Community Support for Funding

Print PDF

Georgia’s local school systems can ask their communities to pass a Special Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) for additional revenue.

Those pennies can really add up.

That’s how we paid for our high school’s auditorium.

To the school board, how do you get your community to support this initiative?

First, if you’ve passed a SPLOST in your community before, you have to do those projects that you indeed said you’d do. If you’ve never passed one, get the message out.

Be transparent about what you plan to do through your SPLOST. Locally, our last SPLOST ended up passing with 92% of our community voting “yes” for it. The community trusts our board of education and believed that we would use these pennies for our children in the ways promised on the ballot.

We talk about effective governance and the importance of communicating to our stakeholders. We talk about planning. Sharing the system’s plan and the way in which a SPLOST will be an integral part are the responsibility of the board. Boards of Education are stewards of the budget as a part of their roles and responsibilities. Their being committed advocates for both children and projects like SPLOSTs are part of their job descriptions.

It’s all about accountability. Every cent counts.

Our contributor, Diane Sandifer

From local to state and national roles in public service, Diane Sandifer served on the Harris County Schools GA Board of Education from 1998-2008. Additionally, Diane was elected as president of the Georgia School Boards Association in 2006 and was a member of the National School Boards Association Board of Directors in 2007 and 2008. Diane advocates 21st century governance from the board room to the classroom through her passion for integration of technology as well as effective strategic planning. Diane represents school board members in statewide commissions and projects and has played an integral role in educational research through groups like the Wallace Foundation. Diane lives in Pine Mountain, Georgia and is currently the account executive for eBOARDsolutions.