A public meeting being held tonight will give DeKalb County parents a chance to debate projects already suggested for the school district’s upcoming E-SPLOST V.
The resolution seeks $500 million for various projects. Voters will decide whether the district gets the funding, through a penny sales-tax extension, on May 24.
The early list of projects comes from earlier meetings with parents and other “stakeholders. The district’s resolution on the ballot says funds will be spent on enhancing surveillance systems, modifying and replacing some schools and building new ones, among other things. Opposition to the lack of a more specific list has surfaced from State Sen. Fran Millar (R-Dunwoody) and the DeKalb branch of the NAACP, though the NAACP is more concerned with yet-to-be-completed projects from E-SPLOST IV and attention to needs in south and east DeKalb.
District officials say their plan not to list specific projects was necessary to stay in line with the past practice of having the vote to extend the education special-purpose local option sales tax on the ballot at the same time as neighboring jurisdictions: City Schools of Decatur, Atlanta Public Schools and Fulton County.
Ultimately, Superintendent Steve Green said his hope is to develop a final list of projects with community input.
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