Newspaper Page Text
Governor asks AG for opinion on using
school funds to pay for adequacy lawsuit
Governor Sonny Perdue has request
ed an official opinion from Georgia
Attorney General Thurbert Baker on
the legality of local school districts
using taxpayer dollars to fund a law
suit against the state over education
funding.
In his letter to the Attorney Gen
eral, Governor Perdue cited this provi
sion in Georgia’s constitution: “(school)
tax funds shall be expended only for
the support and maintenance of pub
lic schools, public vocational-technical
schools, public education, and activities
necessary or incidental thereto, includ
ing school lunch purposes.” Ga. Const.
Art. VIII, Sec. VI, Para. 1(b).
“Taxpayers in these school districts
need to know that their education tax
dollars have been used to pay lawyers
suing the state instead of in their
children’s classrooms,” said Governor
Perdue. “My hope is that in the future
decisions on school funding will be
made through the public policy process,
not in a courtroom where the plaintiffs’
lawyers are paid with local education
tax dollars to battle defense lawyers
paid with state tax dollars.”
Governor Perdue’s letter also cites
Georgia Supreme Court rulings which
have clearly stated that expenditures
that are neither necessary nor inciden
tal to education are not permissible
under the Constitution.
A list of the districts that have
joined the consortium, according to
its website at www.casfg.org, are:
Bacon County, Ben Hill County, Ber
rien County, Brantley County, Bremen
City, Brooks County, Calhoun Coun
ty, Charlton County, Chattahoochee
Comity, Clarke Comity, Clay Comity,
Clinch County, Coffee County, Com
merce City, Crawford Comity, Crisp
Comity, Dodge Comity, Echols Coun
ty, Effingham Comity, Elbert Comity,
Griffin-Spalding Comity, Irwin Coun
ty, Jefferson Comity, Jones Comity,
Lamar Comity, Long County, Madi
son County, Marion County, McDuffie
Comity, McIntosh Comity, Meriwether
Comity, Miller Comity, Montgomery
Comity, Murray Comity, Oglethorpe
Comity, Peach County, Pierce Comity,
Polk Comity, Pulaski Comity, Ran
dolph Comity, Schley Comity, Stew
art Comity, Tattnall Comity, Taylor
Comity, Toombs Comity, Towns Comi
ty, Treutlen Comity, Wayne Comity,
Wheeler County and Worth Comity.
Based on the Governor’s request,
State School Superintendent Kathy
Cox is recommending that districts not
use public school funds to pay dues to
the Consortium for Adequate School
Funding until this constitutional ques
tion is resolved.
If the Attorney General determines
the systems’ expenditures are uncon
stitutional or illegal, Georgia law will
require Superintendent Cox to recover
misspent state funds from the offend
ing districts either through settlement
or court proceedings (per OCGA §20-2-
36). □
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THE ISLANDER, OCTOBER 6, 2008, PAGE 3
Business Upda
Bone Dry Roofing Co. expands to Brunswick
One of Georgia’s largest commercial
roofing contractors has opened an office
in Brunswick.
Athens-basedBoneDryRoofmgCom-
pany announced that the Brunswick
office will serve the Golden Isles and
surrounding communities. Bone Dry
has more than 60 employees
at offices in Athens, Augusta,
and Brunswick.
While Bone Dry might
be a new name in the area,
they have tapped local tal
ent to lead the Brunswick
office. Long time St. Simons
Island resident Jason Hyde
will be managing the new
operation.
The Brunswick office
serves Southeast Georgia,
and like Bone Dry’s other
offices, will focus primar
ily on industrial and com
mercial roofing as well as
high end residential projects.
Bone Dry also has expertise
in green roofs and all types of
roof repair and maintenance.
“We continue to see a
need for experienced, bonded
roofing contractors to serve
large industrial, retail and
commercial property own
ers,” said Bone Dry co-owner
Chad Collins. “These compa
nies expect professional and
timely service that will not disrupt
their business or their customers. The
Golden Isles have a thriving economy
and we felt like this would be a natural
market for us.” Bone Dry’s new office
is located on Benedict Road in Bruns
wick. □
Jason Hyde and Chad Collins
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