Rockdale County voters approve continuing E-SPLOST

ROCKDALE COUNTY, GA– Voters chose to continue the 25-year tradition of collecting pennies for public education in Rockdale County by overwhelmingly approving the Education Special Purpose Local Sales Tax (E-SPLOST) ballot initiative on March 12.

About 63 percent of voters approved E-SPLOST VI in Rockdale County. E-SPLOST is a one penny, five-year sales tax that allows for shared contribution to education, including visitors to the county who spend money on gas, food, hotels, and retail items. E-SPLOST can be used for capital expenditures or debt retirement; however, Rockdale County Public Schools (RCPS) is a debt-free school system.

“As a member of this community, parent of children in the school system, and now Board Chairwoman, I have seen firsthand the benefits from E-SPLOST funding,” said Board of Education Chairwoman Pam Brown. “I am thrilled to know this community also sees the benefits of this shared penny sales tax among all who visit, shop, stay, and live in Rockdale County. Our school system is deeply rooted in continuous improvement and having this funding source will provide necessary resources to keep us moving forward.”

“The strong support for E-SPLOST VI illustrates this community’s long-standing commitment to education,” said Superintendent Terry Oatts. “We appreciate the work of our community E-SPLOST committee members and all those who helped to inform others about the importance of E-SPLOST and how this funding supports our students and staff.”

Proposed E-SPLOST VI expenditures include improvements to school safety and security such as expanded weapons detections systems and security camera upgrades; teaching and learning expenditures such as textbooks; technology expenditures such as replacements for student and staff laptops and improvements to infrastructure; and facilities expenditures such as athletic facilities improvements, new school buses, HVAC, lighting, other facilities improvements, and more.

Presentations and information on E-SPLOST VI were made available at the Conyers-Rockdale Economic Development Council Breakfast, Conyers-Rockdale Chamber of Commerce, Community Resource Network, NAACP MLK Breakfast, Rotary Club of Conyers, Progressive Club, Westchester Lakes Homeowners Association, Parent Academy, Superintendent’s Advisory Council, Superintendent’s Parent Advisory Council, Leadership Rockdale, RCPS Foundation, local churches and more.

For more information about E-SPLOST, please visit www.rockdaleschools.org/esplost.