And the SPLOST IV vote will take place on Tues., Nov. 8, anytime your polling place is open. Early voting takes place the week prior.
Do not be fooled by those who would like for you to think you have to vote yes if you want to see changes fully funded for our schools. The people who want a yes are likely expecting a positive outcome for their school, but that is not enough of a reason to justify allocating this much money into the hands of people who will use it for their own personal gain. We can wait until the new superintendent has cleaned house and presented her own plan. The current tax is still in effect through 2012 and SPLOST IV can be revisited down the road.
Remember, it's okay to THINK YES (to education) but VOTE NO (to this SPLOST list that was not prepared by our new superintendent).
SPLOST IV:
We need to push back and force the board to take back the Homestead Exemption so that property owners (the stakeholders in Education) will get a wake-up call. If we do not alert them that this board needs to be voted out, they will likely approved the incumbants and we will still have the corruption in our administrative office that has already cost of hundreds of millions of dollars.
SCHOOL BOARD MEETINIG:
We will be bringing a copy of our Get the Cell Out of DeKalb County Schools petition to deliver in hardcopy format to the entire board. A copy will also be sent via certified mail to the Interim Director of Planning and the CEO of our county.
If you have a cell tower coming to your school or community and were not informed about it until it was too late to voice your concerns, we encourage you to attend this meeting and stay around afterwards to speak with the news media that has been following this issue. We are hoping to have a large showing (100-200) at this meeting representing our concerns and requesting reconsideration of the Board's vote on behalf of all the schools that have been named in the T-mobile proposal given to the board in May and rushed to vote in early July.
Here is a link to the July meeting where they voted the cell towers in: http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/pds24/vod/
Scroll down until you locate the July 11, 2011, work session and business meeting link.
Once it loads, please skip to 2:41:30 in the video.
Then grab some popcorn, and a notepad and try to follow along.
Take notes on who votes for what and also on what schools are mentioned and which ones are not.
And make note about what is said about the feedback the board has received from each of them.
Show up at least by 5:00 to get on the list to speak. If you have more than one spot already reserved and will be presenting opposition for only one school, please consider checking in with us before the meeting to voluntarily offer any extra spots to any schools that have not been represented. We have to remain united if we wish to save our entire county from this fate. If we are not coordinated in our efforts, the board will seek to divide us and offer deals to only a few. When a tower goes up at one school, it affects all schools as a precedent will be set allowing cell towers, or any other form of commercial enterprise, to operate their for-profit structures on public property actively being used for educational purposes. If you do not have children currently in this system or your school was not selected, thank you for reading our website and keeping tabs with this subject as your school may be next and you need to be prepared. The best way to save your own school or neighborhood from this same fate is to stand up with us and help stop the FIRST TOWER from ever going up. T-mobile will find another location and have to pay taxes like any other commercial operation instead of hiding out on our school grounds and distracting motorists driving near our school or interrupting our children when they are trying to learn or disrupting their sleep patterns if they live nearby as often is reported as a symptom of living near a cell tower.
Address:
DeKalb County School System
Administrative & Instructional Complex
1701 Mountain Industrial Boulevard
Stone Mountain, GA 30083
Phone: 678.676.1200
Fax: 678.676.0785
School Board policy on public relations:
MISSION: To promote a positive environment in DeKalb County schools in which there is an awareness of, involvement in, and support for the system and its educational mission.
The DeKalb County Board of Education believes (1) that the public schools belong to the people who create them by consent and support them by taxation; (2) that the schools are only as strong as the informed DeKalb citizens and knowledgeable school system staff; and (3) that this support is based on knowledge of, understanding about, and participation in the aims and efforts of the public schools.
The Board affirms, through policies and goals, its commitment (1) to keep the citizens and staff of the system regularly and accurately informed, through appropriate means of communication, about policies, programs, problems, and planning of the school system; (2) to solicit the advice and counsel of parents, students, staff, and others on basic issues through appropriate channels (such as Parent Teacher Associations, advisory councils, and other community groups); (3) to charge the administrative, instructional, and operational staff with the duty to carry out this policy as an integral part of regular activities and responsibilities; and (4) to cooperate with the news media as the primary purveyors of public information, recognizing their right to all the facts and their obligation to publish them in a responsible manner.
Parents, students, staff, and others may, at any time, offer suggestions on policies by submitting in writing the suggested additions, changes, or deletions, to the policies to the office of the Superintendent for consideration and possible recommendation to the Board.
Thank you for letting us know. We will have all schools there and a possible Occupy Atlanta protest in the parking lot! This is not an issue that will go away.
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