Jevin JensenThree weeks before a make-or-break vote, an outspoken critic called a potential new Dalton, Ga., school an overpriced pipe dream that won’t actually help students.
“This may be one of the most expensive two-grade schools ever built in Georgia,” Jevin Jensen, a board member of the League of Women Voters of the Dalton Area, wrote in an editorial provided to the Times Free Press this week.
Voters will decide whether the school board can issue a $50 million bond (plus interest) for the school Nov. 7, when they weigh in on a referendum. The money would build a new academy for sixth- and seventh-graders. Students in eighth and ninth grades would attend Dalton Middle School, and sophomores through seniors still would go to the high school. The board hopes spreading the grades more can prevent future overcrowding.
But is Jensen’s statement true? Is the construction more expensive than a typical new building? School officials say the math is a little difficult to fact check because different people count the figures differently.
Here’s the base number, though: Dalton City Schools administrators project the total cost of a sixth- and seventh-grade academy to sit at about $80 million. That would include about $30 million in interest, paid out over 30 years.