Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Schools in South Fulton
For a number of years parents in South Fulton have fought with the Fulton County Board of Education over the treatment and lack of resources that are allocated to the schools in South County. As the BOE continue to pay lip service to serving S Fulton they are planning to come to us to support a third Special Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST III). Last year, they turned down a Lease Purchase funding option that is typically used by larger schools systems like Gwinnett. Lease Purchase is a loan process where the board pays off the lease of the schools over a number of years. At this point would you support a SPLOST III for more construction of schools or would prefer the board go back to review and adopt the Lease Purchase option?
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60 comments:
Sounds like the old cut and run. Parents and residents of South Fulton, whether Unincorporated or a new City, should get their facts lined up, organize, take over the Board Meetings, and elect NEW MEMBERS to the Board of Education. If there is sufficient documentation of unequal and discriminatory treatment based on race/demographics/geography/taxes, now is the time for action. We can do it, and turn the Board around. Atlanta's school problems are legend, and who wants to jump from the frying pan into the fire.
"SWFulton"
otis, I am totally new to the politics of the Fulton County Board of Education, various Board Members and their voting histories. Can you tell me how the Districts are drawn (based on what) and why there are five (5) Members from North Fulton? Thanks for the link to the Board.
"SWFulton"
I don't believe we'll see a shift in board seats more than a change in attitudes of those on the board. This year's election should bring in several new folks. Unfortunately the one that needs to go Katie Reeves is seeking re-election without an opponent. She has led the spending for new schools in north fulton.
A change in census numbers will bring about a change. The state can make changes as soon as next January during the legislative session under the Reapportionment Committee.
Precedent? In the current climate in this country precedents are being turned on its head. Wrong is right, down is up, right is left, war is good, etc. The truth is the enemy and those that speak are the enemy as well.
The truth is the woman from APS said there is no guarantee they will be able to obtain the schools because FCSD may want to keep them. The truth is the same woman said they can't make any guarantees on rebuilding Westlake it has to be stacked up against the other priorities under their Build Smart program. She went on to say she can't speculate on the spending of SPLOST funds for new schools.
The truth is all I'm seeking. Again, if the truth is not being told now it could create a situation later that could get out of control.
Folks need to know their children could wind up in current APS facilities like Therrell, Bunche and Fickett withstanding precedents of the past.
Tubman and Mandela didn't have the option to move as we did when fought the FCSD for Sandtown Middle School and you have the same option now. Slavery and imprisonment are no where equivolent to annexation. When the whites of Atlanta and rest of Georgia for that matter couldn't take desegregation they moved (white flight) or they created their own private schools. That practice was more prevalent outside of Atlanta.
If you look at the time when APS took in those schools you will see it was a time when it was overcrowded and needed them to maintain the student to teacher ratio. Now that is not the case. Atlanta schools are way under capacity.
S White,
Do you live in Sandtown or West Cascade?
I think today's comments in the "Dilbert" Bennett column in the AJC spoke out loud and clear. It's the SCHOOLS in Atlanta that are the issue. I also find it interesting that he has turned his "pen of discontent" toward what's going on in South Fulton.
By the way - more folks voted in the Commission District 7th race than in Johns Creek and Milton elections combined!!! If I remember correctly the numbers we're like 14k in 7 and 13k in JC and Miton. Once again those with the most to gain went to the polls and the rest just doesn't care. Will that happen in SF and CHC next year? We'll see.
James,
Calling David Bennett "Dilbert" is contrary to your own rules and manners. I now crown you "Jarhead" Reese.
Hardly a Mandate -
Roger Bruce got 4,578 votes out of 30,497 registered votes for house district 64. In other words only 15% of the registered voters in his district voted for him.
Then "Jarhead" I will be, but you're still anonymous.
Harvey I don't live on a plantation and I take it as a personal insult because it's unneccesary.
BTW I'm glad to see someone taking up for David Bennett, I just hope he doesn't misquote any of you any time soon.
Don't jump too soon. As you are annexed into Atlanta keep an eye on your new neighbors just north of 17th Street - Buckhead. They are quietly hoping for a new county to be formed so they can asked to be deannexed into the new county taking a vast majority of the City of Atlanta's tax base. They have the same issues with Atlanta as north Fulton has with Fulton County too many democrats in charge. Black democrats at that!!!
At that point Atlanta and the remainder of Fulton County is a sinking ship. I see the scenario playing itself out all over again but, this time it's Atlanta. The tax base in Atlanta without Buckhead can't sustain itself much like Fulton County without Sandy Springs. Unfortunately the mayor won't be able to stop this because Sam Massell, the former mayor of Atlanta and current unofficial mayor of Buckhead has already lined up his troops.
Deannexation is up to those that live in the area that wants to deannex. Remember when Rico wanted to leave Fulton County for Coweta County. It wasn't up to the Fulton County Commission. Coweta made the decision it was not to their advantage. Therefore the area was not deannexed.
You can't jump over a city to be a part of another new city. At what point is Buckhead contiguous to South Fulton County?
Folks said Sandy Springs could not ever incorporate because of the 3 mile rule. The legislature waived it and guess what Sandy Springs is a city.
City is giving annexation supporters more time to gather signatures. Will it be enough? Time will tell. The new deadline has not been announced but the states mandated deadline remains October 31.
Roger Bruce,
Let’s see if we can follow your logic to wait. Instead of choosing to annex into the city of Atlanta now, we should wait until June of 2007, vote against the referendum to form a new city, hope the referendum fails and hope Atlanta would like to annex us then. I am sorry why are we waiting again?
You are so right!!!! Our problem repeatedly is Roger Bruce and Bill Edwards. We as a people give a lot of respect to politicians. Roger and Bill obtain their authority by virtue of their political office and the fact that they can send their lapdogs out to do the work in most instances.
Whatever the outcome on annexation efforts, we all benefit because in desperation as they pull out all of the stops seeking a new city of South Fulton, their manipulation and betrayal of the community is rapidly becoming common knowledge.
If they were smart instead of fighting those who legally are seeking annexation, they would let them go. These same forces if they are not able to leave through annexation, will have seven months to expose the financial lunacy of incorporating and defeat the referendum.
Sandy Springs is struggling, and the latest budget numbers from Fulton say Johns Creek will struggle even more and Milton will be a disaster. Then here we are with no vision or common sense copying the man while he is too stupid to realize he is jumping off of the cliff.
The result for us with even less commercial would be devastating. Let’s wake up and realize that we continued to be played by OUR politicians that we unconditionally trust because they look like us. Choose Atlanta now BEFORE it hits the fan in South Fulton.
"Information is key to making the best choices"
The Federal government recently announced that funding for future highway expansion will have to come from local dollars. Gasoline prices are expected to continue to climb well above the $3.10/ gallon threshold by the end of this year. Who can provide adequate municipal services continues to influence the city incorporation efforts in North Fulton and annexation efforts in South Fulton. Whether you agree or disagree, one thing is clear, the metro-Atlanta region will not be the same. As many residents choose to take a wait and see attitude, their ability to influence the final outcome moves further and further away. There is enough blame to go around; the sad part is few of our leaders have publicly accepted any responsibility. We applaud those leaders who have sought rational and practical solutions and continue to explore answers to residents' concerns.
The decision for Sandtown is not an easy one. Partly because of many unknowns. For many who have decided to be annexed, it was based on a gut feeling and more of what we see in the leadership from Atlanta. The fact that recently it was announced that the city of Atlanta had more than 9,000 people move back into the city, ahead of Fulton, Dekalb and Cobb Counties, is encouraging. Apparently, there are others beside the residents of Sandtown, who see the same optimism, hope and fiscal restraint needed to sustain services. For other residents, it was the fact that up until June, 2006, only one option was discussed and information from our political leadership did not address other options such as remaining unincorporated or annexation.
What we can tell you is that the push to say no to annexation is coming basically from the South Fulton Concerned Citizens. We encourage everyone to visit their website and understand their mission. Their focus has been to solely prevent any movement on annexation until the referendum vote on June 7, 2007. And we agree that is an option. The fine print that is missing from their message, is that if the referendum prevails, your personal communities' choice has been snatched away by others who you have little in common with, other than living in unincorporated South Fulton County.
Education was the initial issue driving the push along with the need for parks, recreation facilities, and municipal services, such as fire, police and water. Even the Fulton County School Board is considering delaying the rebuild of Westlake for the third time in six years. There are some who strongly believed that this time construction on a new Westlake would be built, but for the annexation effort by the Sandtown Community Association. If you are familiar with our organization's work, accomplishments and purpose, you will see that no one beyond our organization and the Westlake PTSA has worked harder for the last 6 1/2 years to get the school rebuilt. Once again, it is the SFCC and our political leaders who want to discredit our efforts and make us the scapegoat for an issue that clearly could have been resolved, if the slogan, Fulton County, where children come first really had a significance to children in South Fulton.
I want to caution those who have sat on the sidelines and continue to not get involved. A people that does not know their history or acts as if they have forgotten it, are bound to repeat it. And in these times, where information is critical to making the best choices, if you rely on others to lead you to your decisions, then you might end up repeating history!
John A. Davis
President Sandtown Community Association
www.sandtown.org
From theCitizen.com:
Palmetto annexes 900 acres
Mon, 08/14/2006 - 9:47am
By: Ben Nelms
Palmetto moved ahead Monday with annexation plans for 900 acres as the City Council voted nearly unanimously to rezone and annex land on the northwest and southwest sides of the city. Unlike the atmosphere at the Planning Commission the week before, most of the 80 area residents attending objected to the annexations, though their stated objections were far fewer in number.
The first of the rezoning and annexations in the Chattahoochee Hills area brought the Hallman property into the city, followed by the Bowen tract and tracts owned by Vanguard North, LLC. In total, those tracts total approximately 675 acres. Property owners were represented by Eldon Basham, who said the owners had requested to come into the city, adding that they requested no change in the county’s agricultural zoning. Council members also approved rezoning and annexation of two tracts owned by Vanguard South, LLC and totaling approximately 225 acres. The tracts are situated on the city’s southwest side.
The sole vote opposing the annexations was council member John Miller. No stranger to insisting that Palmetto building codes should be updated and strengthened, Miller said he cast opposing votes over concerns that future residential construction on the annexed property would be approved at higher densities than currently allowed.
“We’ve just got to be careful about bringing things in and not making the mistakes of the past,” he said. “I believe the current Chattahoochee Hills overlay will go away and higher density will follow.”
Skeptical of Vanguard’s intentions, some residents questioned the company’s motive for requesting the annexation after only months ago expressing interest in being a part of the Chattahoochee Hills area. Responding to questions about their intention, Basham said only that his clients wanted to be a part of Palmetto.
Also at the meeting, builder Dwight Parks was turned down on a proposal to rezone property on Beckman Street for construction of a condo/townhome development. The proposal was denied on a unanimous vote based on the project being inconsistent with the city’s Land Use Plan and Comprehensive Plan, council members said.
From the AJC
Fulton OKs contract for new Westlake High
By MARY MACDONALD
Published on: 08/18/06
The Fulton County school board approved a $10.2 million contract Thursday night that will begin a two-year project to replace Westlake High School in the Sandtown community.
The approval, for site clearing behind the existing Westlake High, came with a warning from Superintendent James Wilson.
In comments at the board's meeting, he said he did not think annexation of the Sandtown community into the city of Atlanta would succeed. And if it did, Wilson said, the Fulton school system would not relinquish its control of the three school buildings within that community — including Westlake High.
"I have no intention of giving up Westlake High School to anybody," he said.
Westlake High, built in 1969, is scheduled to be replaced with a $40 million school.
**
Questions regarding what APS says are now moot. Wilson through coaxing from parents delivers a victory for South Fulton Schools.
Otis the schools are for the children. The annexation was done in hopes of taking the schools as well. It was one of the factors. Wilson said what needed to be said.
All the board approved was phase II of the site preparation work, NOT the complete rebuild. There is no guarantee that Wilson will complete the project so let's not celebrate yet.
James/Shironda,
Can yall tell me how Wilson can refuse to relinquish schools that are annexed into the city of Atlanta. He cannot by state statue operate schools in a municipality that has its own school system. Is he going to use them as warehouses?
S. White, Don't play on people's ignorance teacher contracts are renewed annually. He can't keep the teachers from leaving anymore than he can keep the students from leaving.
S. White: Regarding your comment that APS does not have the money to build schools, neither does Fulton County. The 10 million is only for Westlake's site clearing. They still need to get SPLOST III passed just like Atlanta. SPLOST III is not likely to pass so the new school wouldn't be finished even if the annexation did not prevail anyway.
S White,
Fulton does not own the rebuilt Westlake because it does not exist yet. FCS will have the same challenges completing the rebuild of the school of the school if SPLOST III does not pass that APS would.
Bottom line is unless the Republican controlled state legislature changes the law, students in unincorportated Fulton or the city of South Fulton will not be able to go to school there after next school year.
If the superintendant wants to maintain these three facilities for something other the housing students, they'll make very expensive warehouses.
Instead of selling wolf tickets, the superintendant should be figuring out where he will house students from outside Sandtown attending schools in Sandtown.
With regard tp your reference to "sometimes long term contracts" I don't think you can demonstrate multi-year contracts are really representative of Fulton County teachers in these three institutions - unless you have access to confidential personnel records.
S. White,
In light of Commissioner Edwards recent revelation that he is 100% against forming a new city of South Fulton, with all of your in depth analysis - what option have you decided is best?
CHCC did not prevail in their annexation. They are back to trying to form their own city.
APS isn't guaranteed SPLOST III. There are folks outside of education that want that penny tax for other things. Atlanta may not have what it takes to keep the money just for schools.
It will be interesting to see how many New Schools for South Fulton will be on the Fulton County SPLOST III list next month.
If there aren't enough. I won't support it. I may not support it anyway. They are still giving too much to north Fulton without balancing the needs of South Fulton.
Park Initiative
In South Fulton we have a unique problem that everyone is ignoring. With the rise in development we are neglecting the need for park space for all the children that will come along with those developments.
We have a large contingent of parents throughout South Fulton working on ensuring we have quality educational resources. That's good and should be on the front burner but, having adequate space for the children to exercise and become physically fit should be close second.
Developers should be required to pay impact fees for schools and park services. I'm fortunate enough to have children and they are involved in school activities and sports programs. The schools and park facilities are inadequate all over South Fulton.
I'm proposing that we create a volunteer non-profit organization to take this to the developers. Request them to pay $2,000 per home built. For homeowners which will surely have to pay the fee that amounts to $5.55 per month on a thirty year mortgage. What about the homes already here? We file for a referendum to tax every home with residents less than 65 years of age a $5.55 monthly fee that is passed through the county.
The money is divided among the schools and goes to building a sports complex large enough to house soccer, baseball, softball and football fields.
This park initiative is viable now while the cost of land is still relatively inexpensive and attainable. Otherwise, we should ask the county to lease the land to the organization.
- James Reese
In regards to the school board, I think the worst thing the school board did was re-drawing the school board districts and leaving South Fulton with only two school board members that live in South Fulton. Prior to the redistricting, South Fulton had three school board members while North Fulton had four.
Now South Fulton has two school board members while North Fulton has five.
South Fulton's representation on the school board isn't that great either. We've had the same two people, Linda Bryant and Zenda Bowie on that school board and if you want the honest truth, they both need to be voted out of office because they haven't done anything to improve south Fulton's schools.
Now, I don't think that there is one specific problem that can be addressed when it comes to the achievement gap between North Fulton & South Fulton schools. However, I think one of the biggest problems is the lack of parental involvement.
I've had the great luxury of attending schools in both the northside and the southside of Fulton County, and when it comes to parental involvement, North Fulton can't be beat. For example, I attended Woodland Elementary school from 1989 to 1994 and everytime there was a PTA meeting, the teachers would stamp the hands of the students to remind them to tell their parents about the evening's PTA meeting.
I can't say that I've ever seen that on the southside.
Another example is that many of the schools on the northside reach out to the business community to be "partners-in-education"; they have programs to encourage excellence in math such as Math Superstars (that's one of my mother's favorite memories about Woodland); they have programs that encourage fathers to be active in their child's education such as "Donuts for Dads".
All of these little things add up to big results at the end of the day.
And then of course, there is the subliminal racism within the Fulton County School System.
I don't think that Fulton County is intentionally trying to segregate its schools or create an achievement gap within the school system, but it's happening, intentional or not.
For example, in the four years that I attended Creekside, the school's black student population kept increasing while the school's white teacher population kept decreasing.
Then, in 2002, the year that I graduated, the head football coach left, the principal left, three out of the four counselors left, the two head librarians left and a host of teachers left.
They were all white.
Interestingly enough, 2002 was the last year that Creekside had a nearly even ratio of black and white students.
As I said before, I don't think that any of this was intentional, but it does seem a little odd that the more black students that come to the school, the more white teachers leave.
I want to be clear that I'm not saying that there's racism in the Fulton County school system. All I'm saying is that there is de facto segregation going on because most of the schools on the north end are majority white, and most of the schools on the south end are majority black.
However, South Fulton is growing and it's becoming more upper middle class. Off of Flat Shoals Rd., where I live, a new subdivision is being built with homes that start at $240,000.
Right down the street, at the intersection of Old National Hwy. and Flat Shoals Rd., new townhomes and condominiums are being built. South Fulton is experiencing a bunch of growth and I believe that the only way to sustain it is to improve the schools.
The quality of schools is the first thing that people look at, and in order to continue the growth in South Fulton, you're going to have to continue to improve the schools.
More parental involvement, more links to the business community, better representation on the school board; things like that.
South Fulton is changing really fast and the schools have to change with it or else the change that's coming will stagnate or even recede.
Oh and it might not be such a bad idea to create an alumni association whose sole purpose is to raise dollars for improvements to the schools that the county is unwilling or unable to pay for; something similar to the Arch Foundation at UGA.
Andre
This Democrat and those taxes…
By Andre in Atlanta
If y’all remember correctly I revealed that the first vote that I ever cast was against a SPLOST referendum for the Fulton County School System in 2002.
I voted against renewing the 1% sales tax because at the time, I was still a student within the Fulton County School System, and when I looked around at what Fulton County had done with the extra 1% sales tax that they’d been getting for the past several years, I asked myself where the money was going. My school, Creekside High, was over-crowded along with the other three high schools in South Fulton; my school was the only school in the county that didn’t have lights on the baseball field; and my community was (and still is) waiting for a new high school to be built while watching the Fulton County School Board go way over budget in building two new high schools in North Fulton.
After looking at the way things were within the Fulton County School System, I decided to vote no on extending the 1% SPLOST because I didn’t think they deserved to get more of my money when they were being good fiscal stewards with it in the first place, and I don’t regret casting that vote.
Well, this morning, while reading the AJC, I came across a story (Atlanta wary on school sales tax) that said “Decatur is going for it, and so are DeKalb and Fulton. But Atlanta school officials won’t say whether they will ask voters to approve another four years of a 1-percent sales tax for school construction and renovations.
The law requires the four systems — Decatur, DeKalb, Fulton and Atlanta — to seek the tax together. The other three systems say they will pose the question to voters on the March ballot.”
It seems as if the Fulton County School System is trying to raise the sales tax in Fulton County again to 8% (it’s currently 7%) or they’re trying to renew the current SPLOSt for an even longer period of time.
Either way, if the vote were held today, I’d vote against the sales tax again because South Fulton’s schools are still over-crowded; South Fulton is still in need of another high school; but, on the bright side (no pun intended), Creekside finally has lights on its baseball field.
And my reasoning behind voting against another sales tax increase remains the same as it was in 2002…I don’t see where my tax dollars are going. All I see are promises that this, that, and the other is going to be done for Fulton County Schools, and yes, I’ll concede the point that things are getting done on the northside of the county, but on the southside, we keep getting the runaround from the school board.
If the Fulton County School System succeeds in raising taxes again, it’s going to be without my vote until I can see some substantive results, from the extra tax revenue, in my community.
If you ask me the State School Superintendant Kathy Cox hasn't done jack for South Fulton schools. Denise Majette is running for the office. We need to start rallying around her and providing support. Her website is www.denisemajette.us
FYI, it's not the State School Superintendent's job to do anything for any single school district. Majette should have stayed in Congress. I don' think education is her strong suit; maybe she should run for DA or a municipal court judgship.
Amazing
1) Bill Edwards flips and is against a new city and no comments
2) SFCC sues to stop annexations and no comments
3) Atlanta annexes Midwest Cascade and no comments
Is this BLOG still active?
Thanks to Sandtown for sharing the article from the Business Chronicle. One must admit that the North Fulton officials were playing politics on the statement of all the “spending” going to South Fulton. Those of us in South Fulton can only ask: Where did the spending go? On what service, park facility or infrastructure was money diverted? Understandably, North Fulton has every reason to be frustrated with the BOC but not at South Fulton. If we can avoid being defensive, this article clearly lets us know the shape South Fulton will be in when Milton County is created in two years. Those who don’t see it are simply choosing not to be informed. North Fulton politicians are taking care of their own. We should do the same.
The scenario will read: 2008—Milton County created. 2009- Milton County School District developed. South Fulton School System will also be created by default but without proper funding to attract and keep adequate staff. 2010- The reduced income apartments on Roswell Road which now house the working poor will be privatized to high end condominiums. The government projects existing in Roswell city will become mixed income for diversity sakes. North County gets to keep more of their tax dollars. MARTA and Grady go without.
Do we need to continue the scenario? When will we realize that creating a new South Fulton city is political and economic suicide? Unfortunately, some of the South Fulton politicians were so bent on justifying a city to keep their power base that they could not consider a study to advise the remaining cities on the best land distribution which would be in the interest of keeping South Fulton viable. No, instead, they chose to advocate for one more struggling city in which they could be “in charge.”
We should expect nothing from some of our politicians but their continual self-serving efforts and lack of vision. One would think that our South County School Board members’ legacy could be to make the transition to Atlanta seamless. But advocating for children, and not politics, would be a selfless act and too much like right. Any advocacy for children will be as it has always been up to the children’s parents and community advocates.
The rush to form Milton County is rooted in good ol' hatred. Bill Shipp a panelist on the "Georgia Gang" called it "racist".
Their efforts will fail for a number of reasons. 1) Inorder to form another county in metro Atlanta. Current counties must be willing to give up a piece of the federal transportation pie under the Atlanta Regional Commission. No one will cut it's funding just to see another county created. 2) The cost to start a new public health system, court system, library system and the like is huge. (Sandy Springs is struggling to start its fire department). 3) There is no infrastructure in place for such entities in #2. The state will force Fulton County to continue to provide "transitional services" which Fulton County should deny.
In the Business Chronicle article Mark Burkhalter (who by the way was getting funding from Fulton County for the Ocee Arts Center) says they were waiting for Fulton County to change its ways. He used the park and fire station sales as an example. That's a bald face lie. Burkhalter and his troops already were planning to file a bill for Milton County in 2005 before Sandy Springs became a city. I've read articles in 2003 or 2004 on Northfulton.com that talked about the creation of Milton County.
No one talks about who's money is it when Fulton Industrial Blvd was paying for the growth in Sandy Springs and N Fulton. That money was not being spent in S Fulton.
It all goes back to my opening lines.
Ms. White the entire state gets to vote on the matter. That's why I don't think it will pass. On the other hand if they can get two smaller counties to combine they don't have to change the state constitution. It's a matter of getting Fulton county to go for the split.
Don't be surprised if the state republicans change the rules so as to allow only North Fulton to vote on the measure.
S White,
I hope you are right about it not passing in the legislature. How did you reach that conclusion?
How many qualified voters live in North Fulton and how many in South Fulton?
S. White,
The problem with your conclusion is all solutions to split Milton off do not require a constitutional amendment. Another possibility would be a merger of two or more of Georgia's other smaller rural counties into somewhat larger ones, thereby reducing the number of counties in the state. This is viable since many if not most of Georgia's counties are considerably smaller and less populous than those in most states.
For 30 years folks were confident Sandy Springs would never become a city. I'd like to believe you are right that the county won't split.
We should however plan for that possibility. If our elected officials weren't so cocky in their belief that it could never happen, perhaps South Fulton could have been better prepared to deal with the consequences.
The other issue is getting our community to register to vote and then actually vote. With all of the new homes, many that are registered have not bothered to update their registration. Given the sacrifice of blood, sweat and tears to grant us this precious right, we should be ashamed of ourselves for not using it.
If Jewel Johnson of the AWCC continues to paint the Mid-West Cascade folks and Sandtown Community Association in a bad light to further her desire to run for city council in a new city of South Fulton, we will be so disjointed that a Milton County will be virtually guaranteed.
Fulton County Taxpayer Association has come out opposed to the creation on Milton County. Among their disagreements are Grady and MARTA should be regional entities. They believe folks should sit down and talk about the issues and come up with a solution.
go to...www.fcta.us/
Wake up black people...did you support the FCTA when they were working hard to get ride of the tax people appointed by the BOC? NO! Now you want then on your side...Why not join the group with you money? Wake up my people...
James,
The problem with not supporting SPLOST III is lease purchase is predicated on being paid back with SPLOST III dollars. If SPLOST III does not prevail there won't be funds from lease purchase or anywhere else.
James?
Fulton school board wants tax renewed
Board sends issue to March 20 vote
By KRISTINA TORRES
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/15/06
Fulton County school board members voted unanimously Thursday to seek renewal of a 1 cent-on-the-dollar sales tax for school improvements, making their board the last of four in metro Atlanta agreeing to put the question to voters in a special election March 20.
Fulton, DeKalb County, Atlanta and Decatur city schools are all pursuing the tax to pay for new school construction or renovations. The boards of education in all four districts have agreed in the past two weeks to put the tax to voters. That they are doing it together is a nod to overlapping boundary lines for the city and county school systems.
Fulton officials project the tax would raise $834.7 million across the county, and help pay for 14 new school buildings in a system growing by an estimated 6,000 students a year.
"We believe everyone's getting something," said Superintendent James Wilson.
Officially known as special purpose local option sales taxes, or SPLOSTs, these tax measures have been embraced as an alternative to raising local property taxes, especially in metro Atlanta.
Four other metro systems passed sales taxes for schools in November, bringing to 99 percent the tax's passage rate over the past 114 county votes.
DeKalb board members last week voted to seek the tax's renewal, which officials there said would raise $466 million for county schools in the next five years. The money would be put toward new construction and renovations that include heating, air and roofing replacements that have been put off for years.
A vote Monday by Atlanta board members included projections that the tax's renewal could raise $572.9 million for the city school system, which officials said would renovate the last third of what once was a system of aging campuses.
Decatur officials, whose board members voted Tuesday to pursue the tax, project it would raise $11.5 million. The money would be put toward the small system's master facilities plan, which includes a new gymnasium and science labs for its lone high school.
Voters in all four systems first passed the tax in 1997 and agreed to renew it in 2002.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/northfulton/stories/2006/12/15/1215metsplost.html
I personally don't support giving my money to an entity that has taken it and will take it again to build more schools in north when the need is clearly in the south and has been for a number of years. Throwing a hand full of schools at us now is just what they were planning to do to shut us up.
Katie Reeves is a deviant she singlehandedly led to the near bankrupt of the school system with all the new schools in the north. Ladies and gentlemen look closely. South Fulton once had a ton of schools that were all torn down and replaced with fewer smaller schools. 15 years later they are constructing the first high school in South Fulton County. 15 years!!! Meanwhile a new HS has opened up north nearly everyother year or so. It doesn't stop. The plan are in the works to continue adding resources north while we fund it from the south.
My argument with the FCSS is the same as the argument folks up north have with Fulton County. They have taken my money but hasn't provided me services.
WAKE UP! Don't pass SPLOSTIII and watch them build the schools up north anyway.
I don't oppose everything just some things.
James Reese
southfultonliving.com
My fears are being realized. FCSD is using us to get what it wants and will make it possible for them to break away from the county with more than $2 billion in schools and property. We won't be able to do a thing. Watch.
Is that what they call learnt helplessness?
A local teacher's advocate group has listed most if not all school administrators as Needs Improvement in South Fulton County. It appears this list is based upon complaints from staff. Check the website http://www.theteachersadvocate.com/evaluation_of_administrators.html
A few of the listed administrator have been reassigned to other schools prior to the start of the school year.
What's interesting is the previous principal of Westlake Darron Franklin didn't make the list but his successor did.
Metro Association of Classroom Educators (MACE)
Needs Improvement List for Fulton County Schools
1. Eldrick Horton, Principal, Tri-Cities HS
2. Sandra McGary-Ervin, Principal, Westlake HS
3. Anita Willingham, Principal, McLarin Alternative
4. Janis Harper, Assistant Principal, Mt. Olive ES
5. Samuel Taylor, Assistant Superintendent
6. Dara Jones, Principal, Hillside ES
7. Sonia Terry, Principal, Crabapple Crossing ES
8. Noris Price, Principal, Woodland ES
9. Sandra DeShazier, Principal, Bear Creek MS
10. Dan Sims, Principal, West ES
11. Ann Kingrea, Principal, Northwood ES
12. Teresa Mitchell, Assistant Principal, College Park ES
13. Barbara McGuire, Administrator, Staff Services
14. Theresa McGuire, Coordinator, Physical Education
15. Eleanor West, Principal, Tubman ES
16. Juanita Nelson, Principal, Hapeville ES
17. Claire Boyce, Principal, Independence ES
18. Sharon Gay, Assistant Principal, Bear Creek MS
19. William Bradley, Principal, Woodland MS
20. Greg King, Principal, Holmes ES
21. Shannon Flounnory, Principal, Stonewall Tell ES
22. Vickie Warren, Administrator, Personnel
23. Iris Moran, Central Office Administrator
24. Vanessa Johnson, Principal, Liberty Point ES
25. Gretchen Thornton, Principal, College Park ES
26. Ron Taylor, Principal, McNair MS
27. Dan Sims, Principal, West MS
28. Vickie Ferguson, Principal, North Springs HS
29. Vivian Bankston, Principal, Elkins Pointe MS
30. Mike Schlabra, Assistant Principal, Elkins Pointe MS
31. Lori Fanning, Central Office Administrator
32. Gregory Middleton, Principal, Banneker HS
33. Vonnie Thompson, Principal, Randolph ES
34. Emily Massey, Principal, Seaborn Lee ES
35. Maureen Wheeler, Principal, Palmetto ES
36. James Wilson, Superintendent
37. Gail Dean, School Board Member
38. Erica Johnson, Assistant Principal, Heritage ES
39. Telana Hicks, Principal, Gullatt ES
40. Michael Robinson, Principal, Creekside HS
41. Doretha Melton, Assistant Principal, Creekside HS
42. Josephine Richmond-Miller, Principal, Lewis ES
43. Vivian Randolph, Assistant Principal, Woodland MS
44. Mimi Davis, Principal, Independence HS
45. Elizabeth Fogartie, Principal, Webb Bridge MS
46. Ronnie Wade, Administrator, Human Resources
Sandra Ervin is cleaning up the mess Darron Franklin left at Westlake. This post is clearly by a Frankling disciple - word is he isn't doing all that great at the MS level at Bear Creek.
Word on the street is he was trying to get things cleaned up when the other staffers complained and had him removed. Besides its my understanding that Ervin will be there for only two-three years then she'll be kicked upstairs to the area supers office.
WHile you are concerned with who's doing what you better pay attention to what's coming down the pike from the creation of Milton County and what it will mean to South Fulton schools.
***************** Read on*********
ALPHARETTA AND ROSWELL REVUE & NEWS
Few answers for Milton effect on schools
2010-2011 school year could find system split into three districts
by Candy Waylock
write the author
January 26, 2007
The possible re-emergence of Milton County has huge implications for residents who live in North Fulton, but perhaps even more so for the 83,000 students who attend the Fulton County School System.
Who owns the buildings? Who gets the taxes? Who gets the buses and the textbooks? On and on the questions pour from school watchers and officials.
"Right now I have a lot more questions than answers, and the more I think about [the proposed split] the more questions I have," said Julie Haley, an active participant in education for more than a decade in North Fulton.
Haley is also the legislative chairwoman for the Georgia PTA but stressed the organization has not taken on a position on the issue yet, and she is looking at the issue strictly as a parent with children in the school system and a taxpayer.
House Resolution 14 introduced by Rep. Jan Jones, R-Milton, proposes an amendment to the state constitution allowing the re-creation of a previously existing county. This action would only apply to the former Milton and Campbell counties – both of which were merged into Fulton County in the 1930s for financial reasons.
The state constitution now caps the number of counties at its current number of 159.
For the resolution to appear on the November 2008 ballot, the bill needs two-thirds approval from the Georgia Legislature – a probable outcome considering the Republican controlled legislature and the heavy hitters who have signed onto the resolution. It would then need two-thirds approval by state voters in a referendum to amend the constitution.
But the resolution provides only the legality for Milton County to re-form. It does not answer the big question "how?" which will apparently be the focus of next year's legislative session. If voters pass HR 14, Jones will introduce legislation in the next session to actually form Milton County.
Fulton School officials have been told the timeline for Milton County will provide sufficient time to address many issues facing the potential split into two, if not three, school systems.
"In early 2008, a committee will be set up to guide us through the process," said Fulton School Board member Ashley Widener, who represents Johns Creek. "In January 2009, the permissive legislation [to create Milton County] would need a 51 percent vote by each chamber and the signature of the governor. There would be at least a year to have a committee in place to work through that, and the first possible school year under Milton County would be 2010-2011."
The Fulton school system is one of the biggest "businesses" in Fulton County, with a budget of $735 million and more than 10,000 employees. It is also the fourth-largest school system in the state, behind only Cobb, Gwinnett and DeKalb. Dividing the school's assets is no easy undertaking, say officials, who are closely watching the legislature's actions.
"We're watching [the legislation] carefully, but this is all unchartered waters – it has never happened before – and everyone is asking questions," said Mitzi Woody, director of communications for Fulton schools.
She noted the impact on the school system was negligible when Sandy Springs, Milton and Johns Creek recently incorporated into new cities because the school system was not affected.
"We did not see a transition of students or teachers [with the incorporations] and the only changes were new city ordinances that we now have to follow for each city," said Woody.
Impact on SPLOST spurs action
One big issue looming over the school system is the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), a one percent tax in Fulton County directed at new school construction, renovation and improvements. The system is seeking the third renewal of SPLOST in March to fund its five-year building plan through 2012.
Should the Milton split go through in the 2010-2011 school year, the school system will be nearly two-thirds through the five-year tax. In jeopardy are plans for the system to build 14 new schools and 11 classroom additions throughout the school district to be funded by $850 million raised through 2012 by SPLOST 3 proceeds.
The seven-member Fulton Board of Education was concerned enough about the impact on SPLOST 3 that it sent a letter to the Fulton County legislative delegation asking that all SPLOST proceeds collected by the FCSS be used to finish out the project schedule.
"If a county split occurs, we respectfully request that you allow the SPLOST III building campaign to continue to its conclusion on June 30, 2012," wrote the Fulton school board. "If we understand the timetable, this request would only involve the last 12-18 months of the building program."
Members of the board said they had questions about the effects of the county split, including whether the SPLOST program ends immediately, if funds will be transferred, who bears the outstanding debt, if building projects will be finished, and the potential delays to schools under construction.
Employees have concerns
The physical shape of the system has always been an oddity. From the city of Milton to the tip of South Fulton, students attend 90 schools spread out along 75 miles and interrupted by the Atlanta School System. The non-contiguous set-up of the boundaries makes Fulton County the only system in the country split into two parts separated by an entirely separate school system.
But for 70-plus years the system has survived and thrived in sections of the county such as North Fulton where many schools are at the top of the pack for school excellence.
While proponents of Milton County point to financial efficiencies if it were allowed to leave Fulton and form its own government, education activists say is not necessarily the case with Fulton Schools.
"It's different from Fulton County government, "said Haley. "The Fulton County School System has been a great system, with great leadership right now in [superintendent] James Wilson. My children's education needs have been well looked after and I worry about what could happen."
She noted as a taxpayer she's very excited about breaking away from Fulton County government, but is concerned about the school system and the potential that some children, primarily in South Fulton, will be left behind.
Teachers and other staff are also asking questions about their continued employment and the impact on their jobs.
Woody says it's still too early to even consider those issues.
"We hope if the split does happen there is an adequate transition period in place to make sure all of our teachers and students are taken care of," said Woody. "We're telling everyone don't panic, don't celebrate, it's a long way away."
James,
There are two sides to every story regarding Darron Franklin and the truth is somewhere in between.
You should not speculate about Ervin's tenure there unless you have heard this on authority from her or the superintendant and the board who approves promotions. If you have I will retract my comment.
Anonymous you don't have retract anything. Since I'm the moderator I can do that. I won't because I believe in letting folks have their say.
As far as what's the truth. I looked closely into the list that was posted and discovered it's a list of principals and administrators that have received complaints from teachers to the Advocate. That puts a different spin on things.
As for Ervin, let's just wait and see.
Don't vote to let your money build more schools in North Fulton when your needs still have not been met.
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