Education
Education

Cobb hires architect to design replacement of run-down school

By Ty Tagami
Aug 29, 2016

The Cobb County School District has hired an architect to design the replacement school for Harmon Leland Elementary, which has been plagued by sewer backups and other signs of deterioration.

The school board voted in the spring to put $5 million into the school construction, but that was only a fraction of the money required. The rest would have to come from the next (fifth) Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, which angered parents at the school.

The design is expected to cost $1.5 million, 5 percent of the construction cost, which will not be funded unless voters approve SPLOST V in March, the district says. The board on Thursday authorized the design contract with the firm Cunningham Forehand Mathews and Moore Architects of Atlanta.

Read in-depth coverage about that school and concerns about how the sales tax money gets shared.

About the Author

Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.

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