Cobb Schools Lays Out $894M Draft SPLOST Project Wish List

COBB COUNTY, GA — A slew of projects are on Cobb County School District leaders' draft wish list if voters approve another estimated $894 million Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (Ed-SPLOST) referendum this fall, which Superintendent Chris Ragsdale unveiled at Thursday's school board meeting.

The proposed list includes a rebuild of Sprayberry High School's main building, which parents have pushed the district for over the last several months; a new elementary school in south Cobb; a second career academy in the north Cobb area; and a commencement and special events center for the district.

Other projects on the list are as follows:

• Bells Ferry Elementary School addition/modifications
• North Cobb High School facility upgrades
• Tapp Middle School facility upgrades
• Kincaid, Mt. Bethel, Murdock, Sope Creek and Tritt Elementary School annexes
• Infrastructure improvements – HVAC, electrical, roofing, plumbing, flooring, lighting, painting
• Athletic facility and stadium upgrades – Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and safety improvements, restoration, and repairs
• Individual school site improvements which include but are not limited to signage, canopies, and asphalt paving
• Safety, security, and support enhancements
• Academic and technology refresh/upgrades/enhancements
• Undesignated classrooms

“This Ed-SPLOST list was built based on the most up-to-date county growth data ... and is vitally important for the needs of our students and our schools ... this draft list that you see today is the list we will ask the board to approve of bringing to Cobb voters in November,” Ragsdale said.

According to the Marietta Daily Journal, Sprayberry is slated to get a new career and technology building as well as a new gym under the current Ed-SPLOST, which will be on the board's agenda this fall. The Sprayberry rebuild proposed on the next sales tax referendum — which is not going to be "demo the entire school," Ragsdale said — will not include work in those areas.

Additionally, the MDJ reported the "undesignated classrooms" item line provides a financial buffer for the district if sales tax revenues are negatively affected for any reason.

Ed-SPLOST is a 1-cent sales tax on all consumer goods that goes to a school district, and all receipts from this fund can be used only for school-related capital improvements. The current Ed-SPLOST was approved by voters in 2017 and is projected to collect $797 million by the end of 2023, said Brad Johnson, Cobb Schools' chief financial officer.

This fall will mark the sixth iteration of Ed-SPLOST at Cobb Schools if voters approve it, and will be on the ballot — with a finalized project list — for the Nov. 2 election. The first Ed-SPLOST was approved in 1998, and the district has since built 28 new schools, more than 2,700 new classrooms and hundreds of maintenance improvements, according to a news release from Cobb Schools.

The estimated $894 million for the proposed referendum this fall may vary, Johnson said, depending on factors that affect sales tax revenue in the county — for example, like the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

If approved, Ed-SPLOST collections would begin in 2024 and continue for five years.

• RELATED: 'No More Lipstick On A Pig': Sprayberry Parents Push For Rebuild