Education SPLOST Saturday voting

Photo of Georgia "I voted" stickers on a table
(Georgia Public Broadcasting photo)

Henry County voters can participate in early voting this weekend, Saturday, February 27, for the education SPLOST referendum. Early voting will be available between 9 am to 4 pm at the McDonough elections office only. The office is located at 40 Atlanta Street beside the McDonough Square.

Voters are considering the extension of education SPLOST. E-SPLOST is a one-cent sales tax for school system capital projects. For example, projects can include building new schools — over twenty new schools built since the first program — and buying new school buses. Program collections cannot be spent on staff salaries or operating costs.

The sales tax, last approved in 2016, is presently in its fifth program. State law requires local school systems to place it on the ballot every five years for renewal.

Early voting continues through March 12. Click here for the schedule! Election Day is Tuesday, March 16, when polling places will be open 7 am to 7 pm. If the referendum passes, then the school district is planning to start the first project weeks later. Projects continue through 2027.

As of Thursday, February 25, there’s been 239 early voters across Henry County. In addition, 59 voters have requested an absentee ballot. The county has received three ballots back.

Education SPLOST Projects

The proposed program allots nearly half of its budget for school expansion projects. These projects add new classrooms across the district. They include a new STEM High School. The school will offer high school students new unique opportunities to pursue science and mathematics career fields. The district is also planning two new elementary schools on land already owned by the school system. The new schools are located one each in McDonough and Locust Grove. Finally, six school additions include the following:

  • Dutchtown High School
  • Dutchtown Middle School
  • Ola High School
  • Ola Middle School
  • Locust Grove High School
  • Union Grove Middle School

Other projects include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • new security doors and access control at every school,
  • new electronic message signs at every school,
  • technology upgrades to include refreshing student and teacher devices,
  • buying 125 new school buses and building a second bus garage,
  • roof repairs, intercom replacement and HVAC upgrades at individual schools, and
  • renovations to the central district office, including an expansion.

For the full project list, visit my posts linked below:

Don’t Forget!

In addition to the education SPLOST vote, two other elections are happening! Voters can participate in any of the three during Saturday voting.

Voters in house district 90 have a runoff election, and voters in the city of Locust Grove have a council election.

About Clayton 1739 Articles
Clayton Carte is the founder and owner of The Henry Reporter. He founded the site in 2017 to highlight transportation projects. Over time, he began covering other topics like new development so residents can best know what’s happening in our community.

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