Windsor Forest High School on Savannah’s South Side now occupies a new $92,000,000 building that school district officials say was fully funded by the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST). Ken Slatz, speaking for the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS), said more than a third of ESPLOST revenue for the project is paid by visitors to Chatham County.
The new building, Slatz said, is designed to serve nearly 1,200 students and includes a series of modern career and academic facilities. "Fully funded through the penny tax, that's the education special purpose local option sales tax, more than a third of that paid for by visitors to Chatham County," Slatz said, describing the project’s financing.
The school district described the facility as having eight science labs, 10 CTAE (Career, Technical and Agricultural Education) labs, art studios, a band and choral hall, an auditorium and a JROTC wing. District officials said the building includes dedicated spaces for vocational pathways such as HVAC training, remote pilot training and construction training, and that the rooms were built specifically to teach those trades with new equipment rather than being renovated classroom space.
Slatz also told the audience this is the first fully funded new building in School Board District 6. "This is the first fully funded new building in District 6, so I'm proud to have made that a fruition," he said.
The remarks combined descriptions of facilities, vocational pathways and financing; no motions, votes or formal board actions on the project were recorded in the provided transcript. The presentation closed with Slatz identifying his affiliation: "For SCCPSS, I'm Ken Slatz."