BOE: Bonds, not SPLOST

No numbers yet for how many schools, costs

By PAT NEWMAN
pnewman@thecitizennews.com

Fayette voters will decide in the Nov. 7 general election whether to approve bonds to fund several new schools. The Fayette County Board of Education in a 3-to-2 vote Monday night approved calling for a bond referendum rather than a special local option sales tax.

School Superintendent Dr. John DeCotis recommended that the board take action immediately in order to beat the month-end deadline for placing a referendum on the ballot. “If we miss this opportunity, we’d have to do it [as a] special election again,” DeCotis said, noting the cost of running a special referendum election is $30,000.

School finance director Jim Stephens said the school district now has $80 million outstanding in bond indebtedness. The maximum allowed is $260 million, before reassessments, or 10 percent of the net tax digest. “We’re far away from being maxed out,” Stephens said.

During the referendum discussion, DeCotis said his personal preference was for a bond. “I’m leaning toward a bond. You get the money up front; you don’t have to wait for the money to trickle in (like a sales tax)... you know how much you have... you can provide the citizens with quicker relief.”

Board Chairman Debbie Condon said, “I truly believe SPLOST is the way to go, but I will vote for a bond if it will help the children...”

Board member Woody Shelnutt voted against the recommendation, along with board member Connie Hale. “It leaves a lot of things unsaid... will we be prepared (for the referendum) or will this be perceived as a shotgun marriage... it’s awful quick.”

Shelnutt, Hale and Condon will step down at the end of the year, leaving three new board members to deal with the ramifications of a passed or failed referendum. “If the referendum passes in November, they are the ones to get it pushed,” Shelnutt said.

Last year’s push for a special local options sales tax (SPLOST) failed, as did another attempt before that. Despite the popularity of SPLOSTs as a funding mechanism among 144 Georgia school districts, Fayette County voters are split on the issue.

Fayette remains the only county in the state which has held a SPLOST referendum and defeated it.

The board will meet again tonight at 7:30 p.m. to work out the specifics of the bond referendum such as the amount and projects to be funded.

Based on the figures contained in the school district’s Five Year Facilities Plan, top priorities include additions at Whitewater, J.C. Booth and Fayette middle schools, which are already funded and ready to begin construction this fall at a local cost of a little more than $1 million with state funding of about $6 million, three elementary schools at approximately $8 million each, and upgrades and renovations at 13 schools totalling $10.3 million.

Proposed additional facilities contained in the plan include a new middle school for $14 million and a new high school for $26 million.

The total of all the projects, minus the middle school additions which are already budgeted, and the middle and high school comes to $37,384,000. These figures are solely for construction and do not include land costs, school furnishings and start up fees.

DeCotis nudged the board toward a vote, following a review of the recommendations made by the board-appointed Facilities Advisory and Action Committees. Last week, the action committee voted 11-to-4 to suggest a SPLOST, adding they would support either a SPLOST or bond, while the advisory group voted 9-to-7 for a bond, also promising support of either funding option.

The group met a half dozen times to grapple with options on how to deal with overcrowding in the county schools. With almost all facilities at or exceeding student capacity levels, one thing was clear — some action must be taken.

The committee, composed of school officials, parents, municipal and county officials and building and development professionals prioritized possible options for dealing with overcrowding whether a referendum is passed or not. These recommendations are to add portable classrooms at overcrowded schools whenever feasible, redistrict the most overcrowded facilities to make best use of available classroom place in less crowded schools, consider double or split sessions and finally, consider a trimester year-round school program.

Board members-elect Janet Smola and Terri Smith came forward at the end of the meeting to note their appreciation of the council’s concern for their position and voice support of the board’s decision. The November election will decide who will take Post 3, either former board member Marion Key or Bill Bryan, who is running as a pro-school-choice candidate.