Meet Cherokee County’s School Board BY BARBARA P. JACOBY
Cherokee County’s children are served by an award-winning group of elected officials, who make up the Cherokee County School Board. The school board consists of six members: Robert Rechsteiner, Kelly Poole, John Harmon, Patsy Jordan, Clark Menard and Mike Chapman, who are elected by posts, and Chair Kyla Cromer, who is elected countywide. Combined, they have more than 60 years of service to the students of the Cherokee County School District (CCSD). The school board has earned consecutive top honors from the Georgia School Boards Association, and was named a finalist for the state’s Governance Team of the Year award, to be presented this month. Board members do much more than participate in a monthly public meeting. Among their many roles, they research issues in preparation for board meeting votes; undergo regular governance and ethics training; attend district and school events, and respond to parent communications. They approve school board policy changes, the district’s annual budget, significant expenditures such as construction projects, new curriculum adoption and hiring the superintendent. They also review student discipline and employee termination appeals. Cromer, a former elementary school teacher, volunteered as a school, county and state PTA leader before joining the board. Now, in her eighth year on the board, and her sixth year as the countywide-elected chair, Cromer resides in BridgeMill and is mom to two daughters who are CCSD graduates. Vice Chair Rechsteiner of southwest Cherokee, known by his nickname, Rick Steiner, from his professional wrestling career, began his service as a longtime 48
AROUND WOODSTOCK | December 2021
From left, front row: Kelly Poole, Chair Kyla Cromer and Patsy Jordan. Back row: Clark Menard, John Harmon, Mike Chapman, Vice Chair Robert “Rick Steiner” Rechsteiner and Superintendent Brian V. Hightower.
youth sports volunteer. A 16-year member on the board and a Realtor, Rechsteiner’s three sons are CCSD graduates. Currently in her second term, Poole, of BridgeMill, joined the board to expand upon her longtime service with PTA. She is a bookkeeper with experience in nonprofits and audits, and her daughter and son are CCSD graduates. Jordan, of the Yellow Creek community, has been a part of CCSD all of her life, including serving as a school custodian, bus driver and teacher. After retiring, Jordan continued to serve by joining the board in 2012, and she is serving her third term. Harmon expanded upon his service through coaching sports
and serving on the Hickory Flat Elementary School Council by joining the board in 2014. He is in his second term. A businessman, Harmon and his wife share five children, and three are CCSD students. A certified public accountant, Menard, of Woodstock, joined the board in 2015 after serving as youth sports coach and PTA volunteer. He is in his second term. One of his daughters is a CCSD graduate, and one is a Woodstock High School senior. Chapman, of Canton, has served on the board for more than 16 years, including four years as chair. An executive for Morrison Products in Canton, his wife is a CCSD teacher, and their two sons are district graduates.
Barbara P. Jacoby serves as chief communications officer for the Cherokee County School District, and is a CCSD parent with four children.
