Gwinnett Schools Say: Thank You, Gwinnett County!

Gwinnett County sent an overwhelming vote of support to Gwinnett County Public Schools by voting Yes on the school sales tax.

Gwinnett schools Superintendent and CEO Alvin Wilbanks promised that educators will live up to the trust voters have placed in their school system.

“We won’t let you down,” Wilbanks said to county residents after all but the final few precincts were reported Tuesday night.

Gwinnett school board Chairman Robert McClure thanked voters for continuing to trust school officials to properly manage their tax dollars in order to help educate their children.

“We’re awfully proud to be your partner in what I think is the most important enterprise that this community undertakes every day, which is the education of our children,” McClure said.

“Citizens went out and said, ‘I’m going to trust you with some tax dollars’,” McClure said. “In this climate, economically and politically, it’s very sobering to me as a political figure.”

The two volunteers who led the citizens committee, Mike Levengood and Sean Murphy, said their job was eased by the public recognition that Gwinnett County schools are well managed and effective in their job of educating young people.

“We could not have achieved the success we did without a Board of Education that is ‘A, Number 1” in integrity and ‘A, Number 1’ focused on the chief mission of this school system, which is teaching and learning,” said Levengood, whose children were graduated from Parkview High School.

“This was another great report card for Superintendent Wilbanks, for all of the teachers in all of our schools, and for 163,000 students,” Levengood said.

Murphy said the school system has such a good reputation that finding volunteers was easy. He said the public enthusiasm kept him hopeful even when campaign polling showed the measure might fail.

“To find volunteers, all you have to do is ask,” said Murphy, whose four children attend Gwinnett schools. “The product [of the schools] is so good, and that doesn’t happen without a committed board, and incredible leadership at the top. Mr. Wilbanks does an incredible job.

“The polls looked dark, but the people were looking bright,” Murphy said. “Everybody I talked to said, ‘This is going to pass.’ The polls said it wasn’t going to pass. The people said, ‘It is going to pass.’

“I’m proud to be one of the many volunteers who gave of our time to say: ‘Gwinnett County kids do count.’ I’m excited for our kids.”

More than 60 percent of the votes cast were in favor of the proposal to extend the 1 percent sales tax for five years. About 1,200 absentee ballots have yet to be tabulated by county elections officials.

Money raised through the sales tax will help pay for classroom construction projects, air conditioning in all gyms, and technology upgrades that will benefit students, their parents, and teachers.

“In the final analysis, it’s all about preparing kids for school, for more school, and after that – for life.” Wilbanks said.

“Thank you to the people of Gwinnett County,” Wilbanks said.