ESPLOST FUNDINGThe first three education special purpose local option sales tax cycles generated millions of dollars for capital improvement projects:1997-2002: $31,320,3392002-2007: $40,389,3792007-2012: $25,000,000*Total 1997-2010: $96,709,718* Through June 30Source: Catoosa County Public SchoolsIF YOU GOThe Catoosa County Board of Education will hold a town hall meeting from 6-8 p.m. on Sept. 30 at the Colonnade Theater, 264 Catoosa Circle, off Peeler Mill Road in Ringgold, Ga.
Catoosa County’s special education sales tax has paid almost $100 million for new schools and classrooms, computers and buses since it began in 1997.
Now school leaders want the public to help decide how to spend the next round of funding should voters renew the tax next year.
Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School and West Side Elementary School are in line for major updates in the next education special purpose local option sales tax cycle. But Catoosa Director of Operations Damon Raines said community members can make their own suggestions a town hall meeting set for Sept. 30 at the Colonnade off Battlefield Parkway.
Voters will decide whether to continue the tax on March 15, 2011. The 1-cent levy is included in Catoosa’s 7 percent sales tax.
Raines said plans for LFO include a new gymnasium, updated science labs and a redesigned front office to improve access, visibility and security. The front entrance also will be renovated and a canopy placed to shield bus riders when it’s raining, he said.
Plans for West Side Elementary include remodeling the media center and adding classrooms to relieve crowding, he said.
School board member Jane Everett said it’s time for the community to take part in defining funding goals for the school system.
“The most important part is to hear what the public wants; the more the merrier,” Everett said. “One of the reasons that we are advertising it so widely is to get a real crowd there.”
The board will hold a retreat the weekend after the town hall meeting to discuss suggestions and opinions on the tax, she said.
She said groups focused on a particular project or need should choose a spokesperson to allow as many people as possible to speak during the two-hour town hall meeting.