Cobb school board swears in members; elects 2021 officers

During a brief and unusually uneventful organizational meeting Thursday, the Cobb Board of Education elected officers for 2021 and four newly elected members were sworn in.

The seven-member board also passed its 2021 meeting calendar unanimously.

The board has a 4-3 Republican majority, and that majority voted along partisan lines for third-term member Randy Scamihorn to serve as chairman, and David Banks of East Cobb to serve as vice chairman.

Their duties include presiding over board meetings and representing the board in an official capacity.

Scamihorn, whose Post 1 includes the Allatoona, Kennesaw Mountain and North Cobb high school clusters, was re-elected in November.

Banks, who represents the Pope and Lassiter clusters, is beginning his fourth term and his second year in a row as vice chairman. Banks, Scamihorn, outgoing chairman Brad Wheeler and new member Tre’ Hutchins were sworn in individually before the board elections.

For the third consecutive year, Democrat Charisse Davis of the Walton and Wheeler clusters was nominated for board chair, but failed to gain a majority in a party-line vote.

Hutchins, of South Cobb, was nominated for vice chair, but only gained the votes of his two fellow Democrats. Before graduating from Pebblebrook High School, he attended Brumby Elementary School.

Unlike the two previous years, there were no discussions about the board elections, although Davis and Democrat Jaha Howard asked to give comments. They were turned down by Wheeler.

In November, Howard accused the Republican members of “systemic racism” for voting to abolish a committee to examine school name change policy and to require a board majority for members to place items on meeting agendas.

He and Davis have protested repeatedly in their two years in office that the GOP members are trying to silence them. In 2019, the Republican majority also voted to bar members from making comments during board meetings.

Later Thursday, Davis posted a response on her Facebook page:

“It was pretty obvious that the superintendent didn’t want Brad Wheeler to allow a request I made for chair nominees to make some remarks. Why bother? They already knew they had the votes to make Randy Scamihorn, chair and David Banks, vice chair.

“While this is my 3rd time being nominated and subsequently not receiving the support of the board majority, we nominated our newest board member, Leroy Tre’ Hutchins (a former student of Mr. Wheeler) for vice chair. But the board majority chose Mr. Banks, again. This is just getting silly at this point.

“If I had been allowed to make my remarks, I would have said:

“Cobb is a large and diverse school district and all of our board posts have their own distinct character and needs. Sharing leadership opportunities strengthens our board, and subsequently, the district. I do not believe it best serves the district to recycle leadership opportunities amongst the same couple of people.

“Regarding my experience, I taught for 15 years as both a classroom teacher and media specialist and have a Specialist in Education degree in Media with a focus on Instructional Technology. I have two sons that attend our schools and so have been a very committed school volunteer serving on PTA, parent foundations, and local school councils. I am entering my 3rd year as a board member, and while my experience might be questioned, I will remind everyone again that there have been board members, including Mr. Scamihorn, who became chair in their very first term or served without any experience in education.

“Much of this was included in an email I sent to the entire board before the chair vote in 2020, and I never received a response from any members of the board majority. Keep in mind it’s not a requirement that anyone have any teaching experience or anything when seeking the chair or vice chair positions, but Brad Wheeler told me in 2019, I ‘don’t have the experience.’ “

The board holds its first work session and business meeting of the new year on Jan. 21.

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