Cobb schools SPLOST referendum

Cobb school board calls for SPLOST referendum; OK’s Walton Robotics Lab

by
Charisse Davis, Cobb Board of Edcucation
Cobb school board member Charisse Davis

The Cobb Board of Education on Thursday voted to call for a November special election to extend the Cobb Ed-SPLOST sales tax and approved spending $307,000 to bring the Walton Robotics Lab back to campus.

On a 6-1 vote, the school board adopted a resolution calling for the SPLOST referendum, which if approved by voters would collect a one-percent sales tax from 2024-29, an estimated $894 million.

The funds would be used for facility construction and maintenance, similar to the Cobb government SPLOST.

Among the major projects of SPLOST VI would be a rebuild of the main Sprayberry High School classroom building and new annexes at Kincaid, Mt. Bethel, Murdock, Sope Creek and Tritt elementary schools in East Cobb.

The board did vote to remove another major project on that list, a special events center for the school district designed for graduations and proms.

For the last two years the Cobb school district has held graduations at McEachern High School due to COVID-19 restrictions. Most graduations in recent years have taken place at the Kennesaw State University Convocation Center, but that facility was not available for the last two years.

During a work session Thursday afternoon, board members Charisse Davis of Post 6 (Walton, Wheeler clusters) and Jaha Howard of Post 2 (Campbell, Osborne), pointed out that district officials have said there are at least $2 billion in facilities and maintenance needs, and a new SPLOST would fund less than half of that amount.

Marc Smith, the district’s chief technology and operations officer, said in response to a question from Howard that the estimated cost for a special events center would be $40 million.

Howard said of the special events center that “I love it, but not now” and urged his colleagues “to do the fiscally conservative thing.”

He said the district has numerous schools that are in disrepair, and that there are more important facilities priorities.

Board chairman Randy Scamihorn countered by asking “if not now, when?” regarding the issue of whether the Cobb school district would “ever control our own destiny.”

He voted for the resolution (David Banks of East Cobb’s Post 4 was the only vote against). The board voted 7-0 for a contract to have the referendum included in the November elections, which in Cobb this year are in municipalities.

The cost for the SPLOST special election is to be determined and will be acted upon later.

The board was unanimous in a 7-0 vote to spend $307,000 to create space at Walton High School for a robotics lab. That lab has been located in recent years at East Cobb Middle School after the Walton campus underwent a rebuild.

Several robotics parents spoke to the board at the start of Thursday night’s board meeting to request approval of the project, which will take place during the renovation of practice gymnasium space at Walton.

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Cobb schools to seek SPLOST extension referendum in November

by
Eastvalley ES parents
A portable classroom at Eastvalley ES, which is slated for a replacement facility in the current Cobb Ed-SPLOST V collection period.

Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said Thursday he will be seeking an extension of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax with a referendum in November.

What would be Cobb Ed-SPLOST VI would begin in 2024 and for five years would continue to collect a one-percent sales tax for school facility, maintenance and technology expenses.

Local legislation will be required this year to call for a referendum, which would take place in a light election year.

Ragsdale said a project list, called a “notebook,” and details about the process throughout this year will be coming soon.

That process includes public hearings about the project list. A total estimated cost of the five-year collection period, which would also raise funds for similar needs for Marietta City Schools, is to be announced.

At a Cobb school board work session Thursday, Ragsdale said there will be an even higher emphasis on technology, given the expanded remote learning options the Cobb school district has been providing this year due to COVID-19, and that figures to continue on a long-term basis.

“The pandemic has brought a new focus on technology,” he said.

That may include what Ragsdale calls a “one-to-one” initiative for devices, which Cobb students have received since the end of the last school year for remote learning.

The current SPLOST V collection period began in January 2019. The major facility projects include a new campus for Osborne High School and a rebuild of Eastvalley Elementary School in East Cobb.

An architect was hired last February to design the new Eastvalley campus, which will be relocated to the former site of East Cobb Middle School on Holt Road. A construction timeline has not been announced.

The process of developing a SPLOST notebook—with public as well as staff and school board input—will take place throughout the rest of the year, leading up to a referendum.

“No other district creates a notebook like we do,” Ragsdale said. “It’s about prioritizing needs.”

The current $797 million SPLOST V was passed in March 2017. This year, the only elections in Cobb County are in its six municipalities.

“This District could not survive without Ed-SPLOST because that is what allows us to build the school buildings, school improvements, athletic fields, and technology our students and staff need,” a Cobb schools spokeswoman said in a statement to East Cobb News.

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