Unveiling the Impact of Ed-SPLOST

David Owen: 00:00:00

What your Ed Sploss pennies are up to is coming up next on the Inside Scoop. Hey, welcome back to the Inside Scoop. I'm your host, David Owen. When anyone in Cobb buys something, they're likely paying a 1% sales tax.

That is, unless it's something exempted from the tax, like prescription drugs.

So that means people traveling through the county on I75 heading to a vacation spot, for example, are chipping in to help the education of our whenever they make a purchase. Here to talk about the results of their investment is the current head of Cobb schools, ED SPLOST department, James Wilson.

James, thank you for coming in.

James Wilson: 00:00:43

Glad to be here.

David Owen: 00:00:44

So you are. You're not new to Cobb schools.

In fact, anyone who's been to a board meeting can look over on the wall and see picture perhaps a younger version of you. Tell us a little bit about your experience in Cobb schools and how you came to be our head of SPLOST.

James Wilson: 00:01:07

In: 1975

Over high schools, over hr Deputy superintendent, interim superintendent.

David Owen: 00:01:28

Okay, now let's start. Ridiculous. So you've had experience in just about every area of the school district, right?

James Wilson: 00:01:37

I've enjoyed being a part of the Cobb county school district for a long time, yes.

David Owen: 00:01:42

Okay.

So it seems like that would be good to help understand the needs of the various areas, geographical areas, as well as the operational things of the school district. Right.

James Wilson: 00:01:52

It has served me well being in many parts of the school district, especially as we have worked through splost.

David Owen: 00:02:01

Okay, so let's. Let's do that. Let's go a little bit deeper on SPLOST or as we call it, ED splost. And by the way, that distinction is kind of important. Right.

Because the school district isn't the only one here doing a SPLOST program as separate from the Cobb government. We are Cobb school district. Right. We don't do roads, for example.

James Wilson: 00:02:25

That's correct. It's very important to distinguish between the two.

David Owen: 00:02:29

Okay. Any chance that's going to be formalized as ED SPLOST department in the near future?

James Wilson: 00:02:35

We're working on that. We're currently in our existing SPLOST working through that, but we're always planning for the next one.

David Owen: 00:02:42

Okay, awesome. That's good to hear. So what about esplost? I kind of alluded to this in the open. What about Esplost is such an advantage to the taxpayers?

The Citizens of Cobb County.

James Wilson: 00:02:57

Well, you mentioned it in your opening that it's a 1% sales tax.

,: 28520

David Owen: 00:03:21

That's kind of nice to have somebody else chipping in as well. So anytime we have a convention in town, I guess that helps our schools.

James Wilson: 00:03:30

Yes.

Cobb's an attractive place for a lot of activities and businesses, so it really works well for us because it's an estimate, and it's truly an estimate. But typically, we estimate that about 30 to 35% of the pennies come from people outside of our county.

David Owen: 00:03:48

Oh, wow. Okay.

So when we are talking about the advantages of splost, having others chip in, but that also that money is used in such a way that we don't have to pay certain other types of taxes, right?

James Wilson: 00:04:06

Oh, yes. It's an advantage to everyone who lives here.

David Owen: 00:04:10

Okay, so. And not to turn this into a finance podcast, you didn't necessarily want to hear the finance side, but it's an important thing.

We'll be brief on this. Most school districts have to issue bonds to build new buildings, for example, or even to repair existing buildings. Right? Correct. We don't do that.

James Wilson: 00:04:33

hat this district held was in: 1994

It was $210 million. And in our payback of that, we paid $290 million because of the interest.

David Owen: 00:04:55

Okay.

James Wilson: 00:04:56

So it is extremely important for us to be effective with our 1% sales tax, because we don't have bond payments. This county here, not like everyone else, we're bond free.

David Owen: 00:05:09

Yeah. That's debt free. It's like. Well, it's like a mortgage, except for a school district and you're having to pay all of that interest.

But with splost, we don't have to pay that interest, and we have somebody else helping us pay it. That's kind of a nice thing. So ever since BLAST was implemented, SPLOST1, and you were here when SPLOSS was.

Okay, so what are some of the outstanding or most memorable things that have been done through SPLOSS that people now may take for granted?

James Wilson: 00:05:43

districts across the state in: 1996

In that SPLOST were 12 new schools because we had over 700 portable classrooms and we were growing 3,000 plus students a year. So it was a very successful SPLOST because we worked toward having better classrooms for students.

, the second SPLOST in: 2003

We were down to about 200 portable classrooms and today we're less than 100.

David Owen: 00:06:36

Okay, so can you imagine having to suddenly build 20 some odd schools? I mean, those were times when growth was just incredibly high. The rate of growth was huge.

And you try, you actually, you and your department track the growth of the county or the demographics of the county. Right. To try to anticipate what's going to happen.

James Wilson: 00:07:02

We do, we've been tracking, we do a 10 year enrollment study and renew it every single year.

So if we go out to build a school, first of all, we know the location of that school, where it needs to be, and just how much effort we need to have as far as size of schools, whether it's elementary, middle or high. So we're constantly planning and forecasting our needs.

David Owen: 00:07:23

That seems like, it almost seems like an impossible task to forecast because you're having to not only figure out what's going to happen in the next year or two, but probably, what, five or 10 years down the road?

James Wilson: 00:07:38

We are always planning for at least five to 10 years down the road.

David Owen: 00:07:43

Good grief, that must take some high math. I'll just say that. High research. Right. What are some of the things that you would pull up to try to figure all that out?

James Wilson: 00:07:53

Well, we always look at building permits where the growth is.

David Owen: 00:07:57

Okay.

James Wilson: 00:07:57

The county over the years has done somewhat of a counterclockwise growth pattern.

Back in the earlier days, the growth was in Smyrna, then it moved over to east Cobb, then it moved to north Cobb, then it moved to west Cobb and now it's back to Smyrna.

David Owen: 00:08:13

So you're always chasing the growth bubble.

James Wilson: 00:08:15

Yeah, but it's, but it's a good thing to be able to always be in a position to forecast. So when we do have a SPLOSS program, we are building where it's supposed to be.

There have been districts that didn't do their planning and they built a school maybe in one place when it probably needed to be in another. So we plan constantly. It's Important to us to make sure that we do the right thing.

David Owen: 00:08:38

Yeah, absolutely. So now that we are tending to see kind of a decline, population wise, at least that's been my understanding.

What is the need for SPLOST if things are. If the student population is going down?

James Wilson: 00:08:56

Well, the student population in Cobb county is going down a little bit, just like every other school district in metro Atlanta.

David Owen: 00:09:02

Okay.

James Wilson: 00:09:03

And there's some factors that go with that. But the important part for us is SPLOST is not just to build new schools.

It is to maintain our existing schools by modernization and making sure that because some of our inventory goes back to being built in the 50s.

So it's important for us to take all of our schools and make sure that the roofs are good, the flooring is good, the classrooms are good, the H VAC systems are good. So kids are warm in the wintertime and cool in the summer, summertime. So it's really important.

It's a huge part of any splice program is taking care of the infrastructure.

David Owen: 00:09:41

Yeah.

Anybody who's owned a home or lived in an edifice of any sort knows that things don't always stay in prime condition unless you make them stay that way.

James Wilson: 00:09:53

Well, that's a great example, because we use that example oftentimes that in your home, at some point in time, you'll put a new roof on your house. You will paint the inside and the outside, you'll redo the driveway. And we do the same thing with schools.

We try to keep them modernized to the best of our ability. And we use that precious penny, as it's called.

David Owen: 00:10:15

And precious it is. Things have been kind of tough economically.

And so from the standpoint of a taxpayer, I'll just say it's an advantage because since it's a sales tax, you're not having to pay it unless you choose to buy something. So that's kind of a nice side. As what are some of the most, I guess you'd call them, high profile or exciting projects that you have going.

James Wilson: 00:10:39

On now, there are certainly in every sploss some high profile projects, and we have some currently CETA 2, the innovation technology program, that's very popular across the state and very popular in this county. It's the reason why we not only have CETA 1, but now we're doing CETA 2.

David Owen: 00:10:59

Yeah. CEDA 1 being the one at the.

James Wilson: 00:11:02

Osborn campus, and CETA 2 is at the Allatoona campus.

David Owen: 00:11:06

Okay. And just so that you'll be aware, CETA 1 has been so popular that they have applicants they can't accommodate.

And so being able to accommodate more applicants, but also serve another area of the county, presumably where some of that growth is happening.

James Wilson: 00:11:23

That's right.

David Owen: 00:11:24

That's kind of an important thing. So I'm sorry for the interruption. Go ahead.

James Wilson: 00:11:27

erry High School was built in: 1974

David Owen: 00:11:32

Okay.

James Wilson: 00:11:33

Wow. So it's got some age on it. And we are upgrading and doing what we need to do to make that a really good facility.

Some of it is rebuild, some of it is modernization. And we're not rebuilding the entire thing because the theater, the band room, the choral room, all of those are in still real good shape.

We have a good gymnasium there. But as far as classroom space, media center and all of those kind of things, it's a total rebuild for that area.

And it's unique in the fact that because of land and the tightness of all of our properties that have some age on them, this main classroom addition is a four story classroom addition.

David Owen: 00:12:14

Okay. Building up instead of out.

James Wilson: 00:12:15

Building up instead of out.

David Owen: 00:12:18

So I understand that you brought some pictures with you that we could maybe take a quick look at. So let's see what comes up here and maybe you can just kind of describe what it is that we're doing we're looking at. Sure.

James Wilson: 00:12:31

Well, that's an aerial picture taken by our contractor and we have a very good contractor and the program is going very well. So if you see the main thing, you see there is that four story building.

David Owen: 00:12:42

Okay. And that's the one at Spraberry.

James Wilson: 00:12:44

That's at Spraberry. And if you go back a little bit, you'll see another lower level, fairly good sized building. There's two options there.

One is the fairly new gymnasium, but the other is 37 portable classrooms. So while we take instructional space away from a school, we have to still have the instructional space. So there's 37 portable classrooms.

It doesn't look like 37 because they're in. They're tied together.

David Owen: 00:13:11

So that's back by the ball field. Is that.

James Wilson: 00:13:14

Yes, it's real close to the football field.

David Owen: 00:13:16

Okay.

James Wilson: 00:13:17

And we took. Unfortunately, we had to take away some of the student parking to do that.

David Owen: 00:13:23

But they'll get it back.

James Wilson: 00:13:25

They absolutely will. And it'll be much better for them and for everyone because of the new facilities that they're going to be able to go to class in.

David Owen: 00:13:33

Okay.

James Wilson: 00:13:33

So we're excited about that project there. It is unique in the fact that we're really doing an 80% rebuild. You can see in the lower part.

That's where the theater, band room, orchestra room, choral room currently is.

David Owen: 00:13:46

All right, Mike, what do we have next? What, what other photos can we take a look at?

James Wilson: 00:13:54

This is Ceda II.

David Owen: 00:13:55

Okay.

James Wilson: 00:13:56

And Cedar II has about a 10 to 12 month build. It's on the campus of Allatoona. And so it just started a couple of months ago. And we're doing extremely well with this.

The pour has been complete of the concrete, and now we're going up with the steel. And so we're actually on schedule right now, but we have a whole long way to go, as you can see.

David Owen: 00:14:19

Yeah. I was going to say, taking a look at the facility of CEDA 1, there is an awful lot of technology in that.

So you guys have to get your building up fairly quickly to be able to accommodate all that technology, right?

James Wilson: 00:14:32

Yes, you're absolutely correct.

So the early stages, you'll see that the concrete pad and the steel, but it's all working toward an excellent opportunity for young people to get their education in an atmosphere like this. It's really impressive.

David Owen: 00:14:49

All right, so this looks like the same thing, just a different view.

James Wilson: 00:14:54

That's right.

David Owen: 00:14:54

Okay. And this is out the front door, in essence of Allatoona is that if.

James Wilson: 00:15:01

You were standing in front of the school, it would be a little bit to your right. This used to be student parking. We didn't take all of the student parking away in this, but it's a great location for the school and the program.

But just behind this is another student parking that we put in in place. So they did not lose student parking spaces.

David Owen: 00:15:23

I was going to say, of all the schools in the county, they might have the most land area to work with.

James Wilson: 00:15:29

Little over 100 acres. Yes. Wow.

David Owen: 00:15:31

Goodness gracious. Okay, tell us what's coming up. Is it Bell's Ferry?

James Wilson: 00:15:36

Yes.

David Owen: 00:15:37

Okay, what's the story on Bell's Ferry?

James Wilson: 00:15:40

Bell's Ferry is an excellent example of an older school on a smaller campus that needs to be modernized and upgraded.

David Owen: 00:15:49

Okay.

James Wilson: 00:15:49

y street when it was built in: 1961

David Owen: 00:15:56

Cow pastures probably.

James Wilson: 00:15:57

But it's a busy street. So we've had challenges of the queuing line of parents trying to drop off their kids being stuck on Bell's Ferry Road.

So we're redoing the queuing line to help, but we're also tearing down and rebuilding some of the older buildings to modernize that campus. And it's a great example of a great school that's got some age on it, and we just need to update it and improve it.

David Owen: 00:16:22

So you guys. And when you have a school like that that is so landlocked, and, I mean, you can't put portables on a site like that.

How have you managed that aspect?

James Wilson: 00:16:39

Well, we actually did put portables on there, really, because of the construction, but we also did something else, and we've only done this a few times, but this is going very well, and we're real pleased with everyone working with us on this. Two of the grades in Bell's Ferry actually now go to Chalker. Okay.

So we would reduce the number of students on the Bell's Ferry campus so we could do the construction.

David Owen: 00:17:04

Gotcha.

James Wilson: 00:17:05

And so we were in a position to let the students go, and we transport them, of course, by bus to Chalker, which is a neighboring school. The attendance zones attached to each other. And Chalker had some instructional space to take two grades for us.

We still put a few portables on the Bell's Ferry campus just out of need for movement and trying to make sure that when we are doing a construction project like this, the whole environment stays very safe for teachers, parents, and students.

David Owen: 00:17:37

And most of all, students. Yeah, absolutely. So it makes perfect sense if you have space at an adjacent school to make use of it.

James Wilson: 00:17:45

We've only done that a couple of times, but it's working very well. Community is very supportive. Both principals of both schools met with the communities and explained how this would work.

And we're very fortunate because we really had to have the construction space.

David Owen: 00:18:02

Okay, well, James, thank you so much for coming in and sharing some of these insights on edsplast and Cobb schools. And where can people who want to dig deeper into the edsplast program go for additional information?

James Wilson: 00:18:17

And thanks for saying that, because in the initial SPLOST splash one, we created a notebook. Most districts did not, but we have a notebook of every SPLOST and every project that we do, and it's actually on the school district website.

David Owen: 00:18:32

Okay, so that's not required by law.

James Wilson: 00:18:35

No.

David Owen: 00:18:36

Okay. So we go above and beyond to be transparent on the projects that we intend to do. I guess that relies greatly on the cash flow.

Everything relies on cash flow.

James Wilson: 00:18:46

Everything is designed around cash flow. Yes. It's important to us for the community to know what we're doing.

And the important part of that is we've talked about some really good projects, but there's about 50 projects going on right now that don't get that kind of attention, because maybe we're just putting in a new floor or maybe we're painting or putting in a new roof. And those, those projects are just as important as the others.

David Owen: 00:19:10

They're not as sexy as a four story Sprayberry, but nobody wants to have their kids sitting with a bucket of rainwater dripping next to them. Well, again, thank you so much. We'll make sure that links to that information are available in the description and the show notes.

And thank you for watching this edition of the Inside Scoop, a podcast produced by the Cobb County School.