While school system officials can’t campaign in favor of the proposed education special purpose local option sales tax extension, the Chamber is going to bat for the schools’ penny tax.
Liberty County Chamber of Commerce members were shown what the system plans to do with ESPLOST, if voters approve its extension. Polls at voting precincts will be open March 18, and early voting begins February 24, running through March 14.
The school system hopes the ESPLOST renewal brings in $112 million over the life of the tax, through February 2031, and the big ticket item on the list is a new school. School system officials don’t know where exactly the new school will be built, and what grades it will house, but they are looking at Hinesville. The school likely will elementary school grades and could wind up being a K-8 school, based on the school’s enrollment and population projections.
The proposed new school will have an enrollment of between 850 and 1,000 students.
If passed by voters next month, ESPLOST VI is expected to generate $1.65 million per month — and school system officials point out the sales tax proceeds also are a result of those from other counties who come to Hinesville and Liberty County.
“It goes without saying that you can tell a lot about a community by how it supports its children,” said Deputy Superintendent Dr. Zheadric Barbra. “We can’t thank you enough for the ESPLOSTs we’ve had in the past.”
Enrollment in Liberty County Schools is just under 11,000, and officials project those numbers to swell to 12,250 in three years. Of the expected $112 million, about 44%, or $48.8 million, will go to construction of a new school. Technology purchases and upgrades will account for about 16%, or $17.425 million.
“We do have a large homeless population,” Superintendent Dr. Franklin Perry said. “We have a large special needs population. About 1-2% of our students are homeless and about 15% of our students are special needs. Poverty in Liberty County is serious.”
Dr. Perry also said 29% of the system’s enrollment is transient. “And we haven’t been teaching those kids,” he added.
Without ESPLOST, school system director of operations Arnold Jackson said, funding for the school likely will have to come out of the general fund, which comes from property taxes.
“Existing elementary schools are near capacity,” Jackson said.
Several schools are slated to get renovations and additions through another round of ESPLOST. The Liberty College and Career Academy would get five new programs and could house up to another 300 students per year.
The schools and Hyundai Mobis recently signed an agreement that the company would provide 17 internships, at $40,000 a year, to 17 seniors from Bradwell Institute and Liberty County High.
Site work also is planned for the Pre-K Center, Liberty Joseph Martin, Taylors Creek and Waldo Pafford elementary schools, Midway Middle School and Bradwell Institute. Minor renovations are scheduled for the Horizons Learning Center, Frank Long Elementary, all three middle schools, Bradwell and Liberty County High School.
Also to be funded through another round of ESPLOST are buses. The school system has bought 60 buses under ESPLOST, including eight in the last year. It’s brought the average age of its fleet down from 19 years old to nine years old.
Under the current ESPLOST, new turf fields were installed at Bradwell’s Olvey Field/Hokey Jackson Stadium and at Liberty County High’s Donell Woods Stadium/Kirk Warner Field. ESPLOST also funded the new track surfaces at BI and LCHS, along with new turf fields for the two high schools’ baseball and softball fields.