The Referendum to
Unify Our School Systems

The referendum to unify the Valdosta and Lowndes County school systems is CUEE's primary project at this time. Within CUEE is the Committee for a Referendum on School System Unification.

This committee is charged with getting school system unification on the ballot in Valdosta's City Election in November 2011.

Getting on the ballot will be no small feat. We must first get a petition signed by 25% of registered Valdosta City voters - roughly 7,500 signatures. And we'll only have a 60-day window in which to collect them.

The committee is currently working to educate our community on the advantages of a unified school system. They are offering to speak to any civic organization, community group, or church congregation who is willing to listen. The more we reach, the more signatures we hope to collect.

With citizen support to bring school system unification to a vote, the referendum will appear on the ballot. Valdostans will then cast their vote based on the following question:

"Shall the City of Valdosta public school system and the Lowndes County public school system be consolidated by amending the City of Valdosta charter to abolish the City of Valdosta’s public school system and making the City of Valdosta public school system a part of the Lowndes County public school system?"

By a majority vote of YES, the Valdosta City School System will no longer have a charter. And, according to Georgia law, the county public school system will then be responsible for educating the children who live here.

However, CUEE's intent is to assist in creating a new school system that will include leadership from Valdosta and other communities within our county. Not only will we have a unified school system, we'll be a unified community. And have a unified vision of providing the best possible education for our children.


Learn more about CUEE's petition campaign

See the results of the opinion survey on school system unification

Return to Home page