Parents in south Cobb are clamoring for a new school to replace classrooms they say are rife with leaky roofs, mold and flooding and ill-equipped to handle the technology needed to bolster students’ education.
The Cobb County school board is expected to consider Thursday putting aside $5 million from next year's budgettoward building a new elementary school to replace two of the county's oldest schools, Harmony-Leland and Clay elementaries.
But some on the board question the proposal to replace the aging schools, saying the money would be better spent hiring more teachers.
The debate comes at a time when state education officials have pushed to improve school climate, which they say can influence student learning. Decrepit and unkept schools can be harmful to student achievement, education officials say.
“When you walk into a building that is run down, where things haven’t been well-maintained or things are very out-of-date, kids see that,” said Claire Suggs, an education policy analyst with the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute. “And they internalize that message they maybe don’t matter so much.
“When you walk into a building that is well-maintained … it does send a message they (students) are valued and the work they will do in that building matters.”
Last year, Cobb school board members voted to put $5 million into developing a new elementary school in south Cobb that could take on students from Clay and Harmony-Leland elementary schools. Built in 1951, Harmony-Leland had more than 160 students over its capacity and seven trailers on its site as of last spring.
Cobb’s latest list of projects to be paid for with local sales-tax, or SPLOST, money, includes two new schools outside of south Cobb: replacements for Brumby and Mountain View elementaries, but not a south Cobb school.
Randy Scamihorn, Cobb school board chairman, said the board had an earlier understanding that it would put $15 million over three years toward the new south Cobb school.
The board also is looking to sell both the old Brumby and Mountain View properties to fund the new south Cobb elementary – bringing the projected total to build it to close to $30 million, Scamihorn said.
“It’s about trying to give them the best facilities and teachers … so when they graduate they have knowledge and tools so they can compete on a global scale,” said Scamihorn, who’s in favor of a new elementary in south Cobb.
At a recent school board meeting, members Scott Sweeney and David Banks questioned whether the money earmarked for the south Cobb school would be better used for other purposes, including hiring new teachers. The district is proposing in its budget to hire 100 teachers for the next school year.
David Berny, whose two children have attended Harmony-Leland, said the number of students has increased to nearly 735 and the school continues to be over-capacity and is using close to a dozen trailers due to lack of classroom space.
Berny and other parents say the school has flooding problems and sewer backups, and cockroaches, rats and ants. It also lacks the bandwidth necessary for the most up-to-date technology, which hampers student achievement, Berny said.
“The school is obsolete,” Berny said. “It’s not a healthy environment.”
David Morgan, the only black Cobb school board member, who represents the part of south Cobb that includes Harmony-Leland and Clay, said there were plans initially to replace Harmony-Leland using SPLOST funds. But when the recession hit, SPLOST funds came up short and Harmony-Leland was cut.
Morgan said the school district needs to use money from its general fund to build the new elementary.
“This is a way for a community that’s largely been marginalized, will feel like, ‘You know what, the district does care about our school.’ ”
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