COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify which meetings are streamed. A statement from the school district has been added.
The Cobb County Board of Education has voted to cancel a controversial $50 million event center project.
The board voted unanimously during a specially called meeting on Tuesday, following Superintendent Chris Ragsdale's recommendation to discontinue the project. The meeting's goal, as listed on the board schedule, was to "discuss strengthening fund balance."
The move is intended to be an "extra safeguard to the budget during a time of national economic uncertainty," according to a release from the Cobb County School District (CCSD).
Ragsdale explained it as an effort to continue accomplishing fiscal goals set by the board "to provide the best academic results at the cheapest cost for taxpayers and to prioritize people, not programs or facilities."
The tentative budget for fiscal year 2025 is $1,603,757,880. According to the release, 94% of CCSD's budget is spent on approximately 19,000 teachers and staff. Meanwhile, CCSD has one of the lowest costs per student in the metro Atlanta area, coming in at $11,100 compared to DeKalb ($11,915), Fulton ($12,076) and Atlanta ($18,278).
“The economy has changed a lot in the last two years, and our financial decisions have to change with it,” Ragsdale said during the meeting. “For the last five years, as we have been planning for the multipurpose center, the economy across the country was growing. Fast forward to the middle of 2024, and the economy has slowed to a crawl.”
The meeting was not live streamed, nor was public comment allowed.
The would-be event center was controversial among segments of the Cobb County population due to its cost and worries about increased taxes. Others argued it was unnecessary and felt there was a lack of clarity about the plans surrounding the project.
Last month, Watching the Funds - Cobb obtained the architectural plans from an anonymous source and shared them publicly. It was the first time the public learned the details of the center. Initially, the center had been advertised as an 8,000-seat graduation venue, which would have allowed the district to stop paying to hold graduation ceremonies at Kennesaw State University. However, the leaked plans also revealed a basketball venue, locker rooms and a concert venue. Attendees would have had to be shuttled on buses from an offsite location due to lack of parking, according to the Cobb Courier.
In a statement, the district said the following about streaming meetings:
“As one of the few districts in the state who livestream meetings, we broadcast every regularly scheduled Board meeting, which does not include special called meetings.”