This week's Bulldog Pledge Leaders are Ali, Lexi, and Adelyn! Ms. Swartz nominated these students because they are so responsible each morning in saying the pledges! We are so proud of them and can't wait for them to help our Busbee Bulldogs do the pledges this week 🐾💙
Busbee is excited to announce our Teacher of the Year, First Year Teacher of the Year, and Giving Even More Employee for the year!
First up is our dynamic team, Ms. Morgan Foster as our Teacher of the Year and Mr. Ni'Jae Jerry as our Giving Even More Employee of the Year!
And our First Year Teacher of the Year is Ms. Tonya Wiggins!
We are so proud of these three and are thankful for all they do for Busbee and the community!
We also have many excellent nominees, who we will highlight next week 🐾💙
Busbee picture day will continue as planned today. Please be careful coming to school, and we are looking forward to seeing everyone's smiling faces!
All students will take a picture and proofs/order forms will be sent home in a few weeks. 📸🐾💙
Due to extensive rainfall that’s flooded, washed out, and led to road closures across our county, Aiken County Public Schools will operate on a two-hour delayed schedule tomorrow, Thursday, November 7. All schools and offices will open on a two-hour delay. Due to the delayed start, only lunch will be served tomorrow in our cafeterias. Students on half-day schedules, including Early Learning Special Education students and others, will not come to school tomorrow as buses will be unable to make mid-day routes. The Aiken County Career Center will not have morning classes. Students will report to their high school on a two-hour delay. Rainfall is expected throughout the night and into tomorrow. Please use extreme caution when traveling to school and work. If you encounter flooded roadways, please turn around. The safety of our students, staff, and families is most important.
It's a new month, and things are finally back on track, so it's time to start Busbee Highlights again! Today we would like to highlight a Busbee 3rd grade superstar🌟 Carson is taught by Mrs. Hendricks, Mr. Kitchings, and Ms. Foster, and like most of us, his favorite place is home! He loves Reese's and playing video games, and if he had one super power it be the power to heal. His wish is to go to Disney World and for everyone in his entire family to be happy ❤️ we can't say enough good things about our sweet Carson!
We just realized that we never posted our Busbee Faculty and Staff member of the month for September 🤦🏽♀️😭 For September, our Interventionist Mrs. Dawn Farmer was chosen as our Faculty Member of the month, and our Intervention Aide, Ms. Shelly Leach, was chosen as our Staff Member of the Month! We are so thankful for both of these ladies and all they do to ensure each of our students at Busbee has a strong foundation! Well deserved, ladies! 🐾💙
ONE POINT ABOUT THE ONE %
TODAY IS ELECTION DAY! PLEASE BE SURE TO VOTE!
Polls are open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on election day. To find your voting location, please visit www.scvotes.org.
For more Penny Tax Facts, visit www.acpsd.net/OneCent.
ONE POINT ABOUT THE ONE %
ON ELECTION DAY (TOMORROW, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5), AIKEN COUNTY VOTERS WILL SEE TWO QUESTIONS ON THE BALLOT FOR THE EDUCATION CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS SALES AND USE TAX.
One asks voters if they are in favor of the renewal of the tax and lists the projects and contingency projects that a renewal would directly benefit.
The other is only valid only if the sales tax is approved and asks voters if they are in favor of authorizing the district to bond part of the projected revenue to jump start the projects and begin improvements right away (instead of waiting for one cent sales tax funds to accumulate before beginning improvements).
For more Penny Tax Facts, visit www.acpsd.net/OneCent.
ONE POINT ABOUT THE ONE %
IF THE ONE CENT SALES TAX IS NOT VOTER-APPROVED IN 2024, IT WILL BE TWO YEARS BEFORE THE ONE CENT SALES TAX CAN APPEAR AGAIN ON THE BALLOT.
The Sales Tax question may only appear on the ballot in a general election.
Should the tax not pass by majority vote in 2024, it will be November 2026 before the One Cent Sales Tax appears again on the ballot. If the tax were renewed, over those two years $75 million in funding would have been dedicated to school facilities.
For more Penny Tax Facts, visit www.acpsd.net/OneCent.
This week's Bulldog Pledge Leaders are Britain, TreDarius, and Angie! Ms. Templeton nominated these students because they are so responsible each morning in saying the pledges!
Busbee Week of November 4:
-No school Monday-Tuesday
-Last week for Golden Harvest Food Drive! Please bring canned/boxed goods.
-Picture Day--Thursday Nov. 7
ONE POINT ABOUT THE ONE %
IF RENEWED, THE ONE CENT IN 2024 IS PROJECTED TO AMASS $398 MILLION OVER ITS 10-YEAR COLLECTION PERIOD.
In Aiken County, 90% of sales tax funds are dedicated to school projects and 10% to property tax relief, which totals an estimated $358M to the school facility projects.
If approved by voters, up to $285M of the projected revenue could be bonded to advance or “jump start” the projects (instead of waiting for taxes to accumulate before improvements begin).
For more Penny Tax Facts, visit www.acpsd.net/OneCent.
ONE POINT ABOUT THE ONE %
A THIRD OF THE ONE CENT SALES TAX IS ESTIMATED TO BE GENERATED BY NON-RESIDENTS.
When individuals visit Aiken County and make purchases, their contribution to overall sales tax revenues is estimated to generate around a third of the total collected. If approved, visitors to the county contribute to Aiken County’s school facility improvements, as well as a property tax reduction for Aiken County homeowners.
For more Penny Tax Facts, visit www.acpsd.net/OneCent.
ONE POINT ABOUT THE ONE %
UNPREPARED FOODS, GAS, AND MOST MEDICATIONS ARE EXEMPT FROM THE ONE CENT SALES TAX.
If renewed by voters on November 5, the One Cent Educational Capital Sales and Use Tax would result in a continuation of the One Percent Sales Tax on most purchases (one cent/dollar) in Aiken County. There are numerous exemptions to the tax, which are listed include in South Carolina’s Code of Laws, Section 12-36-2120. Among the exemptions are unprepared foods, gasoline, and most medications.
For more Penny Tax Facts, visit www.acpsd.net/OneCent.
We have a few Busbee Spooky-to-be-Hungry Barrels that need a little help! This canned food drive is for Golden Harvest Food Bank, which provides over 40 free "snack sacks" to Busbee. These "snack sacks" go home each weekend for students who have food insecurity.
We are so thankful for all that Golden Harvest does for our students, and we like to show our appreciation by being the TOP giving elementary school in Aiken county each year!
If you have a few cans/boxed items in your pantry that you aren't using, please consider sending them in! The drive runs until November 8.
Busbee Picture Day will be on Thursday, November 7. All students in grades 5k-5th will take a picture and proofs/order forms will be sent home in a few weeks. Students in 4k will be on a field trip and will take pictures on make-up picture day at a later date.
Our original picture day was when we were out for Hurricane Helene, and we appreciate everyone being patient with us while we rescheduled!
Parents and Guardians: Please note that there is no school for students Monday, November 4, due to a District Professional Development Day for teachers.
Tuesday, November 5, is Election Day and all ACPSD schools and offices will be closed. We hope that everyone eligible to vote will exercise their right on Tuesday. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. As a reminder, the One Cent Sales Tax benefitting our public school facilities will be on the ballot. For additional information on the Sales Tax and the school facility improvements that a renewal of the tax would directly benefit, please visit www.acpsd.net/OneCent.
Don't forget daylight saving time ends this weekend., and we'll "fall back" an hour on Sunday, November 3.
Wishing everyone a great long weekend as we look forward to welcoming students back to school on Wednesday, November 6.
ONE POINT ABOUT THE ONE %
IF THE ONE CENT SALES TAX IS VOTER-APPROVED FOR A RENEWAL, A NEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WILL BE BUILT IN AREA THREE.
Space for elementary school students in Area Three, the fastest-growing area of our county, is limited. Many students in Midland Valley and Graniteville schools are already in portable classrooms.
To accommodate this growth, a new elementary school in Area Three is among the list of projects that a 2024 One Cent Sales Tax renewal would support.
For more Penny Tax Facts, visit www.acpsd.net/OneCent.
ONE POINT ABOUT THE ONE %
CONTINGENCY PROJECTS WILL ALSO APPEAR ON THE BALLOT AND INCLUDE ROOFING, SECURITY VESTIBULES AND DOOR LOCK UPGRADES AT SCHOOLS ACROSS THE DISTRICT, CLASSROOM ADDITIONS AT BYRD AND GLOVERVILLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, AND REPLACEMENT OF GREENDALE ELEMENTARY.
In addition to the five primary projects voters will see on their ballot, several contingency projects are also listed that will be undertaken once primary projects are completed (or if all funding necessary for completion of the primary projects has been provided) and if additional tax revenue is available. Sales Tax funding is limited to the projects specified on the ballot and approved by voters. 2024 contingencies represent additional projects that are high priority
For more Penny Tax Facts, visit www.acpsd.net/OneCent.
We had a great day at Busbee! We will post pictures of students this afternoon and tomorrow, but until then look at some of our great adult costumes! We also want to thank everyone who brought in candy and to our PTO who made sure that we had plenty of treats on our Busbee BOOlevard this afternoon 💙🐾
