Latest news with #ESPLOST
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SPLOST Season: Chatham County begins push for eighth penny-sales-tax referendum this November
The push for a new Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum has begun in Chatham County. County Manager Michael Kaigler sent a letter to city managers at each of Chatham's municipalities requesting a meeting on March 31 to plan a SPLOST 8 referendum. The letter indicates the county is aiming to have SPLOST on the ballot for the Nov. 4 election. Each of the county's municipalities will develop their own project list, which then are presented to the Chatham County Board of Commissioners. The commissioners ultimately approve the final, county-wide list. "I think this is my fourth SPLOST. It's delicate," said Savannah Mayor Van Johnson at a city council workshop on SPLOST planning. "It is where the administrative and the political come together. At the end of the day this has to be passed by the voters. ESPLOST: All is quiet on the voting front: 5.81% of Savannah-Chatham County voters pass ESPLOST SPLOST has had sweeping success in being approved by voters in Chatham County. The most recent SPLOST election, held in 2019 during other municipal elections such as city council, was approved with 67.58% of the vote. Kaigler's letter outlined key dates for new SPLOST planning. Municipalities are scheduled to provide approved-project lists to the county on May 23. The county is scheduled to approve its list and an intergovernmental agreement with municipalities on June 13, according to the letter's timeline. "The county sets the timeline for the vote and the referendum, and we understand it's a short timeline but we feel we'll be able to get the information (council) needs to have this discussion," said Savannah City Manager Jay Melder at the council workshop." The SPLOST is a penny sales tax devoted to capital projects around the county. Since the county's first SPLOST in 1985, the penny tax has pulled over $1.5 billion in revenue. As a sales tax, about 40% of the revenues are paid for by visitors. Key projects supported by SPLOST over the years include Enmarket Arena and Memorial Stadium. But the tax has also been critical in funding infrastructure such as roads or drainage, including improvements to Savannah's Springfield Canal. The SPLOST 8 process kicks off just a week after county voters approved an extended Education Special Local Option Sales Tax referendum. The ESPLOST is a penny sales tax funding education-related project. The March 18 vote was one day after St. Patrick's Day-- the day the county sent its letter to municipalities. The ESPLOST referendum was approved with 64% of the vote. Evan Lasseter is the city of Savannah and Chatham County government reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at ELasseter@ This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah region begins planning on next SPLOST referendum
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Harris County School District adds new special education buses to fleet
HARRIS COUNTY, Ga. () — The Harris County School District has added two new special education buses to its fleet. Connie Heath is one of the lucky drivers who began driving one of the buses this week. A bus driver for 35 years, Heath is a real-life Ms. Frizzle (the eclectic teacher who transports students in the fictional 'Magic School Bus'). Heath's yellow school bus earrings and love for the students she drives are a testament to that. 'It's a great job,' Heath said Tuesday after making her morning rounds. 'We, myself and my monitor, really enjoy it and we enjoy the children.' Heath and her right-hand woman, Special Needs Bus Monitor Melanie Dorsey, have been working together for the past two years. Their new bus helps them do their job even better. 'I'm really excited,' said Heath, who disclosed this is the first time she's ever gotten to drive a brand-new bus in her career. The buses were funded through a combination of ESPLOST funds and an $88,000 state grant, for a total investment of $290,000. 'This one is really upgraded and it has a lot of really good features and we're just really enjoying it,' Heath said. Her new bus is wheelchair accessible and has added safety features to help make sure every student gets to school safely. The modifications were added specifically to meet the needs of the Harris County students who use it. Voters approved using SPLOST funds for the buses in response to a growing necessity for transportation to school for local children with special needs. The buses are currently serving about 15 students in the community, but are equipped to help more than twice that number. 'We do appreciate the community and all the voters for the ESPLOST that allows us to to purchase new busses for our fleet,' said Harris County School District Transportation Director Dee Miller. Miller said students from pre-k through 12th grade will not only use the buses for getting to- and from school, but also for field trips and after school activities. 'It's great,' said Heath, whose main priority has always been ensuring her students' safety. After more than three decades on the job, Heath says she feels more comfortable driving a bus than her own car. Amid a national bus driver shortage, this week, Heath and Dorsey are taking extra pride in driving their two-hour route twice a day to bring their eight students to- and from school safely in their brand-new bus. Harris County officials say they are still looking to fill bus driver and bus monitor positions for regular- and special education buses. Local SPLOST funds have also recently been used to build a new transportation facility and update safety features at area schools. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Liberty County School System looks to fill teacher vacancies
LIBERTY COUNTY, Ga. (WSAV) — Many school districts are struggling to fill empty teacher positions, and Liberty County is feeling the effects as one of those schools. Liberty County School System officials told WSAV this school year alone 45 teachers have left, and they are now working to find replacements. This is especially important since ESPLOST passed just last week allowing the construction of a new school. 'We have about 675 teachers,' Directors of Human Resources Michele Dasher said. 'And right now, we have 62 vacancies.' Dasher said the teacher shortage has been impacting the system for years, with an average of 100 open spots each year. 'With us being tied to Fort Stewart, we do lose about 20% of our teachers to military moves,' she said. 'We also usually have about 25% of our teachers who are retiring as well.' System officials told WSAV they have also seen a significant drop in teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dasher said they are now forced to play a game of 'catch up.' Both factors are causing classroom sizes and the need for substitute teachers to increase. 'We have had shortages with substitute teachers, which makes the principals have to be creative of who is going to recover in those classes when we can't find substitute teachers,' Dasher said. She continued, 'We also have tried something new where one with our technology department. They are actually implementing a TV that will record and also play at the same time in another classroom. So those students that don't have a substitute, who doesn't have the content area to teach. we're allowing that to bridge that instructional time in the classroom.' In order to win this game of catch up, Dasher said it starts with keeping teachers inside of the classroom. 'We do have retention bonuses that we've been able to give to our staff over the last few years. and typically, we'd been able to give two a year,' she said. She adds, they are also looking into salaries. 'We are constantly looking at our salaries, how we can improve them for the staff and for teachers,' Dasher said. 'So that is something that, we look at to increase and usually we're able to increase that every year just to stay competitive in the market. and we also have been able to offer signing bonuses for new teachers coming in.' WSAV is told the school has been attending job fairs regularly to encourage more teachers to get on board. They are also hosting another hiring event for teachers on May 3 here at the Liberty County Board of Education from 9-11 a.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
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@ and JoeInTheKnow_SMN on Instagram. This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah-Chatham superintendent happy with ESPLOST outcome
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Local counties vote on future of the ESPLOST
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — Several local counties voted to decide on the future of the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST). All results were still unofficial Tuesday night, but voters in a few counties were learning towards extending the 1% sales tax. Liberty County's unofficial results showed the yes votes being around triple the no votes. Chatham County's unofficial results leaned towards an approval as well. In Bulloch County, approximately six times more people voted yes over no for the ESPLOST in the unofficial results. Bryan County voters said no in the unofficial reports, with just 35 votes making the decision. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
