Johnson: School consolidation off the table

By Scott Wright

CENTRE — An independent audit conducted over the past several months by a private firm has concluded that recent calls to devise a plan to consolidate schools in Cherokee County are unwarranted.

“We have some facility needs and I thought it would be a good idea for someone from the outside to come in, analyze where we are and give their opinion about what needs to be done,” Superintendent of Schools Brian Johnson told The Post.

The Gude Management Group, LLC, was hired last fall by the Cherokee County Board of Education to determine whether the current eight campuses will be adequate to sustain any increase in the county's K-12 population over the next 20 years. Gude was also charged with searching out other ways to increase academic productivity.

During a 90-minute slide presentation on April 16, Gude representative Steve Salmon informed Johnson and board members that because of flat population growth estimates for the county through 2025, he believes any type of school consolidation would essentially squander existing facilities and waste limited financial resources.

“There is no compelling reason to (conduct) any school closures,” Salmon said. “I have no recommendations, just options.”

Salmon used population projections supplied by the State Data Center in Tuscaloosa to extrapolate population figures for Cherokee County. While Salmon determined the overall population in the county will rise to around 34,200 by 2025 (from a current number of around 26,000), he used recent student rolls supplied by Johnson to determine that the county's K-12 population will actually decline over the same period, from 4,000 now to around 3,850 in 2025.

“Most population growth around the Weiss Lake area will be from retirees,” Salmon predicted. “Barring some unforeseen event,” such as a major plant opening in the area and increasing the working age population, he explained.

“I was very pleased with the audit, and in the process I learned a lot from Mr. Salmon,” Johnson said. “He has worked in small systems and large systems, and it was a good process for us to go through. We needed to find out where we're going and see if that's where we want to be.”

Several consolidation options offered

The Board of Education paid Gude Management $7,500 for the study (the funds were raised through a state grant obtained with the help of Rep. Richard Lindsey), so Salmon presented several different consolidation scenarios and gave estimates of the costs in 2007 dollars.

Among the possibilities Salmon laid out was one to consolidate all the 9-12 students in the county into either one or two large high schools, while keeping existing campuses in the towns of Cedar Bluff, Gaylesville, Sand Rock and Spring Garden open to students in grades K-8. Salmon estimated the cost to be around $35 million.

Another option consisted of sending 9-12 students at Cedar Bluff and Gaylesville to Cherokee County High School. Salmon said that plan, if carried out, would necessitate the construction of around 13 additional classrooms at CCHS. He also pointed out that the option would leave dozens of classrooms unoccupied at Cedar Bluff and Gaylesville and cost a total of around $15 million, provided construction began almost immediately.

“That's something that you definitely hear from time to time,” Johnson said, referring to calls for consolidation. “Whenever I go out and talk to people about the needs we have for the kids in our county, someone tells me combining would solve all our problems.”

Johnson said he understands that when people see other communities in the region consolidate their schools and enjoy success, they assume the same plan would be beneficial for Cherokee County. But Johnson says there are several reasons why that's not necessarily the case.

“When you look at consolidation in areas like Gadsden and Rome, Ga., you may be talking about busing students a distance of five miles,” Johnson said. “In Cherokee County, that's not the case. Our communities are spread out. Plus, Mr. Salmon pointed out that the northern area of the county is primed for some growth in the future. It wouldn't be very smart to close down Gaylesville and Cedar Bluff now and then have to build two new schools in 15 years.”

Johnson said another important reason for keeping all the current campuses open is the sense of community that each school brings to the people who live nearby.

“I saw it when I was the principal at Sand Rock, and I see it even more now as superintendent,” Johnson said. “That school is almost the lifeblood in every one of those communities, and we'd lose that if we consolidated.”

Johnson also pointed out the unique ability a rural school setting creates for teachers to have real influence on all their students. He counts himself among the thousands who have benefitted from that interaction over the years.

“I feel that I was truly helped by this county's education system,” said Johnson, a 1985 Cedar Bluff graduate. “Not that I was headed in the wrong direction, but my school was small and I had teachers who counseled me and mentored me. When a school is small, sometimes it keeps kids from getting lost in the shuffle.”

Johnson said he went into the audit presentation with an open mind, and at one point wondered himself if consolidation was a viable option.

“It was necessary to look and see if consolidation was an answer for us,” Johnson said. “Are we managing our money the way we need to? We feel like the audit confirmed that we are operating very efficiently and we do have good schools. We just have some facility needs.”

Ultimately, Salmon created one scenario for his presentation -- completely on his own, Johnson pointed out -- that pretty much mirrored what Johnson and the board members have felt for some time is the best bet for making sure every student in the county gets an equal shot at an education. The option calls for a new middle school in Centre and a new gymnasium at Sand Rock. The cost, in current dollars, is around $13 million.

“I feel positive about where we're going, but we are going to have to create additional incentive to get these two facilities built soon,” Johnson said. “The two communities are already working and raising money to build the school and the gym, and we're right there with them.”

State bond money won't be enough

Johnson said the school system hopes to receive somewhere around $5 million from a statewide $850 million school construction bond issue the Legislature is working on, but admits that number still leaves the system around $8 million short of the funds needed to build the two facilities.

“This is a priority for the Board of Education now, and I know there is a gap between the bond issue and where we need to be,” Johnson said. “But we have been talking to the state department and others to come up with some ideas and we hope we'll be able to meet those financial needs in the near future.”

Asked one more time for a reaffirmation, Johnson repeated the board of education's opposition to further calls for school consolidation.

“I don't want to come out and say I'm totally against consolidation no matter what, because I am for whatever is best for the education of our students, and to do that in Cherokee County we don't need to consolidate our schools,” Johnson said. “The board members and I believe, and Mr. Salmon's audit confirmed, that we have an excellent system, one that is operating efficiently and putting out high-quality students.

“There's nothing broken here that needs to be fixed,” he added.