Barbara Jacoby

BY BARBARA P. JACOBY

The Cherokee County School District is building for the future with the construction of two new schools.

Thanks to county voters’ renewal of the 1% education special-purpose local-option sales tax (E-SPLOST), the school district can fund building replacements for two historic campuses: Cherokee High School and Free Home Elementary School.

Estimated to cost more than $100 million, the Cherokee High project is scheduled for completion in three phases. The first phase, which has been completed, designed the new campus that will be constructed on 88 acres north of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard and adjacent to the current Teasley Middle School campus in Canton. The second phase is site preparation, which is scheduled for approval by the school board this fall. The third phase is construction, which is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2023, pending board approval, and will take two and a half years to complete.

The core of the historic Cherokee High campus is nearly 70 years old, and many additions and improvements have been made over its history. The new high school will include classrooms for all of its current programs, with a capacity to serve more than 3,000 students, as well as a new football stadium and athletic complex. Many updated school design features will be incorporated inside the new brick facade building, including special attention to safety and security.

As with other school replacement projects, all Cherokee High students will move to the new campus together when it opens. While the school board has not yet voted on plans for future use of the current campus, members have discussed such options as returning the Cherokee North building, which formerly housed Canton Elementary School, back to that original use. Board members also have discussed possibly repurposing the main campus, such as for the new home of the Cherokee College & Career Academy, or for other special academic programs.

The school district’s major construction project budget includes another long-awaited replacement: the historic Free Home Elementary School campus.

At the community’s request, Free Home Elementary has continued to serve students even after the opening of the new Ball Ground Elementary. With Highway 20’s widening nearly to its door, the school’s families asked the school board to consider building a replacement school to keep their community intact. Thanks to the support of the county government, a new nearby location on 40 acres, at the intersection of Highways 20 and 372, was identified and acquired. The new school, which is in the design phase, will include upgrades to match the design of other new elementary schools. The site preparation and construction contracts are scheduled for approval during the first quarter of 2023, with construction likely to begin in March and finish by January 2025.

Other upcoming projects include the construction of additional classrooms for Creekland Middle School and classrooms and a second gym for Creekview High School, with construction to begin in December for an August 2024 opening. Construction of additional classrooms for Woodstock High School is set to begin next spring for an August 2025 opening.

Barbara P. Jacoby serves as chief communications officer for the Cherokee County School District, and is a CCSD parent with four children.