Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter/ Graysville Elementary School, located at 944 Graysville Road, is seen on Friday, Aug. 9, 2019 in Graysville, Ga.The total makeover of Graysville Elementary School that extended nearly two years was complete Monday when more than 500 elementary school students returned to school.
"Those kids are going to think they have walked into a brand-new school," Operations Director Mike Sholl told the Catoosa County school board at its Aug. 6 meeting.
Built in the mid-1950s, the Ringgold, Georgia school had a new, 54,327-square-foot facility constructed in 2018 that then opened in January 2019.
Grades 2-5 moved in January into the second floor of the new building, which includes a new entrance, administrative office, media center, nurse's office and 20 new classrooms. Kindergarten and first grade students moved into the last part of the project Monday, a newly renovated wing that also includes a renovated gym.
"It's great that the school is done and ready," said system Superintendent Denia Reese, once the principal at Graysville Elementary.
Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter/ Graysville Elementary School, located at 944 Graysville Road, is seen on Friday, Aug. 9, 2019 in Graysville, Ga.The project cost $13.5 million and was paid for by an education special-purpose local-option sales tax - or ESPLOST - to fund capital projects. It's an additional 1-cent sales tax that requires voter approval and is collected over 60 months to pay principal and interest on debt issued to fund designated projects.
Catoosa County began collecting ESPLOST funds in February 2017 used to repay the total debt of $48,072,222. With an upcoming payment of $9 million, the system will have retired nearly $20 million of the debt, Sholl said. He said collections are running ahead of expectations, and he told the board the system has 37 payments left.
In other action, the school board held its final, required budget public hearing before the regular board session. The board, which has the power of taxation, accepted the rollback rate in the 2019 tax digest.
The new millage rate is 16.905, down from the 2018 rate of 17.171.
Finance Director Blake Stansell told that board that after accounting accruals for the last two months of the fiscal year (May-June), the system will be left with a "healthy fund balance" around $16 million.
Contact Davis Lundy at davislundy@aol.com.