At the Cobb County School Board Meeting on October 27, 2016, the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax V (Ed-SPLOST V) Resolution was approved calling for a Special Election on March 21, 2017. SPLOST stands for Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. It is a one-cent tax on all consumer goods that must be approved by voters in a referendum. Education SPLOST (Ed-SPLOST) receipts can be used only for school-related capital improvements.

The current Ed-SPLOST expires Dec. 31, 2018. The Ed-SPLOST V Notebook outlines the proposed receipts and expenditures associated with the approved Resolution as well as listing approved projects for each school. You can access the Notebook at www.cobbk12.org/splost. A referendum will be held Tuesday, March 21 to extend the tax another five years.

The following is pulled from the Cobb County School District’s website and provides an outline of how the Ed–SPLOST V revenues would be spent:

REVENUE (Projected Total Ed-SPLOST Revenue – 5 years)

  • Cobb County Schools $797,022,000;
  • City of Marietta Schools $ 62,846,000
  • TOTAL $859,508,000.

COBB COUNTY EXPENDITURES

  • New/Replacement Facilities $165,000,000;
  • Additions/Modifications $206,000,000;
  • Infrastructure/Individual School Needs $103,000,000;
  • Safety, Security, and Support $150,022,000;
  • Academic/Technology $173,000,000.

CITY OF MARIETTA SCHOOLS EXPENDITURES $62,846,000

New and Replacement Facilities

  • Ed-SPLOST V calls for replacement facilities for Eastvalley, Harmony Leland, and King Springs Elementary Schools, and a new Smyrna Area Middle School;
  • Constructing approximately 210 new classrooms.

Additions/Modifications

  • Adding to existing facilities approximately 137 classrooms (26 at middle school level and 111 at high school level);
  • Constructing major additions/modifications/renovations at the following locations: Campbell, Hillgrove, Lassiter, North Cobb, Osborne, Pebblebrook, South Cobb, Sprayberry, Walton and Wheeler high schools, and Dickerson, Dodgen, and Lovinggood middle schools.

Maintenance/Renovation

  • Maintenance projects including new canopies, roofing, toilet room renovations, playground equipment, flooring, painting, lighting upgrades, energy management systems, HVAC, plumbing, and various electrical upgrades;
  • Artificial turf replacement;
  • Renovations to food service facilities and replacement of large kitchen equipment

Safety, Security, and Support

  • Continue to improve school safety by adding access controls, surveillance cameras, security fencing, signage, traffic controls and replacing the outdated radio communications system;
  • Provide support functions, including school buses, maintenance vehicles and equipment, school-level equipment for growth and replacement, student information systems enhancement and replacement of the human resources, payroll, and financialapplications and equipment;
  • Renovations and equipment purchases to serve students with disabilities and comply with accessibility provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Academic/Technology

  • Continue to maintain the existing technology infrastructure, as well as upgrading servers, network access control, data center equipment, and phone systems;
  • Replace obsolete computing devices, printers, and copiers for classrooms and schools, updating interactive classroom devices, band instruments, instruments and equipment for general/choral instruction;
  • Purchase of instructional materials and digital resources;
  • Renovations to support innovative learning spaces such as STEM labs, Learning Commons, and Robotics labs.