Cherokee County superintendent lays out four priorities for 2025-26, including reading interventions and high school replacement

Superintendent Dr. Davis told the Cherokee County School District board on May 15 that the district will carry four key priorities into the 2025–26 school year, including implementing new ELA and math instructional resources and piloting Orton‑Gillingham interventions for students who show gaps in foundational reading skills.

The priorities come at the end of a year of district engagement: Dr. Davis said there were “hundreds of school visits, 90 employee focus group meetings, and 20 parent partner focus group meetings” used to inform the district’s plan. “We are excited to celebrate our class of 2025,” she said at the start of her presentation.

Why it matters: district leaders said the effort is intended to raise reading and math proficiency across schools and to create clearer, more consistent expectations for behavior and student accountability. The superintendent identified reading on grade level as a central goal and said the district will “pilot Orton Gillingham as an intervention tool for readers who are showing gaps in the fundamental skills.”

Board members heard that the district will monitor progress toward the new achievement goals in ELA and math and will “set out to study promotion retention and grading to consider whether policy improvements might be appropriate for following years,” language Dr. Davis used when describing the monitoring work the board will undertake.

Dr. Davis also reported on facilities planning. She described the Cherokee High School replacement project as a district priority and said the district will host community feedback sessions about the future of the current Cherokee High School campus and the CHS North site as part of the transition planning.

The superintendent described forthcoming changes to the district code of conduct that will emphasize stronger consequences for vaping and school threats, and that will address use of cell phones, school attire, and timely submission of student work as part of promoting academic responsibility.

Discussion versus decision: the presentation was an informational and planning report from the superintendent; no formal board action or policy vote on the priorities was recorded in the work session. Dr. Davis said she will continue to report progress to the board through regular board reports.

Looking ahead: Dr. Davis closed by noting the district is preparing for the 2025–26 school year, which she said is “less than 80 days away.”