Cass Parents, Students, & Voters Lose with 55 million dollar SPLOST mistake!

To the people of Bartow County:

I believe that I have a duty to explain in the most sincere way possible my belief that a majority of this board has made a critical mistake in choosing where to locate Cass High School.  As a board we have been presented with demographic, planning commission, and growth projection data that all lead to the conclusion that this school should be located on the West side of I-75 in the neighborhood of Hwy. 411. As a result of this process dragging on for months, we have been left with doing what is expedient instead of doing what is right. We have come to the point in this choice where counting to three becomes the most important factor while we try and play nice for the benefit of the public and maintain our 2010 completion timeline. 

With tonight’s vote to place Cass High school behind White Elementary, the majority of this board have completely ignored all of this information and made a choice that clearly goes against the facts as they were presented to us.  Of the final sites that were examined, the one they approved is the most expensive in terms of actual acquisition and development costs.  This action will also make it more difficult to plan for and manage the growth that we are experiencing in Bartow County, as we look towards the need for a fourth high school.  This decision will also create a ripple of change that will lead to the most extensive redistricting in this county in years, as we get closer to the opening of this school.  All of these things could have been mitigated by placing this high school in the area were the majority of the students reside.  Instead, politics prevailed and we will have to settle for a great high school built in absolutely the wrong location.  This decision is going to place our driving high school students at risk as the have to travel one of the worst roads in this county.

 I will not dwell on this poor decision, and as always, I will to continue to fight for what I know to be in the best interest of the school system.  I will now focus on making sure that the school we build is one that we can all be proud of and that it meets the needs of our students for many years to come.  

 As always, I ask for your continued prayers and support as I move forward in service to the students of Bartow County!