Soon I will announce my intention to be a candidate for the Cobb County School Board Post 5. There is one issue that I believe need to be addressed by the Board and citizens of Cobb County.
SPLOST III – The School Board has not done an adequate job of communicating the need for another SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax). I believe it is needed to support the level of growth and infrastructure the School system will need in the coming years. I did have reservations about the benefits promised when the first SPLOST was proposed. There is little doubt that under the past and current School Board the school system has benefited from the use of the those SPLOST funds, 44% of which are paid by persons from outside of Cobb county. SPLOST funds also help offset the more than $125 million dollars Cobb County taxpayers contribute to QBE each year, an amount that continues to rise each year.
Confidence and trust in our School Board, former Superintendent and the SPLOST were called into question with the attempt to divert SPLOST funds for a purpose not originally stated in the specifications. This resulted in several School Board members being replaced by the voters. The issue has since been resolved and SPLOST funds have been spent in accordance with their intended purpose.
With each SPLOST there is a debate surrounding the timing of the vote as to whether it should be held on a date prior to the November General Election. The argument centers on turnout and cost, the latter saving the taxpayers approximately $500,000. There are two schools of thought to this debate. First, the Board wants SPLOST III to pass and the Board understands that in a special election the likelihood of passing the SPLOST III are much greater since there is traditionally a lower voter turnout. Those supporting a SPLOST III vote in conjunction with the General Election argue in favor of convenience, cost and greater voter participation. So is there right and wrong on this issue? The answer is political and will ultimately be decided based on input from County stakeholders and the Business Community.
The issue of the SPLOST tax consequences on Senior citizens needs to be addressed. As a senior citizen, who is no longer required to pay school taxes, I have no objection to paying a penny in Sales Tax when it benefits both our students and our home values. For many years I paid school taxes and was the beneficiary of a quality education for my 4 children, all of whom went to Cobb County public schools. An analysis of previous SPLOST initiatives reveals that senior citizens have been very supportive of our educational system, so I think I can speak for the majority of Senior citizens in Cobb that we will continue to do so in the future.
Since the School Board has “Zero Tolerance” for certain conduct behavior, why doesn’t the School Board adopt a “ZERO TOLERANCE for TRAILERS” position.
As a candidate for the Cobb County School Board Post 5 (northeast Cobb), I would encourage the current Board members adopt a ZERO Tolerance policy, that with acceptance of SPLOST III by the voters, there be a provision that within the next three years that trailer classrooms be eliminated. This is not “pie in the sky” or “wishful thinking”, but something the Board can make happen if it so chooses. I call on the Board to be proactive in this movement and set a goal for this to happen and not acceptance of the Administration’s position that trailers will continue in use.
Having read in the MDJ recently, concerning adding classrooms and trailers under SPLOST II, there were classrooms constructed at schools that had declining enrollment while trailers were still in use at other schools. I suspect that the legal position under SPLOST II was that the money could not be diverted since there was specific wording that classrooms were to be built for these designated schools. Under SPLOST III, I hope the Board will use legal wording that will allow for fund diversion when there is a high probability that enrollment may drop in one location and increase in another. There needs to be legal flexibility to meet the needs of the student population.
I call upon the current School Board to be good stewards of the taxpayer’s money and adopt a ZERO TOLERANCE for TRAILERS.