Hall County’s school superintendent is applauding a new law signed by Gov. Brian Kemp that could end up saving the school district millions of dollars.
Last week, Kemp signed into law House Bill 156, which prevents the city of Buford from changing Hall County School District boundaries through annexation. In the past, each time the city annexed property in Hall County, school resources were reallocated to Buford City Schools, which is a Gwinnett-based city school system.
According to Schofield, since 2006, Buford’s school digest within Hall County has grown from $216M to $1.162B. That represents almost a billion dollars of Hall County tax digest that Schofield says no longer supports the boys and girls of Hall County.
In addition, he says changing school district boundary lines through annexation creates uncertainty for families and provides significant challenges for district planners.
Under HB 156, school district lines can only be changed with the General Assembly’s approval or by an intergovernmental agreement.
“On behalf of the boys and girls of Hall County, I thank our legislative delegation and our Governor for making HB 156 a reality,” said Schofield. “Hall County taxpayers deserve to have their local resources utilized for the benefit of our students in this community. Stability in attendance and resources is positive for boys and girls.”
The bill was sponsored by representatives Lee Hawkins, Matt Dubnik, Emory Dunahoo, Brent Cox, and Derrick McCollum.
