On May 10, the Fulton County Board of Education announced the purchase of a 23.66-acre tract of land to be developed as the site for the next elementary school in Sandy Springs.
The land, which is located on the corner of Roswell and Ison Roads, was purchased at a price of $455,000 per acre, according to school district’s Communication Project Manager Susan Hale. The site will house Sandy Springs’ seventh elementary school.
“We are extremely pleased to close on this piece of property,” says Fulton County Board of Education President Julia Bernath. “Our Sandy Springs schools have been overcrowded for a number of years. We are appreciative of the patience and cooperation we have received from our parents as we have dealt with the issue and we are elated that we will soon have much-needed relief.”
The school will be built using proceeds from the third installment of the school board’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), which was approved by Fulton voters in March. Also included in the SPLOST III allotments is an addition and renovation to the Sandy Springs’ existing Ridgeview Charter Middle School.
The announcement of the land purchase came just one week after groundbreaking ceremonies for another elementary school to open in August of next year at Lake Forrest and Cliftwood Drive in Sandy Springs. That project, along with additions currently under way at Woodland Charter and High Point elementary schools, is funded through previous sales tax referenda. The previous penny sales taxes also paid for renovations and additions at Riverwood and North Springs high schools, construction of Dunwoody Springs Charter Elementary and renovations at Heards Ferry and Spalding Drive Charter elementary schools.
“Every school in Sandy Springs is benefiting from SPLOST,” says Mrs. Bernath, “And we sincerely thank our voters for their support.”