Rockdale Schools Want E-SPLOST To Pay for Security, Technology, and Facilities
Clover, South Carolina, USA — Flashing Lights and Sign on School Bus — Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis
Rockdale County education officials want to create a state-of-the art security system in the county’s 21 public schools.
Its new security plan would cost just under $5 million.
Schools spokesperson Cindy Ball says some of the schools need construction changes to improve security. Right, Ball says some schools allow more than one entry point. Renovation would create new entry ways that would limit visitors’ access to the school office or a check-in area.
Ball says the system is also investigating ways technology can help respond to a problem at a school such as “radios and upgrades in addition to our video cameras; also installing an electronic lockdown system so that, in one area, we can hit a button and have the entire building go into lockdown.”
Also in the plan: active GPS systems on school buses.
The money would come from a new one-cent sales tax which is on the ballot in November. If voters approve it, the projection is that the E-SPLOST would generate more than $80 million over five years.
The school system hopes to spend the majority of the funds on new facilities including the construction of two new elementary schools. They would replace Pine Street Elementary and J.H. House Elementary both of which are more than 40 years old.
Ball says the system also needs upgrade its technology. Under consideration is providing a tablet or some kind of small computer for each of the nearly 16,000 students in the Rockdale County school system.
9(MDAxODM0MDY4MDEyMTY4NDA3MzI3YjkzMw004))
Top Stories
