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The March 23, 2016, edition of the Cherokee Scout contained some positive news for local schools, as the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners approved holding an advisory voter referendum on whether the county could levy an additional ¼-cent sales tax.
With many of the county’s school campuses aging and in need of repairs, or even replacement, more funding was sorely needed. The referendum on a ¼-cent sales tax was put on the ballot in June 2016, when it was approved by 65 percent of the 1,674 people who cast a ballot.
The superintendent’s response at the time was simply one word: “Yahoo!” Because with an extra $1 million or so coming in per year, the schools were finally going to be able to get some important things done.
At the time, the board – which in both 2016 and 2024 included Commissioners Dan Eichenbaum and Cal Stiles – pledged that it would always use that money for schools, while not mandating that future board do likewise. As a result, that pledge was not put into law, which came back to bite education in a big way on May 23.
That’s when the commissioners unanimously decided – without any discussion whatsoever – to no longer designate the ¼-cent sales tax for schools, but instead use it in the general fund of the county’s budget.
While commissioners had the right to make that decision, the consequences of it will continue to put our students behind those in surrounding school systems.
This is particularly disappointing for people like me, who only voted for the sales tax because it was advertised as going to the school system. And I encouraged others to do likewise through the Cherokee Scout.
How long is our county going to accept having second-rate educational resources in buildings that were outdated 20 years ago? How long is our county going to lose high-quality teachers to better-paying school systems in surrounding counties? How long is our county going to watch good families take their children across the Georgia line to attend what they perceive as public schools with better opportunities in Fannin, Towns or Union counties?
This decision also raises other questions, like would it have made if school officials had quickly met with commissioners over their plans to transfer many elementary and middle schoolers to other campuses, instead of putting it off for several months – and counting? Would commissioners have been so quick to evict Central Office from its county-owned building had school board members shown a desire to work with the board instead of seemingly against them?
While we don’t know the answers to those questions, we do know this has put yet another sad stain on Cherokee County’s reputation. So perhaps the most important question to ask local leaders is, “When are we going to get tired of being a laughingstock around the state?”
David Brown is publisher of the Cherokee Scout. You can reach him by phone, 828-837-5122; email, dbrown@cherokeescout.com; or on X @daviddBstroh.