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City wants county to get tough on schools

By BEN NELMS
bnelms@TheCitizenNews.com

The Fairburn City Council sent a message last week to the Fulton County School Board. The unanimous vote called for the school board to acknowledge the unacceptable status of public education in South Fulton and make the needed improvements.

That message came in the form of a resolution urging the Fulton County Board of Education to acknowledge their current deficiencies, assume accountability and take immediate action to fulfill their responsibility of providing quality education and adequate school facilities for the children of South Fulton. Hannah said the city adopted the resolution at the request of Fulton County Commissioner Bill Edwards, in response to a similar resolution adopted by the commission.

“We need better facilities and a better education for our children,” Hannah insisted. “This is a school board responsibility, so hopefully the school board will get our message.”

The Fairburn resolution cited several issues that directly impact families in Fairburn and their children. It addressed the moratorium placed on facility construction after only 20 percent of the new or renovated schools were completed or under construction. This despite the county’s approval of a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) for needed renovations of existing school facilities and the construction of new facilities.

Addressing student-specific concerns, the resolution said the majority of South Fulton County schools failed to meet the state-required Annual Yearly Progess goals. Also cited was the drop-out rate in area public schools, now approaching 40 percent. Lack of adequate school facilities and the unacceptably high drop-out rate severely impacting the residents of South Fulton, said Hannah.

“We have a good community and it deserves the best from our school system,” Hannah said.

Weighing in on the issue, Edwards said he was happy that the city of Fairburn had taken up to issue.

“This city and the county feels that there is an inequity in the funding for South Fulton public schools,” he said. “I wanted to show that I have solidarity in the efforts to bring equity to our public schools.”