Jason Murphy hopes to represent District 3 on the Cherokee County Board of Education so he can lead by example.
Murphy, 34, lives in the Violet area with his wife and two young sons, one of whom is already in kindergarten at Hiwassee Dam Elementary School, while the other will attend pre-kindergarten next year. The Republican candidate describes himself as a “dad that’s scared to death about what kind of future his kids are going to have.”
Murphy has seen some of those societal problems first hand over the past 13 years during his career in law enforcement – first as a Cherokee County sheriff’s deputy, today as an investigator with the Murphy Police Department.
“Just watching the moral and ethical decline all across the country ... I want to be able to look my sons in the eye one day and tell them, ‘You have to stand for what you believe in,’ and if I don’t do it now then I’ll be a hypocrite, and I can’t be a hypocrite to my sons,” Murphy said.
“I was blessed with great parents and a good community to grow up in, and that’s what I want to continue for them. The way I see things, their future is not looking too bright – so if I can head some of it off now, that’s what I want to do.”
Murphy draws on his experience in law enforcement to hone his leadership skills. He said he has seen how good leaders can inspire others to work harder, while bad leaders can kill morale. He also draws from his faith and leadership roles within the church as a member and deacon at Unaka Baptist Church, where he and his wife teach the teenage-level Sunday school class.
“I’m very strong in my faith,” Murphy said. “If I can show good morality, good ethics and professionalism, maybe it’ll have a trickle effect.”
Murphy said he’s against plans for one unified high school and would prefer to see elementary and middle schools consolidated while the high schools are left as they are. While he sees the advantages of a single high school, he doesn’t think they outweigh the community identity provided by high schools such as Hiwassee Dam.
“I do think something needs to happen, but I would prefer to see the high schools stay the way they are,” Murphy said. “(Hiwassee Dam High School) is the heart and soul of that community. I hate to see that taken out because if Hiwassee Dam loses that school, they’ve basically lost a sense of who they are.”
Murphy said he would have preferred to see the issue placed on a ballot referendum and wishes the public had received more information about other proposals that were considered, and why they did not work. Despite his opposition to the plans, he believes the issue may ultimately be decided by grant funding.
“There’s been a grant of up to $50 million that’s been applied for, and I think once we find out about that it’ll ultimately determine the future of this plan,” Murphy said. “Honestly, if you get a $50 million grant, I don’t think it would make good sense to send that money back just because you don’t like something.”
While school consolidation is a hot topic at the moment, Murphy believes the biggest issues that students will face will come from outside Cherokee County.
“I’ve spoken with current and former educators, and critical race as a curriculum is not being taught in the classrooms here, which I’m happy about, but we have to make sure it doesn’t make it into the classroom,” he said.
“One problem I could see potentially is, everyone sees the world through a different lens. What we have to make sure doesn’t happen is teachers’ opinions are not being taught in the classroom.”