(August, 2023)  Have Coweta Schools eliminated English, math and science requirements for graduation?

No.   All Georgia high school students must meet core curriculum requirements of English, math, science, and other traditional academic courses in order to graduate from high school.  In fact, Coweta County high school students are required to meet a higher standard of graduation than what is required by the state of Georgia.  

In August, 2023, the school board approved a change to school system policy IHE-R, which defines matriculation of high school students to the next grade level (i.e., when a high school student is considered a freshman, sophomore, junior or senior, based on successful completion of coursework).  The previous version of the policy said, for example, that a freshman becomes a sophomore when he or she earns 6 units of credit (6 successful one-semester courses), including 1 unit of English and 1 math unit.  The policy was changed to require 6 units for grade 10 designation (13 for grade 11, 20 for grade 12), without requiring that English and Math be taken during a freshman year.  This allows students, in consultation with their counselors, to take these and other required core courses in a different sequence, if that is what is best for the student, and without penalizing the student. 

The change did NOT alter Coweta's high school graduation requirements, however.  The State of Georgia requires all students to earn 23 credits to graduate.  The Coweta County School System requires students to earn 28 credits to graduate, above and beyond State requirements, and the majority of Coweta high school graduates go on to earn more than 28 credits before graduation.  Georgia and the Coweta School System also require students to pass a minimum of 4 English, 4 math, 4 science, 3 history/social studies classes and a other core classes to graduate - 18 academic classes in all which are required in some way.  Coweta County's graduation requirements can be found under policy IHF(6)-R-(0). 

The change to policy IHE-R allows students greater flexibility in course sequences through their high school career, including taking more customized degree sequences with specialized courses, but does not alter Coweta's basic academic standards of graduation.

(May, 2022)  Are “Elementary school children… given books about what it means to be transgender”  in Coweta Schools?

No.   A political flier from a political action committee outside of our community (and state) made this claim in April, 2022.  Our system believes that this subject and matters like it are best left to parents and families, and our system materials and curriculums reflect that.  This claim made by the political action committee’s flier appears to be intended as a divisive political tactic, and is without substance in Coweta Schools.

(May, 2022, updated August, 2023)  Are Coweta teachers and media specialists allowing students to read “pornography” for class assignments or allowing children to check “pornography” out of school media centers?

No.  Books and other materials used in our schools - including books in media centers - are intended to follow guidelines for age, grade and academic appropriateness.  Unfortunately, however, several political activists or representatives of political organizations have taken to using the charged term "pornography" to refer to books that they object to.  Unfortunately, misinformation about CCSS, books and book bans has been circulated on social media and political websites.

Books in our libraries can be viewed by title through our Destiny catalog system, by school.  Books are selected for use in CCSS classes and for access in school media centers by certified teachers and library media specialists.  They seek to select books that have educational value and are age appropriate. 

The Coweta County school board has also had a policy in place for many years that allows parents to challenge any book that they think does not meet those expectations in their child's school or in school media centers.  The process begins with talking with the school’s principal, who can offer parents several options.  If the concern is not alleviated at that level, you can file a formal reconsideration challenge, which only requires completion of a form that asks questions such as whether you read the book and what concerns you have about the book.  Under our school system's long-standing Board policy (IFA-R), a media committee made up of parents and teachers (and students in some cases) at that school will review any book challenged for appropriateness or other reasons.  The committee members read the book, discuss it and make a determination for that school.  The individual parent and teacher committees are free to make whatever determination they think best and most appropriate for their school.  The process works to both reinforce community standards of age and subject appropriateness and to preserve appropriate academic freedom and standards. 

In recent years, several books in school libraries were publicly objected to by an organization called No Left Turn in Education.  These books were referred to media committee reviews in any middle or high schools that has a copy.  Parents and teachers on the committees reviewed those reconsideration requests, which then voted to either maintain, remove, or restrict the book in some manner that they felt appropriate.  In the case of one book, for example,  ("Looking for Alaska"), high school media committees voted to keep the book in their school's library, while middle school committees elected to remove it or restrict it's circulation. The school-based parent and teacher committees have the authority to act in the manner they think best suits their students.

If you as a parent are ever unsure about the content of material your child is assigned to read or brings home from the media center, we encourage you to contact your child's school.  Parents should contact their child’s teacher if they have questions about an assigned novel, as they will be happy to help you and, if you would like, provide an alternate assignment.  Parents should contact their child’s media specialist if they have questions about a book they have checked out, as they will be happy to help you and, if you would like, can restrict your child from checking out books.  Please consider having a conversation with your child about media center use.  If you are concerned your child may choose a book you don’t approve of, ask your child to bring it home before they read it.  If you do not have time to read a book your child checks out from the media center or an assigned novel and/or do not want to have a conversation with the teacher or media specialist, a website that provides parent-focused reviews, such as Lexile Find a Book or other such websites, may be helpful to you. 

(May 5, 2022)  What is Social and Emotional Learning in Coweta Schools, and is it a euphemism (or vehicle) for Critical Race Theory or similar divisive concepts?

No.    In Coweta County, Social and Emotional Learning is no different than the character education that our schools have incorporated for decades.  It can be defined as the process through which students develop knowledge and use skills in order to create and maintain healthy relationships, manage emotions, understand and empathize with others, establish a positive identity, set and achieve goals, make good decisions, and generally develop self-awareness, self-control, personal responsibility, and interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work, and life success.  We address bullying through our SEL approach by teaching conflict resolution, and helping students identify their feelings and motivations.  It is the basis of various ”character words of the day,” and “making choices” materials that parents see in their children’s elementary or middle schools.

All Coweta schools in Grades K-8 have been implementing SEL lessons as part of the curriculum since January 2020.  Each of these schools provided opportunities for review of the approach, and solicited parent and teacher input prior to implementation.  Parents can see more about our local Character Education curriculum in Board Policy IDAG and Board Policy IDAG-R.  To address this concern more directly, Social and Emotional Learning is not a “secret” way to promote Critical Race Theory or other such concepts in our schools.  

(October, 2021, updated May, 2022, August, 2023)  Does the Coweta County School System have one of the highest property tax rates in the region/state?

No.   In fact, Coweta County actually has one of the lowest rates of school property taxes (currently 15.41 mills) in our region, and the lowest Coweta County School Systems Maintenance and Operations tax rate since 1983.  As of August, 2023, the school board has lowered tax rates in each of the last four years.

Our school system operates on a fiscal year that extends from July 1 until June 30 of the following year.  The system’s Maintenance and Operations budget is funded by state educational funding and local property tax revenue. Over 91 percent of this budget is directed towards personnel costs. The school system's FY 2024 budget is funded by state school revenues and local property taxes based on a 15.41 mill ad valorem local tax rate (and 0.00 bonded indebtedness tax rate).  More information on the FY2024 budget can be found on the school system’s website (Budget, Financial, and SPLOST Info).

The Board of Education has decreased our community’s M&O millage rate for the past four years.  The Board maintained an 18.59 millage rate for local property taxes from 2005 through 2020.  In 2020, in response to significant state-mandated property re-valuations in the county, the Coweta school board reduced the local school property tax rate by 1.29 mills (from 18.59 to 17.30 mills). In 2021, the board again reduced property tax rates by 0.16 mills, to the full rollback rate (from 17.30 mills to the current 17.14 mills), then to 16.00 mills in 2022 and 15.41 mills in 2023.

This 17% cumulative reduction in property tax rates has left Coweta County with one of the lowest school property tax rates in the metro Atlanta region or in Coweta County’s immediate West Georgia region, with the exception of the Heard County School System. Additionally, in 2020, the school board significantly expanded our school system’s Homestead Property Tax Exemption for Senior Citizens, increasing the original senior homestead exemptions for school taxes established in 2002.  This was done along with 2020 property tax rollbacks, and extended significant additional property tax reduction benefits to all senior citizens.

To see more financial information for the school system go here or here.

(October, 2021, updated May, 2022, and August, 2023)  Does Coweta County have a sales tax rate higher than most other counties in our state/nation?

No.    In November of 2021, Coweta voters approved a sixth iteration of the Coweta County Special Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST).  Most of the Coweta County School System’s capital projects are funded by revenues from this one-cent sales tax, which has been in place since 1997 (approved each time by a majority of Coweta voters in a general referendum).

Revenues from this sales tax are used only for capital projects (construction of new schools, refurbishment and expansion of existing schools and facilities, student and teacher, technology, transportation, school improvements), but not personnel (employees salaries or benefits).  More information about Coweta’s 1 cent sales tax can be found here and here.

Georgia counties have cumulative sales taxes of between 6 percent and 9 percent applied to local retail sales, and can include several state and local sales taxes. ESPLOST is one of several state or local one-cent sales taxes applied to retail sales, leases or rentals of most goods in Coweta County. The Georgia Department of Revenue maintains a listing of all sales tax rates for Georgia's 159 counties here.  The most current listing for all of Georgia’s 159 counties can be found there.

Coweta County has a 7 percent county sales tax rate made up of the 4 percent state sales tax, a 1 percent LOST (city/county sales tax), 1 percent SPLOST (city/county), and 1 percent ESPLOST (school sales tax).  

Georgia has 159 counties and several additional specialized tax districts, for 165 counties/sales tax districts in all.  As of 2023, 52 of of these 165 counties/tax districts have a 7 percent tax rate, including Coweta County.  Most of the rest have higher sales tax rates, which leaves Coweta County with one of the lower county-wide sales tax rates in Georgia, and the same tax rate as about 32 percent of all other Georgia counties.

2 Georgia counties/tax districts have a 6 percent local tax rate.  That means that only 1.2 percent of Georgia counties have a lower sales tax rate than Coweta.  

111 of these Georgia counties/tax districts currently have an 8 percent local tax rate or higher (including non-Atlanta Fulton, with a 7.75 percent total sales tax rate, and Atlanta, with 8.5).  This is generally because they have the same sales tax mix as Coweta, but also have a transportation or other sales tax in addition to those. That also means that 67 percent of Georgia counties have a higher sales tax rate than Coweta.

Only 2 counties do not have a current ESPLOST.  All other Georgia counties or tax districts have an approved ESPLOST sales tax currently in place. Of the 2 Georgia counties with a current 6 percent tax rate, both of those counties have a current voter-approved ESPLOST (schools sales tax) as one of their local sales taxes.

To see more sales tax information for the school system, including annual ESPLOST audits, go here.