CATOOSA COUNTY SCHOOLS BY THE NUMBERS• K-12 enrollment: 10,935 in 2010.• Number of schools: Ten elementary schools, three middle schools, three high schools and the Performance Learning Center.• Cost for a new school: The county’s newest school, Heritage High School, opened in 2008 and cost about $40 million.• Total ESPLOST collections 1997 through June 2010: $96.7 million.• Annual budget: $88,509,348 for the 2011 school year, down from the 2010 budget of $91,888,567.
Year after year, the goal of the Catoosa County Public School System is to provide high quality education at a reasonable cost to taxpayers.
The current recession has led to ever-tighter budgets and reduced revenue as well as pressured some students to leave school and find jobs to help support families.
Even so, the system remains focused on its mission and two of the normally accepted ways to judge a system’s success, graduation rates and standardized test scores, show it is succeeding.
“I think the school system’s greatest accomplishment in 2009-10 was improving the graduation rate,” Superintendent Denia Reese said. “Our greatest opportunity for 2010-2011 is continuing ESPLOST.”
Reese, who regularly says, “Improving the graduation rate is our highest priority,” formed a Graduation Task Force in 2007 that has helped bring the graduation rate in 2010 to 80.3 percent, the county’s highest ever.
“Our theme is Destination Graduation, and from elementary school through high school our students are focused on reaching this goal,” she said.
Reese said that in addition to a record graduation rate, in 2010 the average composite score for Catoosa students taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) was 1559 compared to 1509 for the nation.
Don Dycus, chairman of the board of education, says he is “not a great proponent of using SAT scores” as the only way to judge an individual’s or the system’s achievement, but “it does allow comparisons” both over time and with other school systems.
He realizes “a 100 percent graduation rate will probably never be achieved,” but Dycus said improvements over the past few years in both SAT scores and graduation rates “is a big deal.”
An expanded Performance Learning Center is part of the plan to continue improving the graduation rate. By providing an alternative setting for classrooms and offering more flexible schedules than a traditional high school, PLC keeps students in school and on track to graduate.
“I appreciate this community’s support for Catoosa County Public Schools,” Reese said. “I believe we still have a few challenging years ahead until we see an economic recovery in Georgia, but with strong support from our employees and our community, I know we will continue to maintain excellent public education in Catoosa County schools.”
What lies ahead
Tuesday, March 15, will be the most important day for Catoosa County Public Schools for this and the next five years.
That is the day when voters decide whether or not to extend the county’s Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) a fourth time.
“This is a place where the citizens can see their money being spent and spent wisely,” said Dycus, who termed ESPLOST IV’s adoption as “critical.”
Since its first installment in 1997, this one-percent tax earmarked for capital improvements in schools has been an invaluable tool that allows reasonable millage rates without compromising the system’s drive for excellence.
“ESPLOST helps keep property taxes lower because non-resident shoppers are contributing to building and maintaining schools for our children,” Reese said.
The school system maintains 1.7 million square feet in facilities, with seven of the system’s 17 schools being at least 50 years old. ESPLOST pennies have been used for maintenance and revitalization of these buildings – replacing and repairing roofs, maintaining heating and air-conditioning units and upgrading electrical systems and plumbing so children can attend safe schools.
“Without ESPLOST there would be no way to keep up with the needs,” Dycus said. “This is what makes providing our facilities possible.”
The Board of Education identified four priorities for potential ESPLOST IV projects: improving student achievement, enhancing student safety, maintaining facility equitability, and preparing for growth.
Officials said Catoosa is one of the state’s fastest growing counties and public school enrollment increased to 10,935 students in 2010.
“It has been growing been for several years and will continue in the future,” Dycus said. “We may double in size over the next 20 years.”
Not only must the long-range plans include provisions for accommodating more students, the board simultaneously is trying to build a healthy reserve fund while retaining staff and faculty.
Federal stimulus money has softened this recession’s impact but the days of that financial cushion are numbered, according to Dycus.
“Each year the budget gets more complicated and the economic downturn has even made it more difficult,” he said. “We realized that [the stimulus money] was a two year sum that would come to an end and, if the economy did not recover, 2012 was going to be a critical year.”
Along with the stimulus funds, the local system had several variances including one that allowed for larger class sizes – more students per teacher – that will soon end, Dycus said.
Growth means hiring more teachers and building more classrooms. Having ESPLOST for capital projects means property tax revenue can be dedicated toward day-to-day operational costs that include staffing, he said.
“How we will handle growth is part of our long-term planning,” Dycus said. “ESPLOST is such a godsend. When you try to develop a ‘what if’ for funding if it doesn’t pass, there is no answer.”