Hillgrove High School in Powder Springs opened in August 2006, providing relief
for overcrowding at McEachern and Kennesaw Mountain high schools.

With three new schools opening their doors for the first time in August 2006, Cobb’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) continues to create and improve learning environments throughout the Cobb County School District. In 1998, Cobb County voters first approved SPLOST, a one-cent tax on most retail goods, to provide revenue to build new schools and fund school improvements. The five-year program generated nearly $600 million that was used for more than 1,200 construction, renovation and technology projects, in addition to a $115 million property tax rollback. SPLOST I resulted in the addition of 12 new schools and a total of more than 1,000 new classrooms. Best of all, the entire SPLOST I program was managed more than $30 million under budget projections.

Seventy-eight percent of Cobb voters approved a five-year extension of SPLOST in Sept. 2003,providing the District with the means to move forward with nine new schools and more than 750 line items of capital improvements. By the end of 2006, more than 500 projects are completed or in progress, including projects such as plumbing upgrades, parking lot paving, sports field lighting and security systems. Seven new schools opened in 2005 and 2006 and the remaining two began construction in fall 2006. Before SPLOST II expires in 2008, 260 additional projects will be completed, including technology refreshment at schools across the District.

SPLOST revenue received through 2006 enabled the Cobb County School District to:
• Pay $46 million (of $69 million total) toward retiring the District’s bond debt. This will result in a bond debt-free school district and the elimination of the bond millage portion of school property tax in February 2007;

• Complete construction on Hillgrove High, Lovinggood and McClure middle schools in time for August 2006 openings;

• Begin construction on the two final SPLOST II-funded schools, Allatoona High and Pickett’s Mill Elementary;

• Issue individual laptop computers to all classroom teachers in the District. The computers provide teachers with essential tools to make classrooms more interactive;

• Complete 19 of 31 scheduled additions / modifications / renovations to current schools, with the remaining 12
currently in progress.