Muscogee school board debates how to spend rest of SPLOST money (Columbus: sales, 2014)

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Muscogee school board debates how to spend rest of SPLOST money | Education | Columbus Ledger Enquirer

Security vs. athletics.
That was the debate during Monday evening's work session as the Muscogee County School Board discussed how to spend the $4 million in estimated unobligated funds remaining from the 1 percent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax voters approved in 2009.
The referendum allowed the Muscogee County School District to collect as much as $223,155,784 for capital projects. But due to the sluggish recovery from the Great Recession (December 2007 to June 2009), the administration estimates total revenue from this SPLOST will be $192,834,529 when it expires at the end of this year.
The good news, however, is that money now is available for some of the SPLOST projects the board deferred in 2011-12. So Superintendent David Lewis and his administration proposed the following breakdown:
• $1.6 million to upgrade athletics facilities - synthetic turf and expansion of track area at Kinnett Stadium, equipment for high school weight rooms, and unspecified other projects for high school athletics.
• $1.2 million to upgrade the Jordan High School auditorium - seating, sound system, lights and general renovation.
• $700,000 to upgrade security at schools - fire alarms, intercoms, smoke detectors, burglar alarms and notification system.
• $500,000 to upgrade furniture and equipment - musical instruments and equipment for middle schools and high schools, and furniture for new computer labs.
Board vice chairwoman Pat Hugley Green of District 1 asked why the security upgrades don't include cameras. Officials said all schools already have security cameras. Hugley, however, asked whether an assessment has been done to determine which schools need additional cameras
"There are some sites that have some places that we probably need to put some additional cameras," said an official who didn't state his name. "But as far the project to do all the schools, that has been done."
Hugley responded, "If we're going to go back and put security upgrades onto the list, why not do them all?"
Lewis chimed in.
"We have several intercom systems that are antiquated and can no longer be serviced, so those are a priority over cameras, in my opinion, because intercoms are such an integral part of a school facility's operations," Lewis said. "Smoke detectors, we do not have those throughout all of our schools.
"For example, Wesley Heights recently had a fire, and, fortunately, the heat set off a burglar alarm. But had we had a smoke detector in the hallway, it would have detected it earlier. So we have several schools that don't have smoke detectors throughout the building."
Those security upgrades are more important than adding more cameras, Lewis said.
Green wasn't satisfied.
"I think security upgrades are more important than athletics facilities," she said. "Why would we not do everything we need to do, since we're bringing the security upgrades back? Do everything we need to do. Do the cameras, the fire alarms, the intercoms, the smoke detectors, the burglar alarms and anything else we need that comes under security upgrades, because that's the priority to me."
Lewis said his staff could assess whether to add more security cameras, but "at this point, we're going to take this forward as a recommendation and revise it accordingly."
Green persisted.
"Security upgrades that will include the additional cameras and whatever else is needed is more of a priority than pulling up the grass and putting down synthetic turf," she said.
Board chairman Rob Varner of District 5 defended the administration's proposal. The security upgrades listed, he said, "are all preventative in nature. These are the things that save students before something bad happens. A camera is good, but a camera simply catches it after it has happened."
Varner also argued, "Athletics are important to our system. We've got to continue to improve that area."
A cost-benefit analysis would show the district could save money, Varner added, by "putting turf down once and not spending any more there, versus trying to spend money on grass and upkeep and mowing and fertilizer and everything else for a period of 10 to 15 years, which is probably the expected life of the turf."
Naomi Buckner of District 4 was the only other representative on the nine-member board to speak about the issue. County-wide representative Cathy Williams was the lone absent member. Buckner sided with Green.
"Safety, to me, is the No. 1 priority of the school," Buckner said. "That means it exceeds athletics facilities, although both are important."
Lewis emphasized, "You will never have enough money or enough cameras ever to cover every inch of a campus, no matter where you are. It's just not going to be feasible."
Lewis' contract extension
As the Ledger-Enquirer previously reported, the board plans to vote next Monday on extending Lewis' three-year contract by one year. So the superintendent who started here in July 2013, after serving as an associate superintendent in Polk County, Fla., will continue to have three years left on his contract.
During the work session, Varner explained that each board member individually reviewed the superintendent and those assessments helped form his first annual evaluation.
"The review across the board was outstanding for our superintendent, very high marks and, personally, I want to say they are warranted high marks," Varner said. "He's done a terrific job this year."
After the meeting, Lewis expressed gratitude for the board's support.
"I'm very honored they place that trust in me and that confidence going forward," he said. "I'm certainly going to continue to work to instill that trust they place in me and do the best job every day that I possibly can on behalf of our district and students."
Asked whether the contract extension includes a raise, Varner said, "Nothing changes in the contract except the one-year extension."

Lewis' base salary is $170,000. [LEFT]
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