Wednesday, March 31, 2004
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Wednesday, March 31, 2004 |
| School board wants feedback on bond proposal, calendars By J. FRANK LYNCH Still feeling the sting from public reaction to unannounced cuts made in school bus routes last August, Fayette County school leaders are going out of their way this year to gauge opinion before moving forward on two issues. This week, two separate surveys were to be posted on the district’s Web site, www.fcboe.org, said spokeswoman Melinda Berry-Dreisbach. One asks for feedback on a series of calendar options proposed for the 2005-06 academic year. The other seeks input on a possible tax initiative for new school construction. Board of Education members are trying to decide whether to ask voters to approve a bond referendum or one-penny SPLOST in November to pay for a new middle school and three new elementary schools they say will be needed within five years. But when Whitewater High School opens in August, the county will have a surplus of more than 3,000 empty desks, at least temporarily. That’s why several questions in the survey also seek to measure local taxpayers on their understanding of the school crowding issue, how it can affect classroom instruction, and the possibility hundreds of new students will move in during the three or four years it takes to get new schools built and operational. “Our community is used to a certain level of service from their schools,” Superintendent John DeCotis said at the March 18 board meeting, when members considered the survey. “But do they understand the difficulty we have in maintaining that quality service once our classrooms get overcrowded?” Fayette County counted 21,000 students in 29 schools in December. The system adds about 700 students a year on average, equal to about one elementary school. According to DeCotis, state law requires the school system to study its facility needs annually. Whitewater High’s completion marks the end of the current five-year building plan, and the state requires another, DeCotis said. The most recent facilities study indicated additions to two existing schools, renovations to several other schools and upgrades to the computer network would also be needed, in addition to the new middle and elementary schools. Among the options residents will be asked to consider in the survey is a “split” bond that pays for the most urgent needs now, such as technology upgrades and HVAC replacements, and allows for another initiative down the road as needed. The survey also asks taxpayers if they would be willing to support an extra penny sales tax for schools as well as one for road construction, raising the local sales tax by two cents on the dollar. The Fayette County Commission is likely to put a SPLOST vote on November’s ballot as well to raise $110 million for new roads. Paper surveys on the tax and facilities issue are also available at any county school as well as the Board of Education offices at 210 Stonewall Ave. in Fayetteville, and at the LaFayette Educational Center adjacent to Fayette County High. Completed surveys can also be mailed to 210 Stonewall Avenue, Fayetteville, GA 30214, Attention: Public Relations. Residents will have until April 30 to complete the survey. Less urgent but still important is the calendar survey, Berry-Dreisbach said. Curriculum Director Lyn Wenzel discussed the options at the March 18 meeting as well, proposing four different versions of the calendar for the 2005-06 term. Among the proposed changes is a full week of vacation off each fall, which would push the end of school up to the first week of June. Two other calendars consider a series of “early release” days for students, who would be dismissed at noon so teachers could get training on the state’s proposed new curriculum standards, Wenzel said. The calendar survey will be available to the public through April 21. The calendar for the upcoming 2004-2005 academic year was approved by the school board last spring. That calendar can be viewed on the school system website by clicking on “Information” and then “Calendars.”
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