allows me to look at issues objectively. At the same time, I have a heart for our students, teachers, school employees and our county as a whole. This guides me to make decisions to use resources as effectively as possible to offer the highest quality of education possible to our students. I also try to listen and think before I speak. Listening to input and different perspectives is important in making the best possible decision based on logic instead of emotion.
What is something that has been a struggle in your life? My youngest son was born with a massive brain cyst. It was first detected when my wife was 30 weeks pregnant. The doctors tried to get my wife to terminate, but we trusted God’s plan for his life. The doctors were wrong about the grim diagnosis, and our son is our “little” miracle from God (he is now a happy and healthy freshman in high school). But it has not always been an easy road. He had his first brain surgery when he was seven days old, and his second when he was six months. He has been through multiple rounds of physical therapy, countless visits to doctors, specialists, and hospitals. But he is an absolute blessing, and an absolute miracle. His story is a great reminder that our struggles can make us stronger, and that God is in control even when we don’t completely understand His plan.
What do you perceive to be Cherokee County’s greatest challenges over the next decade? I think the greatest challenge for our county is how we balance moving forward and growing as a county while still preserving our culture, traditions, and values that we hold dear. I see the same challenge for Cherokee County schools – how we fulfill our mission to be globally competitive and prepare our students for life in the 21st century while still preserving our community feel in our school district.