Catherine Pozniak

Cobb school board candidate called up for Army reserve duty

by

Catherine Pozniak, who is challenging Post 4 incumbent David Chastain for a seat on the Cobb Board of Education, will be away on U.S. Army Reserve duty the next six weeks.Catherine Pozniak, Cobb school board candidate

She announced in a video on her campaign website that she is reporting for duty next week, and will return in mid-September.

She is a military government specialist for the reserve’s Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command and advises on educational issues.

Pozniak, a Democrat who graduated from Sprayberry High School, has been holding “office hours” sessions with voters at various coffee shops in the area, including Mzizi Coffee on Johnson Ferry Road.

Those and other in-person campaign events will be discontinued while she is on reserve duty.

Post 4 includes the Kell, Lassiter and Sprayberry clusters; Chastain, a Republican who is completing his second term, is the current school board chairman.

“As a member of the Army Reserve, I proudly join tens of thousands of men and women who stand ready to serve when our country calls,” said Pozniak, who is a captain and is a third-generation member of her family to serve in the military.

“While I am serving, I ask that you continue to engage with our campaign team through our website and social media,” she added.

Pozniak said she’ll still respond to e-mail, though it will be “a little bit slower” and “I will continue to provide virtual updates.”

Pozniak, whose father is a retired Army officer, graduated from Sprayberry in 1997 and attended Daniell Middle School and Kincaid Elementary School.

After teaching on a Lakota reservation in South Dakota, Pozniak was an assistant state superintendent of education for fiscal operations in Louisiana and the head of an educational non-profit in Baton Rouge, La.

She currently is principal at Watershed Advisors, an educational and workforce consultancy. This is her first campaign for public office.

Related posts:

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Sprayberry HS grad, educator running for Cobb school board

by

Catherine Pozniak, a Sprayberry High School graduate who’s been a teacher and state education administrator, has announced her campaign for Post 4 on the Cobb Board of Education.Catherine Pozniak, Cobb school board candidate

Post 4 includes the Sprayberry and Kell and part of the Lassiter High School clusters in a seat that’s been redrawn for the 2022 elections.

The seat is held by third-term Republican David Chastain, currently the Cobb school board chairman.

Earlier this week Pozniak declared her intent to run in the May 24 primary as a Democrat.

Her campaign website can be found by clicking here.

Pozniak, who graduated from Sprayberry in 1997, also attended Kincaid Elementary School and Daniell Middle School.

She said she’s running because the current Cobb school board hasn’t done much planning to help students recover from disruptions caused by COVID-19 closures, including use of more than $250 million in federal relief aid to help students.

She said “it’s been disappointing to see partisanship from our Board’s leaders when our schools need their support the most.

“The Board hasn’t even laid out goals since 2018, before the pandemic,” Pozniak said. “So of course there isn’t a plan for any of this.”

Republicans currently hold a 4-3 edge on the Cobb school board. Chastain, who has indicated he will be seeking a fourth term, is the only GOP member up for re-election this year.

Pozniak earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Sydney in Australia, a master’s degree from the University of Cambridge, and a doctorate in educational leadership from Harvard University.

She taught in a school on a Lakota reservation in South Dakota and was an assistant state superintendent of education for fiscal operations in Louisiana and the head of an educational non-profit in Baton Rouge, La.

Pozniak currently is principal at Watershed Advisors, an educational and workforce consultancy started by the former Louisiana school superintendent.

Tammy Andress, a former Lassiter PTSA co-president who ran for Post 5 on the Cobb school board in 2020, said Thursday on her former campaign page that she was considering a run for Post 4 this year following redistricting.

But Andress, a Democrat, said she’s supporting Pozniak, whom she said has a “wealth of experience, knowledge, passion, empathy and determination she would bring to our School Board. She’s the real deal!!!”

Austin Heller, a Kennesaw State University student, previously announced his campaign as a Democrat for Post 4, but was drawn out in reapportionment.

Primary qualifying takes place next week.

Related posts:

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!