Thank you, Marion Key, for sharing not only your opinion but also important facts regarding the misplaced decision by the Board of Education to build a new Booth Middle School in Peachtree City. This would be an egregious misuse of county funds.
Two weeks ago in The Citizen, Peachtree City Manager Jon Rorie warned that we must “protect the cash.” “You can’t spend it if you don’t have it” was his warning to those who want to abandon sensible budgets and try to be all things to all people.
Yet the BOE voted to spend an estimated $22 million more than would be needed in order to buy property and build a new school instead of renovating the current structure. With no plans on what to do with the current school and, according to Ms. Key, no need for additional space based on current demographic studies.
One thing that strikes me about this BOE is that since the arrival of Joseph Barrow in 2013, school system expenditures have risen by nearly 35 percent and the board just proposed the largest budget ever.
Perhaps Mr. Barrow needs to take a page from Mr. Rorie’s book and practice some fiscal restraint instead of spending an unnecessary $22 million.
We expect our government officials to be good fiduciaries of the taxpayers’ money. Like former BOE Chair Marion Key, I would like to see the county reverse the decision by the BOE to waste taxpayer money on a new school.
Jim Bock
Peachtree City, Ga.
