They’re talking about Jeff Moss when they should be talking about schools

There’s an elephant in the room – Superintendent Jeffrey Moss. People are talking about him.

But you know what’s not being talked about? Outdated and crowded schools in need of major repairs and renovations. New roofs to stop leaks. New air conditioning to keep students comfortable for learning. New land for new schools to keep pace with rapid residential growth in Bluffton.

No one’s talking about our progress: choice schools; increased graduation rates; improved ACT, SAT and Workkeys scores; our scholarship partnership with TCL; expanded pre-K; four schools named Palmetto's Finest and May River High School opening far below the S.C. average for new school construction cost.

No one is talking about what’s right for the students. What’s right for neighborhoods. What’s right for our schools and our community. We have a chance to put both our students and our future back into the conversation. On Tuesday, vote yes on the school sales tax referendums.

If the two school ballot questions fail, we fail our students. We are likely to see larger class sizes, mobile classrooms, limited school choice programs due to building capacity issues, possible changes in attendance zones and the use of dollars designated for teaching to pay for maintenance. While capital money can’t be used for operations, the reverse is not true. And, you can’t teach in a classroom without a roof.

Here’s why the school district ballot questions deserve yes votes to support $217 million in upgrades, updates and improvements to public schools across all of Beaufort County:

• The sales tax will be collected for 10 years, automatically expiring in 2027. Most items currently exempted from tax would be exempt from this education sales tax, including unprepared foods.
• About one-third of the sales tax revenue will come from non-Beaufort County citizens, including tourists.
• All Beaufort County property owners’ taxes on debt service, including both 4-percent and 6-percent homeowners, businesses, vehicles, etc., would be reduced by more than 42 percent during the 10-year period.
• Looking ahead, we’ll probably have 3,000 more students in our public schools over the next 10 years.

So why is the money needed? The revenue can be used only for items listed on the ballot, which includes HVAC upgrades ($17,381,920); roof replacements ($27,022,425); building additions ($60,324,959); new construction and land purchases for growth ($112,379,209).

I encourage you to vote yes to both school district ballot questions.

If only the penny sales tax question passes, projects would be delayed until the revenue is available, creating a slowdown of at least four years and increased construction costs.

If only the bond question passes, the district would have to increase property taxes on debt service by approximately 10 percent.

If both questions fail, the district must resort to other options to cope with student enrollment growth and maintain facilities as mentioned above.

For more details, visit www.beaufortschools.net and click on "Referendum."

This story was originally published November 3, 2016 at 2:54 PM with the headline "They’re talking about Jeff Moss when they should be talking about schools."