Nearly half of the proceeds from the construction and renovation budget of Atlanta Public Schools’ next proposed special purpose local option sales tax would go to Grady High School and schools that feed into Grady.
Those schools have some of the district’s worst conditions and most crowded classrooms, and house students from some of the district’s wealthiest families.
On Monday, the Atlanta school board called for a special purpose local option sales tax, or SPLOST, election in May. If voters approve the one percent sales tax, the district expects to receive about $464 million over the five-year life of the tax.
Atlanta would spend a total of $208 million of it on school construction and renovation. Of that, about $100 million would go to Grady High School and schools that feed it. That includes $47 million to turn the now-closed Howard High School into a middle school, $33 million for Grady High School and $20 million for Morningside Elementary School.
The Grady and Morningside buildings received some of the lowest ratings from a recent district facilities analysis.
This fall, Superintendent Meria Carstarphen told Grady parents their cluster would be a priority in this SPLOST.
"This has been a long time in the making," she said. "I believe other communities will understand why we need to start these projects as early as possible."
The SPLOST budget the school board approved Monday also prioritizes spending on buildings that are part of Carstarphen's plans to improve some of the district's lowest performing schools by closing some of them and hiring charter school groups to operate others. That means that work at some school buildings in worse shape has been put on hold.
Money for schools in the turnaround plans include $23.5 million for renovations at Connally Elementary School, $6.5 million to Grove Park Elementary School and $10 million to Kennedy Middle School. Those schools would receive students from schools Carstarphen plans to close.
Another $10 million in SPLOST money would go for renovations at Gideons Elementary School. Gideons would be operated by a charter school group under Carstarphen's turnaround proposal.
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Carstarphen’s chief operation officer, Larry Hoskins, said in a written statement, “None of our facilities were skipped.” Hoskins said other schools — including buildings currently leased by charter schools — would still get money for repairs.
APS’ east and west regions are set to get the most SPLOST renovation and construction money — about $44 million each. Schools feeding into North Atlanta and Therrell high schools would see little if any funds for renovations and construction.
Hoskins did not dispute those figures. But he said in a written statement “We allocate funding based on need in order to resolve issues that affect the greatest number of students and to resolve issues preventing conducive learning environments.” Hoskins also noted that schools have received money from past SPLOSTs.
Atlanta’s SPLOST budget also includes about $128 million for repairs to air conditioning and other systems; $47 million for technology — including a pilot project to give digital devices to middle and high school students — and $36 million for debt repayment.
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