Fayette | News

SPLOST or school bond eyed for 2008

Tue, 11/28/2006 - 4:39pm
By: John Thompson

In less than two years, the Fayette County Board of Education could be asking the taxpayers for more money to help deal with the county’s growth.

During the recent discussions over the building of two new elementary schools, school leaders discussed possible funding options for new schools and projects that will be needed in the future.

One of the possible projects is a new high school, but officials are still mulling over options, as construction costs continue to skyrocket.

“We don’t have any money in the current bond for any additions to existing high schools or a new high school,” said Comptroller Lee Davis.

The board is expected to sell its second issue of bonds next June to pay for the construction of two new elementary schools. More than $28 million of the $30 million bond issue will fund the two new schools, while the rest will pay for renovations at existing schools, including Burch Elementary, Hood Avenue Elementary and Braelinn Elementary.

In 2004, voters approved the $65 million bond referendum to pay for the elementary schools, build Bennett’s Mill Middle School, add classrooms and renovate several schools.

Prior to the 2008 election, Davis said the school board would have to determine the type of funding and which projects to build and then let the voters decide.

One of the funding options could be a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. If the board chooses that mechanism, it would be strictly bound to the list of projects it sends to the voters.

During discussions over the two new schools, the board discovered that a bond issue was a little bit more flexible. If growth doesn’t continue to occur, the board could change some of the projects and shift funds to other areas without having to go back to the voters.

Whatever decision the board makes, it’s likely to face a fired-up voting public. During the last two month, some Fayette parents became energized by the attendance boundary disputes and what they perceived as a lack of respect during the hearings. There are already rumblings about some parents running for the Post 1, 2 and 3 positions that are up for election in 2008.

During its retreat in January, the board is expected to discuss future growth issues, along with a possible way of getting more parents involved in future boundary discussions.

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if those idiots
Submitted by beauvighn on Wed, 11/29/2006 - 11:01pm.

on the BOE spend another dime to build another High School while we have 2 schools that are sitting 3/4 full we should immediately file a petition to recall them, fire the Super, hang the asst. Super, and have sheriff johnson lock them all up for impersonating sane people. Why not move some High school kids around to fill up the schools we already have. Uh Oh...I'm sorry ... let's don't start that again. I'm sure it's safe to say that every BOE member will be voted out next time. I only wish we could vote out the rest of the idiots in that County Bored with edumacation office.

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Crack Me Up
cruiserman's picture
Submitted by cruiserman on Wed, 11/29/2006 - 9:39am.

The BOE did such a good job "forecasting" the need for Bennett's Mill that the school will sit half empty for the next decade with all the exisiting middle schools well undercapacity. What a waste for us to all be paying for capacity for people that won't move here for years. Mighty neighborly of us.

Wake up BOE. Delta is faltering and the housing boom is over. I pray that I'm wrong and both these things will recover, but no one knows at this point. Now is not the time to be taking on more debt. You wouldn't as a family; we shouldn't as a community.

NOW is the time for the voters in Fayette to keep the BOE out of our pockets.


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More school $$ taxes come from overzealous growth
Submitted by johenry on Tue, 11/28/2006 - 11:30pm.

Please give us all a break!!!

If Peachtree City wasn't looking to plaster 800 homes through an annexation and Fayetteville weren't throwing in another 1,800 homes through annexation (and so on, and so on), we'd be in a lot better shape.

We've got wackos running the local governments who don't a tinker's darn about the damage they cause to our kid's schools. Steve Rapson, Greg Dunn and Steve Brown were the only ones who stood up for slow growth and the voters were too stupid to see the forest for the trees.

I don't want to pay another $400 or $500 in extra sales taxes anymore. Why don't we act like intelligent human beings and figure out what is causing the need for continous large sums of cash and behave differently!

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Operate Within Budget
Woody's picture
Submitted by Woody on Tue, 11/28/2006 - 10:21pm.

The school board vigorously pushed the 2004 bond referendum which was supposed to take care of the growth that the board projected. They got what they requested. Now, they need to work within that budgeted amount--period.

I'm tired of this group in control of our schools that can't spend responsibly or be up front with taxpayers. But, watch out. The taxpayer paid public relations manager for the schools will be turned loose to actively campaign against the interests and concerns of the very taxpayers who pay her salary and will work against the interests of the students, who don't benefit by waste and mismanagement.

The Superintendent has a budget that is adequate. Live within it like everyone else.


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