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One of the challenges with government agencies in rural counties is finding qualified people to fill important positions. With a smaller pool of candidates to choose from, it can be difficult at times to promote from within, even though most officials will say that is their clear preference.
That’s what makes the Cherokee County Board of Education’s decision on whom to hire as superintendent after Jeana Conley retired in November 2022 even more baffling. Because school board members had several excellent local candidates to chose from at the time.
- Lisa Fletcher grew up in Hiwassee Dam before serving as principal of Andrews and Murphy high schools, giving her knowledge of the area. After Cherokee County turned her down, Transylvania County was more than happy to hire her as superintendent of their similar-size school system.
- Alissa Cheek was the founding principal of Tri-County Early College before becoming director of programming at the new Schools of Innovation & Technology in Peachtree. She has moved on to become director of institutional research at Young Harris (Ga.) College.
- Tiffany Clapsaddle was Murphy Middle School’s principal. After not being promoted here, she is now working as curriculum and accountability director with Clay County Schools.
- Dane Rickett is a former principal, athletic director and coach at Andrews High. He remains chief technology and innovation officer with Cherokee County Schools.
- Leslie Ledford, former director of accountability, digital teaching and learning, virtual schools and AIG, today is a regional educational consultant for Edmentum, one of the biggest education companies in the Southeast.
- Julie Higdon, former federal programs director and K-8 curriculum director for county schools, has gone all the way up to being a section chief at the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.
- John Higdon, longtime director of facilities with the school system, couldn’t even get an interview for the top job after years of dedicated service.
Sadly, those five aren’t the only local educators who have left the county in search of a better future:
- Sarah Tatham, former principal of Andrews Elementary School, today is the exceptional children’s director of the Catamount School in Cullowhee.
- Melissa Godfrey, another former principal of Andrews Elementary, has been hired as the superintendent of schools in Clay County.
- Justin Clapsaddle, former director of nutrition and transportation for county schools, has left the field altogether to become a financial advisor.
Going back even further:
- Kenny Garland was principal of Hiwassee Dam High before being promoted to associate superintendent. After leaving Cherokee County in 2014, he served as superintendent of Whiteville City Schools. The Murphy High graduate has spent the last four years as superintendent in Jasper County, Ga.
- John Hill serves as superintendent of schools in Union County, Ga., which has received much praise from local residents. Hill’s family goes back several generations in Cherokee County.
This list doesn’t include the number of educators who lived in Cherokee but shared their skills across the county line. Former Murphy teacher Caesar Campana went to Hayesville, where he was named the 2019 Teacher of the Year for the western region of North Carolina. School board member Arnold Matthews, once principal of Murphy Elementary School, was last teaching in Union County. Donna Owens, formerly of Hanging Dog, was a past Union County Teacher of the Year.
Cherokee County cannot afford to lose its talent, particularly the homegrown variety.
What we’ve heard about why Keevin Woody was hired is concerning. According to people close to the situation, the seven school board members then were torn about which local candidate to support, as each district’s representatives had their favorite. Instead of working together and coming up with a solid process to pick the most qualified person from that list, members instead decided to hire the best candidate they could find outside of the county.
We were told the fact that Woody happens to be male also played a part in the decision – via an employee survey – even though it’s illegal for governments to base hiring decisions on gender. And hiring him ultimately led many of our top educators to evacuate.
As a result, Cherokee County Schools has lost a tremendous amount of institutional memory. All of the money and resources local taxpayers spent on leadership development with the other candidates has been lost. And we’re still no closer to figuring out the same problems the district faced when Woody first came aboard 19 months ago.
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.