On April 13th, 2018, the Cherokee Office of Economic Development (COED) officially launched the “Cherokee by Choice” campaign.  The #CherokeebyChoice hashtag accompanied the new campaign for push on social media.  I saw #cherokeebychoice meaning that I choose to be here and am choosing to give back to my community by taking actions that demonstrate my commitment not only to its continued business development but also the attitude within it.

I thought the messaging behind this program was well targeted.  Residents of Cherokee County are unique in that we not only take pride in our community, many residents take ownership in maintaining the atmosphere within it, and respect each other along the way. The saying, “Don’t f--- with me and I won’t f--- with you,” is very representative in the citizenry of our county. This attitude was also reflected in the decision by the Cherokee County School District (CCSD) to allow parents to decide how best to protect and educate their children for the 2020-21 school year.  Now, many misguided residents and the media are portraying the Cherokee County School Board as heartless and, in some cases, murderous. I wish CCSD had taken a page from COED and branded their back to school campaign “Choice by Cherokee,” #ChoicebyCherokee so all residents could better understand that everyone has a choice.

‍The Role of Parents and School Systems

‍As the now proud parent of two (2) young boys that we recently adopted through Cherokee County DFCS in July 2020, my view of the primary role of a parent has become very clear. Protecting your child(ren) and keeping them safe is the primary role of a parent.  As kids get older, the primary role shifts towards teaching them to protect themselves and others that they care about.  This does not necessarily mean owning guns, learning martial arts, etc., though it could. It means teaching them to think for themselves which hopefully translates into making the best decisions for their lives and the lives of those they choose to associate with as they age.

The primary role of every public-school system is to educate the kids they serve.  Safety is likely a secondary or tertiary responsibility, but the primary role is educating the kids that are residents within their district.  My mother was a public-school teacher (elementary) in South Carolina for over 30+ years in some of the best districts and some of the worst in the state.  SC is proverbially one of the worst public school systems in the United States.  During her many years in the classroom, the two (2) biggest shifts she saw were the exponential increase in standardized oversight in every aspect of the classroom (No Child Left Behind, etc.) and the Change in Parental Responsibility from Parents to Teachers. Meaning, that Teachers were now, in many cases, required to parent kids vs just educating them.

Over the years, most parents have chosen to outsource their children’s education to the public-school system.  There is nothing wrong with that, I am a product of public education, and assume that the 90%+ of US Citizens were educated in some way by the public-school systems.  The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) found that the number of home schooled students in the US has increased from 850,000 in 1999 to 1,690,000 in 2016, meaning that the percentage of home schooled students increased from 1.7 percent to 3.3 percent in that same time period.  This increase in homeschooling could be attributed to any the following:  standardized testing vs teaching to think, one size fits all education, teaching policies being steered for students at the lowest levels vs all levels, safety concerns while in school, the overburdened and over stressed teachers, lack of parenting and the influence that has on parented kids, peer pressure and mental instability in teenagers (for more info, please read The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt), school serves as a daycare vs place of education, etc.  If you have other reasons, you can insert them for yourself, there are likely thousands.  Home schooling has become more mainstream and will become more popular as families deal with corona-virus.  I wish I had the ability to see the future and the results: Will the kids that were educated at home or those that were publicly educated going to be more successful post pandemic and later in life?

School Plans 

On July 9th, 2020, The Cherokee County School System (CCSD) announced its plan for school reopening on August 3rd and provided three (3) options to all parents: send your kid back to in person school, sign up and participate in CCSD’s digital learning, or withdraw your child from CCSD.  Here are how the choices were presented in early July:

• If you plan to send your child back to our campuses for Traditional In-Person learning, you do not need to do anything further. You will receive an email on July 29 asking you to complete our usual Back-to-School Gateway process to confirm emergency contacts and update other data.

• ‍If you plan to keep your child home and participate in our Digital Learning program, then you must by 5 p.m. Friday, July 17, complete the commitment form online at https://bit.ly/CCSDdlcommit20. There will be no exceptions. We are asking you to make a commitment to Digital Learning: for elementary school – for the first nine weeks (Aug. 3-Oct. 9); for middle and high school - for the entire first semester (Aug. 3-Dec. 18). This commitment is needed to have adequate staffing in place. After the July 17 deadline, our elementary schools will build class rosters; our middle and high schools will build classes and schedules, and school staff will contact these students to finalize their course selections. You also will receive an email on July 29 asking you to complete our usual Back-to-School Gateway process.

• ‍If you plan to withdraw your child from CCSD, you need to call or email your child’s school to advise them and arrange for records to be forwarded appropriately. Our school front office staff is answering calls from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

‍After these choices were presented, many parents rejoiced to have the opportunity to choose what was going to work best for their family.  Others began to voice concern over the plan. What about mask requirements? What about my immuno-compromised, autistic, special needs, etc. child? What about the teachers? What if they get sick? How are you going to communicate when a child contracts corona-virus? These are all reasonable and coherent concerns; however, you must first conclude that there is NEVER GOING TO BE A GOOD SOLUTION. 

Do you choose to die now from COVID or die later from starvation?

Mohamed A. El-Erian

Whatever you, as a parent, elect as your decision for you, your children), and your family, you must protect your children first.  I do not know the woman in the title picture (Photo credit to @bronsonkurtz) but assume she has a least 1 child in CCSD.  If I spoke to her, I might say the following, “If you believe Cherokee County is not providing a safe environment, why are you as a parent even considering sending them back?  The “blood” is on your hands, not that of CCSD, if you make the wrong decision. You are their parent.”  This is not an easy conversation to have with any parent, but it is a reasonable one.  If you as a parent fully grasp and are responsible for your primary role, the decision on how to participate in CCSD for the 2020-21 school year is easy, but difficult to implement.

What about the teachers? They are putting themselves in harm's way to educate our children.

‍Anytime anyone leaves their house, they are increasing the probability of contracting corona-virus and the consequences that entails.  Teachers are no different.  They are at a higher probability of viral contraction by going to work.  While all public school teachers are drastically underpaid, overworked, and underappreciated overall, none of them are being forced to return to school.  We live in a “right to work state.” This means that teachers can choose to be employed by the district or self terminate their employment based on the policies CCSD has implemented for returning to school.  Even though most teachers likely signed their contracts sometime over the summer, I hardly think that CCSD would have enforced those agreements if any teacher had a legitimate health concern over returning to school and was voluntarily choosing to resign after reading the guidelines released after signing their agreement.  If citizens wanted to see real change, this would be the opportunity to discuss teacher satisfaction in an over regulated environment and a justifiable increase in base salaries.  Doing so would lend itself to better long term educational standards, happier teachers (during and outside of the pandemic period), and better outcomes for all of those being educated in our public school systems.

‍The Media

‍This past Saturday morning, 8/8/2020, I volunteered to speak with Benjamin Pu from MSNBC about our experience with CCSD.  First, Ben was very professional, kind, inquisitive, and somewhat direct, great qualities for a reporter.  After I answered his call, he introduced himself, and gave me the primary reasoning for the call.  He did not speak as confidently at the beginning of our chat and mentioned that they were looking for parents that were having trouble navigating in person learning and/or digital learning through the county.  He also talked around what he was looking for, a negative story.  He then asked if I had kids in CCSD?

I mentioned that we had two (2) kids, 5 and 6 yrs old, that would have attended Arnold Mill Elementary this year, that our oldest attended the same school the previous year for kindergarten, had a great experience, that our youngest would have started this year, and both had been looking forward to the start of school.  I then mentioned that we had elected to home school for the 2020-21 school year and not because of safety concerns, but because we as parents felt that it was irresponsible for us to force them through another transition.  He then asked me to provide some additional details.  I mentioned that we had recently finalized their adoption through Cherokee County DFCS and when they moved in with us in August of 2018, we were their 6th home.  I discussed in detail how our kids, and most foster kids, deal with transitions and require routines and structure.  All kids thrive on structure, but foster kids require it for developmental success.  It also aids in building comfort and a feeling of permanency.  I mentioned that our oldest does not deal well with change.   When our oldest was abruptly sent home from Arnold Mill Elementary and our youngest from Woodhaven Academy (pre-k) due to the pandemic, we once again dealt with behavior issues and spent the months since then providing consistency, structure, and building routines.  I informed Ben that we were active in our community and informed him that my prediction was that the Cherokee County School System would be all digital by Christmas time due to an increase in corona virus cases in the schools.  Based on that prediction, we did not want to send our kids back to school to only have them come back home after a few months and elected to withdraw them from CCSD and home school.  Fortunately, my husband is a former high school teacher, and was willing to take on this incredible responsibility.  Despite having to make this tough decision, I told Ben that we supported the CCSD and appreciated that they provided the opportunity for all parents to choose what works best for their families. 

Once I covered that information, he appreciated the detailed narrative that went into our decision, but MSNBC was not going to have us participate.  They wanted parents that had kids enrolled in in-person learning and digital learning through the county and could show the challenges that they were facing.  Essentially, they only wanted to hear the negative experiences.  Even though I was very put off by the idea that homeschooling two (2) boys under age 6 is not “challenging,” I appreciated his time, and mentioned that if MSNBC wanted to tell the entire story, he was welcome to reach back out.

This means that out of the three (3) total options that CCSD presented, the media (in the form of MSNBC) was not even covering the third option: Homeschooling.  I assume because it does not fit in with the narrative they are attempting to portray from our county.

‍My Common Sense

As a parent, I want the best for both of my children.  My husband and I enable ourselves with the responsibility required to deliver what we believe will be “the best.”  We are not going to rely on other individuals or institutions to make that determination unless we believe their involvement will be of benefit to our family.  The best for me and my family, may be different than someone else.  People and families have different expectations, responsibilities, and opportunities to control the outcomes of their decisions.  Whether you support CCSD’s COVID initiatives or are vehemently opposed to them, you care about your children; however, be mindful that your parental emotion is going to affect your judgement.  Before you respond to a news story, a post, or a comment, etc. consider the overall situation. You may find that your well thought out response makes a lot more common sense.

I support Dr. Brian Hightower, the school board, the administrators, the teachers, and the entire staff of the Cherokee County School System.  I may not always agree with the details, but I support the overall decision by CCSD to allow all families the opportunity to choose.

If you want to have a constructive conversation about this or anything else, message me, and let's grab coffee or a beer.

Have a good one,

Dan