Memorandum from Mary Kay Murphy
Mary Kay Murphy, Ph.D. District 3  School Board Member and 2004 Chairman of the Board

July 14, 2004

Our Community Deserves 
Excellent Public Schools

    One of the major reasons that Gwinnett County has excellent public schools is the voice of community leaders who time and again make it known that they want the best public education possible. 

    From Sugar Hill to Snellville, from Duluth to Dacula, and from Norcross to Grayson, our community members have told us that they want rigorous academic programs, meaningful measures of student progress, excellence in performing and fine arts, and challenging competition on our sports fields.

    Parent volunteers, Chamber of Commerce members, PTA leaders, interested grandparents, community boosters, teachers and school staff, fathers and mothers who help coach sports teams, singles and empty nesters with no children in the schools—all have a stake in public education in Gwinnett County.

    The messages that they send have been loud, clear, and forceful. 

  ·                    Unlike Broward County, Florida, where acre upon acre of trailers has become standard for public school facilities, residents of Gwinnett County want children to attend public school in buildings—safe, clean, and well maintained buildings.

  ·                    As opposed to Clark County, Nevada, Los Angeles, and Wake County, North Carolina, where double sessions and year round calendars shore up burgeoning school enrollments, Gwinnett County’s stakeholders want a standard student schedule—six hours a day, fives day a week, nine months a year.

  ·                    Although 10,000 live births a year and Sun Belt immigration have fueled 6,000 additional students each year over the last five years, our community has told us it wants smaller classes, more schools, and less crowding. 

    Innovation has fired our community’s imagination in solving problems related to explosive growth, revenue shortfalls, increased live births, and Sun Belt in-migration. 

    Our community has refused to be stymied by increasing enrollment that strains resources and puts upward pressure on class sizes and property taxes.  Instead, Gwinnett County residents rolled up their collective sleeves and found new ways to solve problems that vex other communities.

    In 1996 and again in 2001, leaders of the PTA, the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, and business and entrepreneurial communities aligned to support the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). 

    This innovative funding method, the brainchild of the Georgia General Assembly, authorized one penny from each dollar spent in Georgia’s 180 school districts to fund capital projects for public education. 

    Rather than relying on property tax increases or 30-year bonds, beginning in 1997 Gwinnett County used the penny sales tax to construct new facilities and modernize those built for the parents or even grandparents of today’s students. 

    By 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2004, resulting from SPLOST revenues, it became common in Gwinnett County to open $25 million high schools such as Grayson High School, Norcross High School, Peachtree Ridge High School, and Mill Creek High School—on time, under budget, and debt free.

    After three weakened years of economic decline in Georgia and the nation, Gwinnett County calculated $300 million in lost revenue for the 2002-2007 SPLOST building program.    

     Again, rather than make a hasty retreat and call for property tax increases or bond referenda—likely fixes to stagnant economies—Gwinnett County community leaders imagined a different scenario to resolve the $300 million revenue shortfall. 

     With the support of many in the community, including the business leaders and the School Board, Gwinnett County School Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks proposed a Lease/Purchase program to address the $300 million SPLOST revenue shortfall. 

    In 2002, the Gwinnett County Government and its Board of Commissioners successfully utilized this method of funding to build the Gwinnett Arena.

    In August 2003, the school system opened eight new schools in Gwinnett County—bringing its total to 97 schools serving 129,500 students. 

    In August 2004, the system will open ten more new schools, and the Grayson Technical School, for a total of 108 schools serving 136,000 students.

    By 2007, we will have purchased 30-35 new school sites to address the expected enrollment of 157,000 students.  By 2012 when we expect 175,000 students, we anticipate closing the facility gap as our enrollment and our school capacity will be close to meeting our school system’s needs.

    Our community has registered strong support for recruiting the highest quality teachers and support staff possible.  Many school systems falter when faced with this challenge.  Gwinnett County aggressively recruits for and secures the very best teachers and those who support them.

    Gwinnett County is a remarkable community of leaders, visionaries, entrepreneurs, newcomers, and founding families. 

    Its spirit is “Can-Do,” not “Can’t Do.”  Its attitude is “Why not?” rather than “Why?”

    Its commitment is to solving problems—not being paralyzed by challenges and change.

    Our public school system mirrors the values of our community.  When it would have been easier to duck the challenge, our community led the charge.  When the school system could have lowered standards, instead we increased expectations for all our students.  When we could have used excuses, we chose instead to set a sterner course.

    If our public school system is excellent—and we believe there are many measures that support this claim—then much of the credit is due to our community that set the standards and expected nothing less than the best from us.

    We understand and we do not intend to let our community down.

 071404

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