The boundaries of the Hall County School District remain unchanged by the annexations undertaken by the City of Buford after Governor Brian Kemp signed House Bill 156 into law, unless expressly approved in a separate local act of the General Assembly or by intergovernmental agreement.
According to Nath Morris, the vice chairman of the Hall County School Board, annexations can change school district lines in a county that has independent school systems within that district.
“This has been on the top of my agenda list for a long time. I've talked with a lot of local legislators, I've talked with the governor and just said what can we do?” Morris said.
According to a press release from the Hall County School System, before HB 156, each time the city of Buford chose to annex property in Hall County, resources critical to the education of students in the Hall County School District were relocated to Buford City Schools, a Gwinnett-based city school system. HB 156, sponsored by representatives Lee Hawkins, Matt Dubnik, Emory Dunahoo, Brent Cox, and Derrick McCollum, ensures that those resources will no longer be lost in the event of a Buford City annexation.
Superintendent Will Schofield thanked the legislative delegation and Governor Kemp in a press release for making HB 156 a reality.
“Hall County taxpayers deserve to have their local resources utilized for the benefit of our students in this community,” Scholfield said.
Since 2006, Gwinnett-based Buford City Schools digest within the boundaries of Hall county has grown from $216 million to $1.162 billion. This represents almost a billion dollars of Hall County tax digest that no longer supports the boys and girls of the community.
When school district boundary lines change due to an annexation by a municipality, it creates uncertainty for families and provides significant challenges for district planners.
