 |
When the new Cherokee County Board of Education and Board of County Commissioners decided to nix the previously approved high school consolidation plan – and the $50 million state grant that came with it – in December, three officials went to work devising new plans to combine some public schools and hopefully saving money on maintenance.
Three new consolidation plans emerged – one from incumbent school board member Jeff Tatham, and two from newly elected school board members Steve Coleman and Jason Murphy. Coleman told the Cherokee Scout he came up with the idea for his plan while sitting in a deer stand, so local schools have obviously been on his mind for some time.
The three plans have similarities, but for various reasons Coleman’s plan is the one with the most momentum, in part because he has been selling it around the county. Some people thought Cherokee County Schools shoved the high school consolidation plan down their throats, but it was talked about for six years before a vote took place, though restrictions accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult for people to get out.
For details of Coleman’s plan, see the Aug. 9 edition of the Scout, but here’s a summary: On the east end of the county, Andrews would merge the middle and high schools. On the west end, Hiwassee Dam and Ranger schools would merge. In the middle is where the challenge lies, as his plan would feature a large campus next to the Schools of Innovation & Technology in Peachtree to include a new pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade school that included students from Martins Creek, Murphy elementary and middle, and Peachtree schools.
If that plan seems kind of familiar, it’s because for the most part it uses the same basic infrastructure of the high school consolidation plan – only in Coleman’s plan, instead of teenagers being bused to Peachtree, it would be students as young as kindergartners. If parents were concerned about high school freshmen and sophomores taking longer bus rides, I can’t imagine they’ll be excited about their 5-year-old doing it.
There’s another thing that hasn’t been talked about with the proposed new K-8 campus – parental pickup. The lines just at Murphy Elementary can be backed up for an hour, with vehicles clogging Valley River Avenue many days, and a school nearly four times that size would be a nightmare to try to get your kids in and out of safely and in a timely manner.
When it comes to cost, without question keeping all three high schools will result in higher bills for Cherokee County taxpayers. Architects have made it clear that Murphy High is not repairable and must be replaced, and the state grant was only for consolidation, which means local residents would have to pay the entire $30-40 million on our own – and then the other two high schools would be renovated on top of that. Unknown costs were a primary concern with the unified high school, and the unknowns with this project are much higher.
I prefer Tatham’s idea to build a new Murphy High next to the Schools of Innovation and Tri-County Community College so the majority of high school students in Cherokee County could benefit from those resources being within walking distance. The same athletic fields could be used, saving millions of dollars, and a K-8 school could be built where the middle and high schools are today.
All three officials deserve credit for taking the time to develop comprehensive plans that address the high costs of having so many campuses countywide. There’s only one thing missing – education. Would any of these plans actually enhance students’ overall educational experience? If not, then why do it?
Coleman’s plan would ultimately result in grades K-12 being taught in Andrews, Hiwassee Dam and Murphy. However, that doesn’t mean it’s equal, as Andrews and Hiwassee Dam would keep smaller, more expensive, community-based schools, while forcing all Murphy students into a larger, central campus.
If we truly believe community schools provide students with a better education, why would we be against consolidating high schools but in favor of consolidating K-8 campuses? A recent Cherokee Scout poll question showed 94 percent of respondents said elementary school students gain the most from smaller class sizes, but the online comments also show a strong majority believe that it benefits students of all ages.
Some people were against a unified high school because they thought it would limit students’ options to play sports. However, merging K-8 schools would also result in having fewer sports teams.
Note, too, that Coleman’s plan would close both Martins Creek and Ranger – two of the newest schools in the county.
Keep in mind that these three plans have not been vetted by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. All of those things were completed successfully and presented to commissioners over a six-year period to settle on the plan that best fit not just financial benefit for facilities but best use of personnel, most opportunities for secondary students, with child development and learning variables were factored in. In fact, the long-range plan is still active on the Cherokee County Schools website that contains all the studies, and this board – other than brainstorming ideas the public might like – has not even taken the first required step of a facilities study.
So, again, why do it? Is this consolidation for the sake of consolidation? Or are officials today just trying to make it virtually impossible for another unified high school plan to be presented again?
Then again, if the newly elected school board members present this plan in a referendum – as most said they would do while running for office – voters will soon get a chance to have their say. And since past polls show most county residents have little appetite for these kind of wholesale changes, schools are expected to stay the same for awhile.
David Brown is publisher of the Cherokee Scout. You can reach him by phone, 828-837-5122; email, dbrown@cherokeescout.com; or Twitter @daviddBstroh.