Saturday, February 16, 2013
The editorial was written as his personal opinion, and not in his official position as a Cobb school board member.
Cobb County School Board member Scott Sweeney has stirred up controversy by writing an opinion piece in support of the Ed-SPLOST in the February edition of Around Walton magazine. The piece, entitled, “Why You Should Vote to Continue Ed-SPLOST,” outlines Sweeney's thoughts on the sales tax benefiting education and cites examples of how previous SPLOST initiatives have benefitted local schools. Schools in East Cobb like Wheeler High School and Sope Creek Elementary School have already seen improvements funded by SPLOST collections, and further SPLOSTs would help pay for renovations at Walton High School and the construction of a new middle school in East Cobb. Sweeney, who represents a portion of East Cobb on the board, told the Maretta …
Monday, February 11, 2013
Monday's session will detail the $717 million in projects, including Walton High School.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
A detailed look at proposed construction and maintenance work before Cobb voters in the March 2013 referendum.
While the big-ticket items on the March 2013 Cobb Education SPLOST referendum have been getting most of the attention, every school in the Cobb County School District is slated for improvements. The Cobb Board of Education called for the referendum earlier this month and set a date for the vote on March 19, 2013. The biggest school-specific earmark of all is in East Cobb -- nearly $40 million for Walton High School -- as well as nearly $30 million for an East Cobb-area replacement middle school. What follows is a detailed look at what each school in East Cobb -- ZIP codes 30062, 30067 and 30068 -- would be getting if Cobb voters approve the $717 million extension of the one-cent SPLOST, which would begin collection for five years …
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
The Cobb Board of Education approved a resolution Wednesday, but heard a strong dose of anti-tax sentiment.
As expected, the Cobb Board of Education on Wednesday adopted a resolution to call for a March 2013 referendum to extend the Education SPLOST. But the job of selling voters on a $717 million school construction and maintenance project list figures to be a challenging one, given Cobb's recent SPLOST track record. The one-cent sales tax, if approved by voters, would begin in January 2014 and would be collected through December 2018. But before the vote, representatives of a local taxpayers group and the Georgia Tea Party spoke out against a March referendum. And the chairwoman of the school board's SPLOST citizen oversight panel predicted that the finalized SPLOST IV "notebook" (see attached PDF) will fail at the polls. The board voted only…
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Wednesday's work session agenda includes a resolution for a March 2013 referendum.
After an accelerated process to put together and revise a $717 million project list of school construction and maintenance projects, the Cobb Board of Education is expected to vote Wednesday to call for a referendum to pay for them. A resolution calling for a March 19, 2013 referendum that would extend the current Cobb Education SPLOST highlights the board's Wednesday work session agenda (see attached PDF). The meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. in the board room of the Cobb County School District central office, 514 Glover Street, Marietta. After two board members expressed a desire to postpone a referendum to November 2013, Wednesday's agenda item includes a recommendation from Superintendent Michael Hinojosa for a March vote. The current …
Monday, November 5, 2012
The revised project list will be discussed at a special called meeting on Monday.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
The revised project list will be discussed at a special called meeting on Monday.
The Cobb Board of Education has called a special meeting for next week to discuss the proposed SPLOST IV construction and maintenance project list. The meeting is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Monday in the board room of the Cobb County School District central office, 514 Glover Street, Marietta. The board met last week to go over a revised "notebook" (see attached PDF) totalling $717 million in proposed projects that Cobb voters may be voting on early next year. At the end of that meeting, board member Alison Bartlett asked for another public meeting to continue finalizing the project list. The board is expected to vote later this month on whether to call for a referendum, which is likely for March 2013. East Cobb schools would gain …
Friday, October 26, 2012
A new middle school facility would cost $30 million, and $27 million in Walton High School improvements also have been proposed.
A revised project list of school construction and renovation projects for the proposed SPLOST IV one-cent sales tax extension calls for a replacement middle school in East Cobb. In addition, $27 million in renovations for Walton High School, including a gym replacement and choral and orchestral modifications and additional improvements for its fine arts program, are incorporated into the revised list, which the Cobb Board of Education discussed at a special called meeting on Thursday. The East Cobb replacement designation is one of the biggest changes to the $717 million proposed SPLOST IV list, which the Cobb school board is considering putting out to referendum in March. The complete list of revisions will be posted soon on the Cobb …
Friday, September 28, 2012
SPLOST and other education topics are up for discussion at the Oct. 8 event scheduled by Cobb school board member Scott Sweeney.
For the second time in less than a month, Cobb Board of Education chairman Scott Sweeney has scheduled a town hall meeting in his East Cobb district. The next town hall will take place on Monday, Oct. 8, at Wheeler High School. Sweeney said at Thursday's school board meeting that citizens may ask questions on any school-related topic, but expects the builk of the discussion to cover the proposed Cobb schools SPLOST IV project list. Last week, Sweeney heard from Walton High School parents, who asked for more than the $9 million earmarked in SPLOST IV for gymnasium and theater improvements. Some wanted a new fine arts facility to replace cramped and outmoded space for the Walton orchestra, band, drama and other arts programs. Those calls…
Frank
8:49 pm on Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Isn't Ms. Euston, as the F&T Committee Chair that committee's spokesperson? What was the F&T Committee's position on the SPLOST notebook? Was there any discussion about election cost if it was delayed until November? more ›