Cherokee High to take Canton Elementary space

To relieve overcrowding, Cherokee High School will expand into the Canton Elementary School STEM Academy campus next door, with younger students moved to R.M. Moore and Knox elementary schools, the Cherokee County school board has decided. CHEROKEE COUNTY SCHOOLS

To relieve overcrowding, Cherokee High School will expand into the Canton Elementary School STEM Academy campus next door, with younger students moved to R.M. Moore and Knox elementary schools, the Cherokee County school board has decided. CHEROKEE COUNTY SCHOOLS

The Canton Elementary School STEM Academy will become an extension of Cherokee High School in the 2018-19 school year, with younger students temporarily moved to R.M. Moore and Knox elementary schools to make room for their older peers.

That was the solution to overcrowding at the Canton high school arrived at by the Cherokee County school board, acting on the recommendation of Superintendent Brian V. Hightower, until a new high school can be built. The plan also will reduce district operating costs by $1.5 million over five years, officials said.

“These are kids that we love. These are teachers we respect,” Hightower told the school board just before the unanimous vote Dec. 14. “This is really the first tough decision in regard to attendance areas that we’ve had to make in recent years.”

Moore and Knox both have sufficient space for the Canton Elementary students, Hightower said. A total of 520 students will move to Moore, and 270, to Knox, and the two campuses will become STEM academies.

Information: http://bit.ly/2jWpqQ4