School Board Hears SPLOST Opposition

Cobb County's political buzzword of recent weeks, SPLOST, made a prominent appearance at the county Board of Education's meeting Dec. 10.

But the discussion had nothing to do with the Board of Commissioners' decision five days later to send a renewal of the county's 1-cent sales tax for capital projects to voters March 15.

Instead, the school board faced criticism and discussion about its own use of a 1-cent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, separate from the tax the county and municipalities use to finance roads, parks, libraries and other infrastructure projects.

During the public comment period at the start of the Board of Education meeting, Anthony Scott Hobbs declared opposition to a proposal for yet another SPLOST, a 1-cent levy to help the school district replace $126 million in funding the state cut for the 2011 school year.

"We are adamantly against any proposed additional 1-cent SPLOST tax referendum brought forth by David Banks or this board that would be designated for the general fund," said Hobbs, past chairman of the Cobb Republican Party and current chairman of the Tea Party Business Network. "We are disappointed that board members here that were elected as Republican would go against the principles of the Republican Party of why they were elected and add this to their legislative agenda."

Banks, the Republican school board member for Post 5, which covers , and Pope high schools, has raised the idea of the additional SPLOST, which would at least temporarily push the overall sales tax in Cobb to 7 percent.

"Frankly, you are eroding the credibility of SPLOST and future SPLOST," Hobbs said. "You do not have a consensus on this board. You don't have support from the superintendent of Marietta schools, and you don't have the support of the majority of the Cobb delegation."

One cent of the county's current 6 percent sales tax is a SPLOST for school capital projects, allowing the school system to build and maintain schools without selling bonds and taking on debt. That school SPLOST runs through 2014.

The school board voted 7-0 Thursday night to renew the district's in-house SPLOST management department for the life of that SPLOST.

Led by Chief Administrative Officer Doug Shepard, the department has 22 full-time employees and one part-timer to supervise SPLOST-funded school projects and costs $1.54 million per year, for a total of $6.16 million the next four years. SPLOST money pays most of that expense.

The department will be eliminated in 2014 if voters don't approve another SPLOST.

"We're on schedule with projects. We'll continue with the same success as in the past year. We'll look at the challenges of funding," Shepard said. 

You can see the school SPLOST project list, plus photos of completed projects, at www.ccsdsplostprojects.org.

The Board of Education also took further steps toward finding the next superintendent of schools. 

The board voted 7-0 to advertise for the superintendent position in educational journals, like that of the American Association of School Administrators, and on education websites. The board also approved a brochure that will be sent to each candidate who applies by the Jan. 31 deadline.

"We don't need to spend a lot of money. We'll limit the advertising to a couple major publications," said Post 2 board member Holli Cash, whose district includes Campbell High School and H.A.V.E.N. Academy.

Superintendent Fred Sanderson is retiring June 30.

Lynnda Crowder-Eagle ended her one-year run as board chair at the meeting. According to board policy, members may not serve consecutive terms as chair. The board will elect a new chair at its Jan. 12 meeting, when three new members, Tim Stultz, Kathleen Angelucci and Scott Sweeney, will join the board.

Thursday's meeting was the last for Cash, Post 4's John Abraham ( and North Cobb high schools) and Post 6's John Crooks (Walton and Wheeler high schools). Each received a plaque.  

The board voted 6-1 against adopting a new policy to govern the board-appointed Facilities and Technology Committee, which provides SPLOST oversight. Board member Alison Bartlett voted in favor. 

Instead, on a motion from Crooks, the board voted 6-1 to split the Facilities and Technology Committee into two eight-member subcommittees—one for facilities and the other for technology. Instead of meeting monthly, the committee will meet quarterly.

The Facilities and Technology Committee opposed the change.

In other board business:

• The board tabled the state Board of Education's new code of ethics policy until January, saying the Department of Education is fine-tuning the code. The ethics policy aims to define the state's expectations for board members and to eliminate community concerns with its conflict-of-interest policy.
• The board voted 7-0 to upgrade the district's payroll system. It will take many years to achieve and cost the district $515,000.
• The board voted 7-0 to adopt a new vision statement for the district, " A community with a passion for learning."