Planning For The Future of Paulding County Schools

Updated: July 9, 2019

School Board Approves E-SPLOST VI Projects;

Resolution Goes Before Voters Nov. 5, 2019

At its regular meeting July 9, 2019, the Paulding County Board of Education unanimously approved an E-SPLOST VI referendum resolution that calls for constructing a new middle school in the northeast quadrant of the county to provide capacity relief for North Paulding High School and McClure Middle School. The plan, which also includes a diverse range of improvement projects at every school in the district, is the result of public input from five Community Conversations on enrollment growth and facility needs held earlier this year. The plan will go before Paulding County voters on Nov. 5, 2019.

Contingent on public renewal of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), the plan also provides for classroom additions at Moses Middle School, Roberts Elementary School, and Russom Elementary School to help relieve projected overcrowding at surrounding schools. Approximately $16 million would be designated for renovations at district schools, and another $6 million would be designated for safety and security upgrades district-wide. Just over 30 percent of projected SPLOST proceeds would be used to continue retiring bond debt that the district took on years ago to fund capital improvements at schools. SPLOST is a five-year, one-cent consumer tax that is “pay as you go” and requires no long-term debt. The current SPLOST V expires on March 31, 2021. The November 2019 referendum on SPLOST VI would allow the district to get a head start on much-needed projects if approved.

At the January 2019 Community Conversations held at the district’s five high schools, stakeholders were asked to assess the current enrollment growth climate and discuss potential solutions for capacity needs. A recent enrollment study projects the student populations at North Paulding High School and McClure Middle to continue growing well beyond capacity over the next few years. Stakeholders expressed a preference for addressing capacity needs by constructing new schools and/or adding classrooms to existing schools. Redistricting was the least-preferred method of dealing with capacity needs, with the caveat that a newly constructed school will require some redistricting to populate the new building.

Following a 10-year period of flat enrollment, the Paulding County School District is once again seeing growth, particularly in the northeast quadrant of the county. To assess the current growth patterns as well as the most efficient and effective utilization of classroom space at schools across the county, the school district engaged Education Planners, LLC, to conduct an enrollment and classroom utilization study in 2018, conduct five Community Conversations in January 2019, and to develop the draft SPLOST VI plan presented to the Board of Education on Tuesday.

In addition to a new McClure Middle School, new classroom additions, renovations and safety improvements, the SPLOST VI proposal includes a total of approximately $7.5 million for technology upgrades, fine arts initiatives, physical education improvements and athletic facility upgrades. Another $13.8 million will be set aside for future facility needs that may arise over the course of the five-year SPLOST program. If the SPLOST VI referendum is approved by voters in November, the school district could use advance short-term financing to begin construction of the new McClure Middle School as soon as possible. The aim would be to open the new school in either the 2022-2023 school year or the 2023-2024 school year.

As the 2019-2020 school year kicks off in August, the school district will commence with a community awareness campaign to share details of the final plan with stakeholders leading up to the Nov. 5, 2019 referendum.

Documents & Presentations

July 9, 2019

Board of Education unanimously approves SPLOST VI resolution that will be presented to voters on the November 5, 2019 ballot. Click here for SPLOST VI information.

June 2019

SPLOST Presentation to Board of Education, June 25, 2019:

Presentation by Education Planners download

Press release download

Draft referendum resolution presented to the Board of Education on June 25, 2019

January 2019

In January 2019, the district conducted a series of Community Conversations, one at each of the district's five high schools, to gather stakeholder input on the challenges and opportunities presented by enrollment growth.

Community Conversation Schedule:

All meetings will begin at 6 p.m. in the school cafeterias

Download Community Conversation Flyer

Download Community Conversation PowerPoint presentation

Download Community Conversation Summary Report     (Appendix A)

August 2018

In 2018, the Board of Education contracted for a Demographic and Facility Use Study to begin discussions regarding response to enrollment growth returning to Paulding.   

Download Demographic Long-Range Planning BOE Presentation (08/28/2018)

 Questions may be submitted to planningforthefuture@paulding.k12.ga.us