In this Issue of Hey Cherokee County…

✅ School Board Chair Unveils Two-Phase School Fix — And Says It Won't Add to Your Local Tax Bill

✅ Murphy Council Advances Changes to Pool Hall Rules

Cherokee County Events

August 4th

August 11th

August 15th

August 20th

August 22nd

August 26th

September 16th-19th

September 26th

October 31st

November 21st

Publisher’s Note: This is Part 2 of a two-part series based on an interview with Steve Coleman, Chairman of the Cherokee County Board of Education.

Steve Coleman has a habit of saying things that sound too simple to be true.

Take this one: he wants to consolidate four Cherokee County schools into one new pre-K through eighth grade campus, rebuild Murphy High School, and do it all without raising local tax bills a single dollar.

"Our plan is based off the needs-based grant — period, end of story," he said. "If we as a school board bring the county commissioners a plan that is inside the realm of that grant money and I'm not asking you for a penny — technically, I have alleviated you of your obligation. Your answer to our plan is yes."

Coleman — a building contractor by trade, a board of education chairman by service — says he's been running the numbers on this for years. And they keep coming back the same way. That groundwork, Coleman said, led to reorganizing Martins Creek School — converting it from a K-8 campus to a PK-5 elementary school in 2024, and moving its middle schoolers to Murphy Middle. It was a move Coleman supported as a stepping stone toward the larger plan.

With that piece already in place, Coleman champions additional moves that unfold in two distinct phases. Phase one is consolidation: four schools — Murphy Elementary, Murphy Middle, Peachtree Elementary, and Martin's Creek Elementary — come together into one new campus serving pre-K through eighth grade. He said that consolidation would allow more students to participate in art, music, and other activities not offered at some schools due to limited resources. 

Phase two is rebuilding: once the middle school population moves to the new consolidated campus, that building becomes available — giving the county the existing space and infrastructure needed to pursue a second grant to rebuild Murphy High School on the same site where it already stands, using the vacated middle school as temporary classrooms during construction. 

"Your first plan helps you with the second plan," Coleman said. "In two grant cycles, you can fix the entire central part of the county — which is the majority of your student base."

Coleman is adamant that both phases can be paid for entirely through the state's needs-based grant program, plus any required local match — without adding a single dollar to local tax bills.

That conviction is also what put him at odds with the previous consolidation effort — the one that ultimately ended when county commissioners voted to rescind the required local match and formally declined $50 million in grant money from the state. 

Coleman said his concerns at the time weren't political — they were financial. Too many of the dollars the previous plan depended on had been promised but never secured, Coleman said, leaving too many unanswered questions about what the project would actually cost and who would be left holding the bill.

"It's no different than if you came to me and said, 'Steve, I want you to build me this house' — and we get ready to start and you tell me, 'hey, by the way, will you please finish my house and when we get done I'll pay you back?' Pound sand, brother. I ain't building your house."

The new plan, he says, is built on an entirely different foundation — one where the funding is identified and secured before a single shovel hits the ground.

"You're not asking for more resources," Coleman said. "You're being a better steward of what you've got."

When asked his top three priorities as commissioner, Coleman didn't hesitate.

"Undoubtedly the school system," he said, quickly acknowledging how that sounds. "I've heard people say, 'the only reason you're running for commissioner is the school system.' What's my job right now? Of course."

His second priority is housing — something he already works on personally, building apartments and buying and renovating homes to resell.

Third is expanding county opportunity — more aggressively pursuing grants, attracting businesses, and making Cherokee County economically self-sustaining.

He said the thread connecting all three priorities is the same: fix the school system and everything else gets easier. Families with kids check school ratings. Businesses look at population numbers. A stronger school system attracts more families, which grows the tax base, which brings more business, which gives young people a reason to stay, he said. 

But Coleman is candid about why getting elected matters beyond just having the right priorities. The plan he's spent four years building doesn't implement itself — and he says he’s watched too many good ideas die somewhere between discussion and action at the county level. 

"Somewhere in this county there is a pile of cans the size of my house that have been kicked down the road," he said. "It's just talking, talking, talking — and at the end of the day, nothing. That is the most frustrating part."

Coleman knows better than anyone how quickly a plan inherited by people who weren't there when it was built can be shelved. His own school board seat is changing — new members are coming in — and he's already made his position clear to the colleagues who remain: stay the course. He says four years of running every possible scenario keeps pointing back to the same answer, and changing course now only adds one more can to the pile.

But he acknowledges that if elected commissioner, his role would shift. And if the school board brings him a plan that stays within the bounds of available grant funding — not asking for a single additional tax dollar other than the required local match — he’ll support it. 

"When I get there, it doesn't matter if the school system brings me something I don't agree with," Coleman said. "As long as they're not asking me for money, my answer is yes."

Paid for by Steve Coleman, candidate for the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners District 3 seat. Hey Cherokee County accepts paid political advertising. Candidates and campaigns may contact us for rates and availability.

The Murphy Town Council unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance Monday night that would allow qualifying businesses to operate an additional pool or billiard table and extend the nightly playing hours by 45 minutes.

Town officials said the ordinance amendment was requested by a local business seeking to expand.

Under the proposed ordinance, businesses that have operated continuously at the same location within the town for at least one year could have two pool or billiard tables available for customers instead of the current limitation of one. The minimum age of 18 to play would remain unchanged.

The ordinance would also extend permitted playing hours until 11:45 p.m., instead of the current 11 p.m. cutoff. Play would continue to be prohibited between 11:45 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Because the ordinance includes criminal penalties for violations, it must receive a second reading and another pass vote before it becomes law. 

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