As a Fayette County citizen, I would like to express my opposition to SB 458. The citizens of Fayette County want this entire bill struck down and thrown out.

I am appalled that Sen. Ronnie Chance voted yes for this bill, and if he truly did not realize what he was voting for, then I think that is even worse. How can a senator vote on a bill and not know its content?

We pay very high taxes in this county to give our children a quality education. The citizens of Fayette County should not be made to pay to educate children from other counties because of that county’s mistakes.

If we clean up their mess, they have no incentive whatsoever to improve conditions in Clayton County schools. Allowing out of county students into the Fayette County school system will deplete funding from our tax dollars that goes toward small class sizes, first grade parapros, arts programs, etc.

The FCBOE needs to come out with a much stronger stance on this issue. Asking for the ”shall” to be changed to “may” is not good enough. “May” means that we still could take Clayton County students into our schools.

I would like to ask the FCBOE how many out of county students you will let come to Fayette County schools legally with this “may”? The FCBOE already turns a blind eye to the out of county students that are here now.

I took several out of county tag numbers from WMS and WHS to Arlene Law at the FCBOE and she refused to even look at them. If the ”may” is based on available space, are you going to use the Fayette County numbers or the state numbers to decide how many students a class can hold? Please take a stronger stand on this and refuse to take ANY out of county students into the Fayette County school system.

And, to Mr. Ramsey, we are counting on you to do whatever you can to get this entire bill thrown out. It sounds like you are trying to help us, but we need more than just talk.

Ellen C. Kirkes

kirkesfamily (at) bellsouth.net

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