A large crowd of Highlands residents made their way to Franklin to voice their displeasure regarding a recent joint decision between the Macon County Board of Education and Macon County Board of Commissioners to cancel an expansion project at Highlands School.
Freda Bennett, a Highlands resident and retired schoolteacher, took the podium first and asked the board to reconsider the $4.7 million school expansion, which would include four new classrooms in the middle school building, a remodel and renovation of the media center/library, the remodel of two classrooms for career and technical education, and the addition of two Pre-K classrooms.
“I ask this board to look at this from our point of view in Highlands and consider what our students need,” Bennett said. “We currently have 900 slots for daycare or Pre-K in Macon County, but according to the most recent census we have approximately 1,800 residents under the age of five.”
Bennett added it was confusing why the county board would cancel a contract for architectural services, signed by the previous board, when the county has already spent approximately $35,000 as part of that contract.
Commissioner John Shearl, who represents the Highlands district, interjected during the public comment period and addressed Bennett’s comments.
“It is not this board’s job to tell the school board what to do or what to prioritize,” Shearl said. “That $35,000 that we’ve spent is not wasted money. From my understanding, this project is not dead. It’s just not going to happen during this budget cycle (2023-24).”
Bennett was unmoved by Shearl’s explanation of the situation.
“It seems so very odd to me that I am having to argue Highlands’ position with the person who is elected to represent Highlands,” Bennett said. “I’ve read about this project, I’ve studied and studied, but I simply don’t understand why it’s been canceled.”
Highlands resident and business owner Jerry Moore used his time at the podium to question what Macon County can and cannot afford when it comes to the school system.
“Adding Pre-K classrooms is vital to Highlands, but this project is much more than that, because it will expand the school on multiple fronts,” Moore said. “I’ve seen priority lists, I’ve watched the past few meetings where this project has been discussed, but at no point have I seen any discussion of what we can afford to do now, or how much we may be able to afford in future years.”
Moore added that Highlands, and Highlands’ robust economy, are vital to the future of Macon County. Highlands accounts for roughly 50 percent of Macon County’s ad valorem property tax value and is also a boon for sales tax revenue and occupancy tax revenue.
“We understand that building a new Franklin High School is on the priority list, and we support that, because it’s a needed project,” Moore said. “I personally support building a new track at Macon Middle School, because I know how important sports are to our kids, and none of us want students to go to school at Nantahala without a working sewer system. We aren’t asking to be put ahead of those projects, just to be considered equally.”
Highlands resident Carter Davis echoed Moore’s comments and added that he has been tuned in to the goings on at Highlands School for decades.
“I’ve been a vocal supporter of Highlands School for more than 30 years, and I support this project specifically because it serves the families that live here year-round,” Davis said. “I don’t think much more needs to be said. This would be good for our students.”
Highlands resident and business owner Jeff Weller pointed out that the Advancing Highlands Education Committee has been working on the school expansion for close to two years, and first brought the project to the Board of Commissioners attention in March 2022.
“It’s been called the ‘Highlands Pre-K Project’ but it’s so much more than that,” Weller said. “I’ve been involved with the school for a long time and the media center hasn’t been touched in 30 years. We have a computer lab that has no windows, it’s essentially a large closet. We have high school students having classes in the elementary wing because we don’t have enough middle school classrooms, so we have had to shuffle classes around. This project could alleviate all those issues.”
Bonnie Potts, executive director of the Literacy and Learning Center in Highlands, shared her real-world experiences regarding students who don’t have access to Pre-K programs.
“We have 50 students in our afterschool program and another 12 on the waiting list right now,” Potts said. “More than a third of the students in our program are kindergarten or first graders. Many of them don’t have letter and number recognition skills, they lack basic building blocks for reading and comprehension, because they didn’t get Pre-K services.”
Highlands resident Jim Oesterle added that Highlands’ current daycare options are at capacity and Pre-K would take pressure off local families who need childcare in order to work and live in the area.
“We have two large daycare facilities, and they are at capacity with 60-70 kids on waiting lists,” Oesterle said. “I didn’t keep track of this project once we were assured that it was moving forward, because I felt like it was in good hands. Having Pre-K is critical, and I would ask the board to restore the funding that was allotted for this project by the previous board.”
Shearl interjected a second time and pointed out that his three children were enrolled in daycare in Highlands when they were young and he understood the needs of working families in the Highlands area. He was rebuffed by members of the audience.
“I have spoken to Mayor Taylor about this project, and we discussed it for 45 minutes,” Shearl said. “I have a lot of information about Pre-K in Highlands, and I will present it at a public meeting in Highlands. I promise.”
“When and where will you be having that meeting, because we’ll all be there,” Highlands resident and business owner Derek Taylor said. “Please get that agenda together and get it to us, so we can get it in the paper, and we can have that meeting because it needs to be done.”
Highlands resident Bill Edwards asked Shearl to be a willing communicator with the constituents in his district.
“We need you to talk to us, not once, not twice, but regularly,” Edwards said. “I would invite you to come speak to our Rotary Club in Highlands. There are outlets for you to communicate with us and those lines of communication need to be open consistently.”
So many people chose to speak during public comment on Tuesday, primarily about two topics – the Highlands School project and the state of the Macon County Public Library – that the commissioners meeting had to moved to the large courtroom on the fourth floor of the courthouse.