Savannah-Chatham superintendent lauds 'significant voter turnout' for ESPLOST election
"Collectively, when I say 'Together We Can' this is exactly what I mean," said Savannah-Chatham County Public School System Superintendent Denise Watts regarding the county's approval of the fifth Education Special Purchase Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) referendum.
During a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, she lauded "a significant voter turnout" for Tuesday's special election despite 94.19% of eligible voters opting not to show at the polls.
The referendum was the first March vote for an ESPLOST measure, which also made it the only item on the ballot. The special election also took place the day after Savannah's St. Patrick Day Parade and Festival. Each of these factors presented previously unexplored variables for an ESPLOST vote.
"Nobody really knew how it was going to go...I was even nervous about how it would go," Watts said Wednesday. She said that since this was her first ESPLOST vote, she did not have a historical number to base a potential outcome against.
She reiterated that the vote received a 64.37% approval among 5.81% of eligible Chatham County voters. As previously reported, the approval rate is the third highest of all the ESPLOST votes.
Conversely, the referendum's disapproval rate is also the third highest for an ESPLOST vote with 35.63% of voters going against the measure.
Ultimately, she was "happy to announce" the significant win for the district, which will allow it to address facilities projects large and small. She referred to a top priority being "one of our flagship projects," which is Pooler's first high school. She said the district will continue to be good stewards of its and the community's resources to ensure students "have quality learning opportunities and facilities to learn in."
She expressed her gratitude for for the opportunity to "galvanize the community around something that we know will leave a lasting benefit." She thanked community partners, families and her district team for their efforts and insights throughout the proposal development process.
Watts also acknowledged the support of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, for which she is listed as a member of the board of directors. School district Chief Public Affairs and Administrative Services Officer Kurt Hetager clarified that the chamber invites the school system to be represented on the board, but that the superintendent traditionally does not attend the meetings. "We have a strategic partner coordinator in our engagement and outreach department that attends," he said.
Watts did confirm that she had given an informational presentation on ESPLOST to the Chamber board prior to its endorsement. She said she "was asked to leave the room when ESPLOST V was discussed" following the presentation.
All is quiet on the voting front: 5.81% of Savannah-Chatham County voters pass ESPLOST
The voters' approval of ESPLOST extends the already-existing 1% sales tax designated for public school capital projects. The first penny tax was first approved nearly 20 years ago and has gained voters' support ever since.
Here's another look back at the historical turnout over all past ESPLOST votes:
ESPLOST I vote on Sept. 19, 2006 *Special election
Total: 23,801
Yes: 13,276 (60.28%)
No: 10,525 (39.72%)
ESPLOST II vote on Nov. 8 2011
Total: 39,313
Yes: 26,930 (67.13%)
No: 12,923 (32.87%)
ESPLOST III vote on Nov. 8, 2016 *Presidential Election year
Total: 108,020
Yes: 64,468 (59.68%)
No: 43,552 (40.32%)
ESPLOST IV vote on Nov. 2, 2021
Total: 22,612
Yes: 16,765 (74.14%)
No: 5,847 (25.86%)
ESPLOST V on March 18, 2025 *Special election
Total: 12,240**
Yes: 7,879 (64.37%)
No: 4,361 (35.63%)
**12,251 ballots were cast but Chatham County Elections Supervisor Billy Wooten confirmed that 11 voters checked in, printed their ballots and cast them but the ballots were blank.
Joseph Schwartzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at JSchwartzburt@gannett.com and JoeInTheKnow_SMN on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah-Chatham superintendent happy with ESPLOST outcome
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