Wednesday, August 23, 2000

My family has resided in Fayette County for 22 years, all but two of them in Peachtree City. During these years we have seen a number of bond referendums for the construction of new schools. We voted in favor of some when they made sense and voted against others when the board failed to present a valid arguement to win our vote.

However, through all of them, the war cry of “you better vote yes or your children will be in trailers” was heard loud and clear.

History has shown that no matter whether the referendum passed or failed, the trailers arrived.

Now the board asks us to give carte blanche through a SPLOST to build more schools. Has anyone heard a statement that if we pass the SPLOST the board plans to remove any trailers? Are there any plans to cancel the orders for the trailers that haven’t yet arrived at our schools? Is the board ready to design and build a scool that won’t be overcrowded within two years of its opening?

If you want our vote in favor of SPLOST, tell us how many new classrooms you will build and how many trailers you will remove.

Tell us how you will provide funds so that parents won’t have to include a line item in our budgets to finance our children’s participation in school activities like drama, band, color guard, etc.

Tell us that you will fund supplies like paper, pencils, chalk, so teachers won’t have to ask for contributions from home.

If it means that you might not be able to replace the carpet in the administrative offices, live with it!

Get your priorities straight, tell us specifically how you plan to spend the money, then maybe, just maybe, you will have a chance at getting a SPLOST past the voters.

Andre De Lorenzo
Peachtree City

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