SPLOST forum: Superintendent again answers question about rumored school closing
Among the questions during Tuesday night’s public forum to discuss the Muscogee County School District’s proposed sales tax was a repeated one voiced at this series’ first gathering last week.
It was particularly pointed this time because of the venue. Thursday night at Downtown Elementary Magnet Academy, superintendent David Lewis was asked whether Spencer and Kendrick high schools will merge, which Paul Olson claimed that day in an L-E letter to the editor. “No decisions on any school closings or consolidations have been made going forward,” Lewis said.Tuesday night at Kendrick, Lewis was put on the spot again.
“There has been no formal discussion or plan to close any school,” Lewis said.
The Muscogee County School Board has appointed a citizens advisory committee, Lewis reiterated, to analyze the efficiency of the district’s school buildings and the projected growth in the next five to 10 years.
The proposed 1 percent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax would pay for or help fund 24 capital projects totaling an estimated $192,185,000, depending on how much money is collected in five years. The previous SPLOST expired Dec. 31.
Here are highlights of other questions Lewis answered during the hour-long forum, attended by about 50 folks. Valerie Fuller, the district’s communications director read the submitted questions but didn’t mention the names:
If the 2015 SPLOST isn’t passed, how will a new Spencer High School be funded? “I don’t know if we have the funds to do that,” Lewis said of the $56 million project, which would be deferred in lieu of other district needs. “The roofs still need to be repaired, the air conditioners still need to be replaced, the buses, all those things. So, in that regard, I don’t see how we could accomplish that without sacrificing everything else.”
Is funding for the proposed projects guaranteed? “Funding comes from (sales tax) collections,” Lewis said. “ If there is a shortfall, I assume we would follow the same process we did in the past,” meaning the board would defer projects considered not a priority.
Has the previous SPLOST met its goals? Based on the district’s external auditor and its citizens review committee, Lewis said, revenue from the SPLOST approved in 2009 has been spent appropriately.
How can the public obtain the previous SPLOST projects list and see how the money was spent? That information is available on the school district’s website, Lewis said.
What other funds are available to fund capital projects? “We receive a certain amount from the state, which was reduced over the years,” Lewis said. The district has accrued a combined total of about $7 million from the state in fiscal years 2014 and 2015 for capital projects.
Can you justify a 1 percent sales tax on a school district that has 65 percent of its students receiving free or reduced-price lunches? “The fact that we’re looking to build a premier school system,” Lewis said, “ I think that is a good investment for our community and those students.”
Mark Rice, 706-576-6272. Follow Mark on Twitter@MarkRiceLE.
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Click on this story at www.ledger-enquirer.com for a complete list of the proposed SPLOST projects.
REMAINING SPLOST FORUMS
Feb. 10: Spencer High School, 4340 Victory Drive, 6 p.m.
Feb. 12: Fort Middle School, 2900 Woodruff Farm Road, 6 p.m.
Feb. 13: Columbus Museum, 1251 Wynnton Road, 2 p.m.
Feb. 17: Shaw High School, 7579 Raider Way, 6 p.m.
Feb. 24: Northside High School, 2002 American Way, 6 p.m.
Feb. 26: Arnold Magnet Academy, 2011 51st Street, 6 p.m.
March 3: Gentian Elementary School, 4201 Primrose Road, 6 p.m.
March 5: Dorothy Height Elementary School, 1458 Benning Drive, 6 p.m.
March 10: Columbus Public Library, 3000 Macon Road, 6 p.m.
Call the school district’s communications office at 706-748-2034 for more information.
This story was originally published February 3, 2015 at 8:24 PM with the headline "SPLOST forum: Superintendent again answers question about rumored school closing."