The U.S. News rankings of public high schools across the country include three East Cobb schools that are in the Top 25 in the state of Georgia.
All six East Cobb high schools fall within the Top 100 in the state, according to the U.S. News index, which assesses six leading indicators, including college readiness, college curriculum breadth, math and reading proficiency, math and reading performance, underserved student performance and graduation rates (read the criteria summary here).
More than 17,000 schools were examined, including STEM and performing arts magnet schools and charter schools.
Among general high schools, Walton was ranked behind only three of those kinds of schools in Georgia, coming in at No. 4 in the state.
Walton is No. 161 in the national rankings, with an overall score of 99.09 out of 100 on the U.S. News indicators (the profiles linked above break down the numbers in all of those criteria, and including data on graduation rates, test scores, enrollment figures, subject proficiency and more).
Lassiter was 10th in Georgia and No. 324 nationally, with an overall score of 98.12. Pope is No. 25 in Georgia and No. 747 in the country, and like Walton and Lassiter has a majority of its students participating in Advanced Placement classes.
Wheeler is No. 55 in Georgia, while Kell is No. 84 and Sprayberry is No. 87. All have student enrollments that are minority-majority or are close to that designation, and graduation rates in the 80s.
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David Chastain said he’s heard from some seniors who don’t mind paying school taxes, “but that’s not the majority.” (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
After two of his colleagues have been raising the idea of at least discussing possible changes to the county’s longstanding senior property tax exemption, Cobb school board chairman David Chastain insists it’s not going anywhere.
At a Tuesday breakfast meeting of the East Cobb Business Association, Chastain said there’s not the political support from the county’s legislative delegation to do away with the exemption, which applies to homeowners aged 62 and older.
“We’re not taking away the senior exemption,” said Chastain, a Wheeler High School graduate who represents the Kell and Sprayberry clusters on the seven-member board.
“Some people have been talking about it in public, but it’s part of our reality.”
As the Cobb board begins its budget deliberations, it’s likely to become a topic of conversation again. Last week Superintendent Chris Ragsdale proposed a fiscal year 2020 budget of $1.17 billion that includes substantial raises for most Cobb County School District employees.
The district estimates that the exemption amounts to more than $100 million a year. That’s prompted some calls to at least revisit the issue, as newly elected board members Charisse Davis (who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters) and Jaha Howard have desired.
Other school districts have various forms of senior exemptions, including means-testing. Cobb is a rarity in that it has no conditions beyond age.
Chastain said he prefers making changes to Cobb’s contribution to what’s called the state “Fair Share” education formula.
Cobb taxes property owners at 18.9 mills, which is roughly 60 percent of a typical homeowner’s bill. Of that 18.9 mills, Cobb has to send 5 mills to the state. For the current 2019 fiscal year, that’s $155 million.
Chastain said he hasn’t worked out how that Fair Share calculation might be changed, and there hasn’t been a discussion on the school board about it, but that’s a more realistic approach to recouping lost revenues than the senior exemption.
“The way we do it in Cobb is different from some other counties,” Chastain told East Cobb News after the breakfast meeting. “In order to make all those changes [to the exemption], I don’t see it happening. I think it’s more reasonable to address the Fair Share formula.”
He said he hears occasionally from seniors who say they don’t mind paying school taxes, “but that’s not the majority. . . I don’t see the board doing anything to ask our local legislative delegation.”
While Cobb doesn’t have an income qualification for receiving the exemption, Chastain said unforseen realities, such as the rising cost of medical care, have also become factors.
“Those seniors are trying to figure out how to pay for health care, and that exemption is worth something” to them, he said.
‘Sustainable’ budget projections
As for for the budget proposal, Chastain said he’s “happy” with the proposed pay raises, which Ragsdale said were enabled in large part by Gov. Brian Kemp’s $3,000 increases for teachers that were approved by the Georgia legislature.
“That allows us to do this,” Chastain said. “Right now, we have a good economy. From what we’ve been told, this is sustainable.”
The raises also are designed to attract quality teachers from elsewhere.
“We want to make sure we have a system that’s full of good teachers but you’ve got to be able to hire people, you’ve got to get them into the system,” Chastain said. “In order to address our personnel needs, we’ve got to make sure we’re bringing in the best.”
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East Cobb Cityhood committee members (L-R) David Birdwell, Karen Hallacy and Rob Eble. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)
In trying to persuade their fellow East Cobb citizens about the benefits of creating a new municipality, the leaders of an East Cobb Cityhood effort invited their peers from South Cobb to a town hall meeting at Walton High School Monday night.
While there were skeptics among the 400 or so people gathered in the school cafeteria, the message they got was that Cobb County has grown so much that county government can’t adequately provide services.
“I kind of see how it doesn’t quite work,” said Galt Porter, who’s part of the South Cobb Alliance and a member of the Cobb Planning Commission. “We have more people in unincorporated Cobb than the city of Atlanta.”
For the last two years, Porter and others have been meeting with citizens interested in forming what could become the City of Mableton.
Like the East Cobb group, they’ve had a bill submitted to be taken up by the Georgia legislature next year that would call for a referendum.
The point they tried to drive home to the East Cobb audience was that local government needs to be much more local than it is now.
“While we have different things that we’re asking for, everyone is looking for representation closer to home,” said Tre Hutchins of the South Cobb Alliance, who attended elementary and middle school in East Cobb.
Tre Hutchins and Galt Porter of the South Cobb Alliance, which is pursuing cityhood for Mableton.
The five-member Cobb Board of Commissioners is governed by a chairman elected countywide, and four commissioners who represent around 190,000 people each.
In the East Cobb legislation, the city would be governed by a mayor elected at-large to cover a population of around 96,000 and a six-member city council representing districts with around 16,000 people each.
That means more local control over zoning and planning, code enforcement, public safety and roads, the services the East Cobb group has put forward for a city to provide.
A feasibility study conducted by Georgia State University concluded that a City of East Cobb is financially viable without a tax increase beyond the proposed 2.96 mills, and would even start with a $4.2 million surplus.
“We’re not recreating the wheel here,” said East Cobb cityhood leader David Birdwell, noting that only one of the 10 cities created in metro Atlanta since 2005 has raised taxes.
He said he contacted friends in five of those cities, “and not one has said it wasn’t a good thing to do.”
Audience members could ask questions only by writing them down on index cards, and some were dubious of the motives behind cityhood.
Questioning motives
The first questioner wanted to know if anyone involved in the cityhood effort would refrain from running for mayor or city council, at least for the first eight years of a City of East Cobb.
Porter was dumbfounded.
“All these people, who have volunteered their time and worked so hard, you would want them to just walk out?”
“Yes! Yes!” cried a few citizens.
At that point, Rob Eble, another cityhood leader, stood up on crutches (he recently suffered a leg injury at work) and tried to inject some tongue-in-cheek humor.
“Hell no! We don’t want to do it!”
Birdwell said he has no interest in running for political office. Karen Hallacy, a state PTA leader, legislative lobbyist and appointee to the Development Authority of Cobb County, echoed Porter.
“If we tell them that they have no chance of running,” she said, “you’ll disqualify people with a lot of talent.”
Later, a questioner wanted to know where an East Cobb City Hall would be located. Hallacy said the current East Cobb Government Service Center on Lower Roswell Road would be a possibility, at a reasonable cost, and could also house the city’s police and fire headquarters, since those operations already exist there.
“It’s small,” a citizen shouted out.
“We plan to keep government small,” Hallacy said, to some wild applause.
The art of persuasion
Allen Gilly, who’s lived near Walton for 45 years, is the kind of citizen the cityhood group needs to convince. He said after the meeting he hadn’t heard about cityhood until his sister-in-law told him about it.
He’s never seen a need for East Cobb to have its own government. He admitted “I heard some positive things but I still have some concerns and questions.”
What he liked was the message of more local control, even though he thinks Cobb government is “great.”
But Gilly does wonder about the speed of the cityhood process. If legislation is approved next year, a referendum would take place in November 2020.
“Do we have to do this next year?” he said. “If we’re going to do it, let’s do it right.
“Show me how it’s better, and if it’s better, I’m all in.”
The cityhood group will appear next week before the Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance. That meeting is Wednesday, May 8, at 7 p.m. at Brumby Elementary School (815 Terrell Mill Road).
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As we noted last week, the Cobb Board of Education approved the first batch of principal hirings and reassignments for the 2019-20 school year, along with some major front office contract renewals. What follows are some of the first assistant principal reassignments involving East Cobb schools; all start their new duties on July 10:
Sanda Alford, from Dickerson Middle School to Pitner Elementary School;
Dr. Angela Bare, from Lassiter High School to Hightower Trail Middle School from Assistant Principal;
Matthew Bradford, from South Cobb High School to Wheeler High School;
William Dryden, from Brumby Elementary School to Smyrna Elementary School;
Rebecca Hintz, from Kincaid Elementary School to Mountain View Elementary School;
Dwan Jones, from Birney Elementary School to Eastvalley Elementary School;
Troy Jones, from Wheeler High School to Kell High School;
Victoria Kogan, from Eastvalley Elementary School to Mountain View Elementary School;
Victoria Kogan
Rashida Lee-Walker, from academic coach to assistant principal at Powers Ferry Elementary School;
Lindsey McGovern, from Brumby Elementary School to Shallowford Falls Elementary School;
Joan Myler, from Hightower Trail Middle School to Dickerson Middle School;
Kahliah Rachel, from Hendricks Elementary School to Sedalia Park Elementary School;
Wendy Rice, from Nicholson Elementary School to Brumby Elementary School;
Jill Spiva, from Shallowford Falls Elementary School to Davis Elementary School;
Dr. Whitney Spooner, from Mountain View Elementary School to Sope Creek Elementary School;
Dr.Susan Stoddard, from Kell High School to Kennesaw Mountain High School;
Jason Traster, from Pitner Elementary School to Brumby Elementary School;
Cheri Vaniman, from Sope Creek Elementary School to Nicholson Elementary School.
Retirements
Gary Jackson, Assistant Principal, Dodgen Middle School, effective Aug. 1.
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!
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Stephen Ake (right), marks a spot along the I-75 corridor at a Cobb Forward town hall meeting at the East Cobb Library. (ECN photos by Wendy Parker)
With Crayolas, magic markers and a wide variety of maps as their canvas, citizens are getting a chance to state their preferences for how they’d like to get around the county, and elsewhere, as part of Cobb’s transportation future.
For Stephen Ake of East Cobb, his issues are on several levels, and in multiple places. He took part in a public meeting at the East Cobb Library, and they continue this week and into May.
The project is called Cobb Forward, and the more formal designation is the Cobb Transportation Plan, which is updated every five years.
Citizen input is part of the process, but not just for getting around by car. The CTP takes in transit as well as bike and pedestrian concerns.
“I spend most of my time in Cobb County,” said Ake, a software engineer who lives in the Sandy Plains/Piedmont Road area, works off Delk Road near I-75 and enjoys taking his child to Noonday Creek Park for a recreational stroll. “What I’m hoping for is the county to take our input for a more short-term list,” Ake said.
That’s the major objective of Cobb Forward, which also will be at the Taste of East Cobb festival Saturday (10-5, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church), and will hold another town hall in East Cobb next Tuesday, May 7, from 7-9 p.m. at the East Cobb Senior Center (3332 Sandy Plains Road).
“This is for the county to get an idea of what you want,” Cobb commissioner Bob Ott told the several dozen people at the East Cobb Library event. “We’re all going to get out of this what you put into it.”
Current and future trends
They were treated to a vast array of data about Cobb population growth, home prices, education and employment patterns and future land use projections.
The information was so voluminous that some complained about it not being posted online (that’s supposed to happen soon) for them to view in advance.
All the numbers and analysis will be used to build on the 2040 Cobb Comprehensive Plan, and it’s the first CTP to incorporate a broad base of information, including technology (i.e. autonomous vehicles), land use and other factors besides roads and transit.
While Cobb’s population reached 750,000 last year, that growth is slowing a bit, up just one percent between 2017-18.
Cobb’s minority population continues to rise, in terms of number and percentage, to more than 330,000, or around 42 percent of all Cobb citizens.
How Cobb residents get around matters too, with around 125,000 people who both live and work in the county, with 60 percent of residents leaving to go to work. There are an estimated 300,000 jobs in Cobb.
What’s also playing into the future transportation dynamic are growing desires for walking and biking options.
Wish lists
At a table with several other citizens, Ake placed a green pin at a spot on the map along Delk Road, near his workplace, that he thinks ought to have a raised median for safety reasons. “What they’re doing on Sandy Plains now [near Sprayberry High School] they ought to do it there, too.”
Other citizens told members of the consulting firm staff they liked the idea of more roundabouts (such as one at Lower Roswell and Little Willeo Road) and the diverging diamond on Windy Hill Road over I-75.
Transit in East Cobb is rare, with the only CobbLinc bus route traveling along Powers Ferry Road. Some expressed an interest in high-speed rail along I-75, a possible bus route from Johnson Ferry into Sandy Springs, and transit to the Marietta Square.
Funding for that possibility, as well as what may come out of the Cobb Forward meetings, is another issue.
For now, the project consultants working for Cobb DOT are simply taking in the feedback, with the pledge that “everything is on the table,” before coming up with a list of feasible projects.
An online survey can be completed here through the end of May. You’ll be asked to list priorities for a number of transportation-related issues, how to allocate transportation funding and mark up maps on your own wish list.
After the town halls, a needs assessment will be conducted later this year, with recommendations made next year and final approval slated for 2021.
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Jessica Loewy of the Junior League of Cobb-Marietta has sent out this message for anyone wishing to take part, since they’re bringing back their Mistletoe Market this November:
The Junior League of Cobb-Marietta is excited to announce the return of Mistletoe Market. Mark your calendars and save the date of November 14-17, 2019 at the Cobb County Civic Center. Mistletoe Market had 25 successful years and JLCM is so excited to bring back this beloved holiday market.
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From the The Auto Club Group of the American Automobile Association, which includes the state of Georgia:
Georgia gas prices are up this week compared to a week ago. Georgia drivers are now paying an average of $2.73 per gallon for regular unleaded- 3 cents more than a week ago and 13 cents more than this time last month. However, drivers are only paying 1 cent morethan this same time last year.
Motorists are paying an average of $40.95 for a full 15-gallon tank of gasoline; a discount of $1.05 from when prices were their highest last May.
“Gasoline prices nationwide continue to rise,” said Montrae Waiters, spokeswoman, AAA- The Auto Club Group. “The market price for crude and gasoline are major factors as well as local supply and demand.”
EIA (Energy Information Administration)
In its latest weekly petroleum report, the Energy Information Administration revealed that while demand decreased slightly to 9.41 million b/d last week, the rate is more than 325,000 b/d higher than where it was last year at this time. Alongside healthy demand, total domestic stocks of gasoline fell by 2.2 million bbl to 225.8 million bbl last week – 11 million bbl lower than the total stock level during this same week in 2018. Two other contributing factors are the switch over to more expensive to produce summer blend gasoline and reduced gasoline production as a result of maintenance at refineries across the country. As a result, American motorists should expect increased pump prices as demand remains robust and stocks dwindle.
Regional Prices
Most expensive metro markets – Atlanta ($2.79), Athens ($2.76), Gainesville ($2.75)
Least expensive metro markets – Albany ($2.61), Columbus ($2.59), Warner ($2.59)
AAA updates fuel price averages daily at www.GasPrices.AAA.com. Every day up to 130,000 stations are surveyed based on credit card swipes and direct feeds in cooperation with the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) and Wright Express for unmatched statistical reliability. All average retail prices in this report are for a gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline.
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Four students from Walton High School are among the 621 semifinalists chosen nationally for the United States Presidential Scholars program, which ultimately goes to around 160 accomplished high school seniors each year.
The Walton students are the only ones from Cobb County, and are among 19 from the state of Georgia:
William Ellsworth
Vineet Dev Gangireddy
Albert Ting
Jayson Ni Wu
The program was started in 1964. The finalists will be chosen in May, and here’s more about how the process works:
Students have the opportunity to become U.S. Presidential Scholars based on three paths of accomplishment. The majority of the Scholars are selected on the basis of broad academic achievement. Approximately twenty students are selected on the basis of their academic and artistic scholarship in the visual arts, the performing arts, or creative writing.
Each year over 4,500 candidates are identified for the component of the program that focuses on academic achievement and based on having scored exceptionally well on the SAT or the ACT. Eligible students are U.S. citizens and legal permanent U.S. residents graduating or receiving a diploma between January and August of the current program year, who have taken the SAT or ACT Assessment on or before the preceding October.
Students meeting these requirements are automatically considered for participation. lnitial inclusion in the pool of eligible candidates is determined by the information (e.9. graduation year) provided by the student on his/her SAT or ACT test registration. Also, each Chief State School Officer (CSSO) may nominate ten male and ten female candidates based on their outstanding scholarship, residing in the CSSO’s jurisdiction. Additionally, the program is partnering with several recognition organizations that will each nominate up to 40 candidates from their individual programs.
Candidacy materials are mailed to students for participation in the program. Application is by invitation only; students do not apply individually to the program, nor do their schools nominate them.
Students are nominated through their Chief State School Officer. Each CSSO can nominate up to five candidates who meet the U.S. Presidential Scholars candidacy requirements. Candidacy materials are mailed to the selected students, and they are invited to apply to the program.
To confirm their interest and assist in the selection process, all candidates complete and submit candidacy materials for review, including essays, self-assessments, secondary school reports and transcripts. A review committee of qualified individuals experienced in secondary and post-secondary education evaluates candidates on their academic achievement, personal characteristics, leadership and service activities, and the quality and content of their essay.
All scholars are honored for their accomplishments during the National Recognition Program, held in June in Washington, D.C. During this trip, U.S. Presidential Scholars are guests of the US Department of Education and the Commission and enjoy an expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to meet with government officials, educators and other accomplished people. To commemorate their achievement, the Scholars are awarded the Presidential Scholars Medallion at a ceremony sponsored by the White House.
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More than 600 citizens turned out to hear an East Cobb cityhood presentation in March. (ECN file)
The leaders of an effort to create a City of East Cobb will be holding their own town hall meeting for the first time on Monday, vowing to foster a dialogue with the public about an incorporation process that has stumbled out of the gate.
The town hall meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Walton High School (1590 Bill Murdock Road). A panel discussion moderated by Cynthia Rozzo, publisher of the EAST COBBER magazine, will include Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb members David Birdwell, Rob Eble and Karen Hallacy.
The town hall also will include members of a cityhood effort in Mableton, which like East Cobb has had local legislation introduced to be considered next year.
Last month, Birdwell faced an occasionally rowdy audience at Cobb commissioner Bob Ott’s town hall meeting. It was the first public encounter for the cityhood group, which formed last fall, commissioned a financial feasibility study and hired a lobbyist in the General Assembly with cityhood experience.
The group didn’t say much publicly until last month’s town hall, and the cityhood legislation, sponsored by State Rep. Matt Dollar, was filed the following day.
Eble told East Cobb News Friday there’s still a lot of information he has to obtain and digest after he joined the group in January, but pledged that he and the others are committed to a “reset” in communicating with the community.
“I wouldn’t vote on it today,” he said, referring to a referendum tentatively eyed for the 2020 Georgia primary next spring if the cityhood bill passes.
There’s still so much to examine, he said, and more feedback from the public to solicit.
Rob Eble
He’s a life-long East Cobber, and a Walton graduate, who took a look at the feasibility study, which concluded a city could be created without a tax increase, and thinks it’s worth considering.
“It’s all about the process, and shaping it the way the community wants it,” Eble said.
Since last month’s town hall, he said the group has heard from plenty of East Cobb residents about the study—which he expects to be discussed extensively on Monday—as well as the proposed city boundaries.
For now, the map is the unincorporated East Cobb portion of Ott’s commission district (map here), and would include a population of around 96,000.
The legislation calls for a mayor to be elected citywide and a six-member city council, whose districts have yet to be drawn.
Eble said he’s heard from citizens who live in areas of East Cobb outside of the map, and they wonder why they’re not in it.
He added that the map is subject to change, and that doing so “is under discussion. We want to hear from people.”
Skepticism has abounded since the cityhood effort was revealed, most of all why this is happening in an area where no serious municipal push has been made before.
A member of citizens ad hoc group asked to look at the feasibility study quit in protest of what he called a lack of transparency.
Eble insisted that “nobody is trying to push anything down anybody’s throat.
“Nobody’s trying to prosper off this,” Eble said. “We believe that local citizens of East Cobb are much better equipped to have a say about what happens in their backyards.”
Both the East Cobb and Mableton cityhood groups have said they want more responsive local control over government services than what is provided by Cobb, which has a county-elected chairman and four district members who represent more than 185,000 people each.
The proposed East Cobb city services are police, fire and community development, including planning and zoning.
Eble said the town hall format on Monday will include presentations and questions from the audience, to be submitted on note cards.
The cityhood group also will be appearing at a meeting next month of the Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance. Eble said other meetings are in the works with homeowners groups and civic and business associations. Cityhood representatives also be at next weekend’s Taste of East Cobb event.
“This is education,” Eble said. “There is an opportunity to create a community here.”
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The pond at Hyde Farm, located off Lower Roswell Road near the Chattahoochee River. (ECN File)
Thanks to Morning Washburn, who lives near Hyde Farm, for letting us know that the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area is seeking public input on a proposed trail connecting Hyde Farm in East Cobb with the park’s Johnson Ferry North Unit.
The proposal would be a two-mile trail for pedestrians and bike riding, and the planning is in the very early stages: “This trail connection would close a gap to the very popular Silver Comet trail from existing trails,” according to an environmental assessment newsletter sent out by the National Park Service (click here to read).
The project isn’t connected to a Cobb DOT Greenways and Trails Master Plan approved by Cobb commissioners last year that calls for a similar trail, 3.3 miles in length, and at an estimated cost between $4.3 million and $4.7 million.
None of that has been funded and the funding sources and amount for the Chattahoochee NRA proposal are to be determined.
There’s also not an estimated timetable for when the trail might be completed.
Cobb County owns Hyde Farm, which dates back to the 1830s, and the edge of its 95 acres along the Chattahoochee is just a couple miles from the Chattahoochee NRA Gold Branch Unit, which has 2.6 acres of trails accessible via Lower Roswell Road.
The National Park Service is considering alternative proposals for the trail routes (see map below, and click on to newsletter link for bigger map and more details). To offer your feedback, click this link.
The deadline on the document says the deadline for comment is May 2 but that has been extended to May 9.
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From our Events Calendar, which is brimming with all kinds of spring and get-outdoors kinds of events in East Cobb, we’ll lead off with a major indoor activity that runs the full weekend:
It’s Wheeler Theatre’s production of “Annie the Musical,” which kicks off Friday night and includes a Saturday night performance as well as Saturday and Sunday matinees at the school’s performing arts center (375 Holt Road).
Tonight’s sold-out dinner theatre involves the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative, who are students in the STEM magnet program helping provide food to those in need.
On Saturday from 9-12 they’ll be having a plant sale at the Wheeler greenhouse, featuring a wide variety of flowers, as well as fresh herbs, ranging from $1-$10;
From 10-1 Saturday the East Cobb YMCA (1050 E. Piedmont Road) is holding a free Healthy Kids Festival that includes a fun run, family stretch class and Zumba to get them ready for an active, positive summer; vouchers for free swimming lessons also will be given out;
The St. Baldrick Foundation is holding another childhood cancer fundraiser in East Cobb on Saturday, from 1-5 at The Wing Cafe and Tap House (2145 Roswell Road, in the East Lake Shopping Center), with those taking part getting their heads shaved; there also will be a kids’ table and other activities;
The latest Sunday Funday free, family-friendly concert at East Cobb Park (3322 Roswell Road) takes place from 4-6 Sunday. You’re invited to bring a picnic meal and blanket and chairs if you wish and take in the sounds of the Loose Shoes Band, a Sunday Funday regular;
For more formal music lovers, the final performance of the St. Catherine’s Concert Series2018-19 is from 4-6 Sunday, featuring The Summit Trio. They’re three KSU musicians performing works for the piano, violin and cello. The concert is free in the sanctuary of St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church (571 Holt Road), but donations are accepted.
Did we miss anything? Do you have a calendar item you’d like to share with the community? Send it to us, and we’ll spread the word! E-mail: calendar@eastcobbnews.com, and you can include a photo or flyer if you like.
Whatever you’re doing this weekend, make it a great one! Enjoy!
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Updating a story from a couple weeks ago, following a pedestrian accident in front of Wheeler High School in March that seriously injured two students: the crosswalk improvement project was approved Tuesday by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
Cobb DOT and the Cobb County School District are teaming up to finance the safety changes. Here’s a summary of what’s going to happen; the cost is $22,450, with the school district paying $9,758 for two rectangular rapid flashing signs within a raised median (similar to what’s on Lower Roswell Road at the Sewell Mill Library).
The other work includes creating a single crosswalk, closing off the parking lot at the former East Cobb Middle School from Holt Road access, improved street lighting and updated signs alerting drivers as they approach the crosswalk.
The students who were injured were struck as it was getting dark by a driver who was later cited, but not charged, by Cobb Police.
The crosswalk will be relocated to the intersection of Holt Road and Club Way, close to the Wheeler gym entrance, and combined with an existing crosswalk.
The county says the contractors will meet on May 1 to map out a construction schedule following the end of the school year. Wheeler holds its graduation at the gym on May 22.
The crosswalk area could be redone later, after Eastvalley Elementary School is relocated to the former ECMS site.
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On Saturday, April 27, the McCleskey-East Cobb YMCA is holding a free community event to inspire more kids to keep their minds and bodies active at the annual YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day, the Y’s national initiative to improve health and well-being for kids and families. Healthy Kids Day is an opportunity to ignite children’s imaginations so that they can imagine what they’ll accomplish this summer. The event features activities such as a kids run, family stretch class and family Zumba to motivate and teach families how to develop and maintain healthy routines at home throughout the summer months.
Healthy Kids Day, celebrated at over 1,500 Ys across the country by over one million participants, works to get more kids moving and learning, creating habits that they continue all summer long. When kids are out of school, they can face hurdles that prevent them from reaching their full potential. Research shows that without access to out-of-school learning activities, kids fall behind academically. Kids also gain weight twice as fast during summer than the school year. As spring turns to summer, Healthy Kids Day is a powerful reminder not to let children idle away their summer days. Instead, the Y wants families to focus on helping children imagine what they can accomplish over the summer.
“When a child is healthy, happy, and supported they can make great things happen,” says Becky Shipley, Executive Director “We believe in the potential of all children, and we strive to help kids find that potential within themselves. A child’s development is never on vacation and Healthy Kids Day is a great opportunity to educate families and motivate kids to stay active in spirit, mind and body throughout the summer.”
Keeping Kids Healthy All Summer Long
In celebration of YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day, the Y offers the following tips to help families develop healthy habits this summer that can have a lifetime effect:
High Five the Fruits and Veggies – Make sure kids get at least five servings of fruits and veggies each day, the minimum number nutritionists recommend for healthy childhood development. And to keep kids’ taste buds evolving, have everyone in the family try at least one bite of a new fruit or vegetable at least once a month.
Read Together – The summer is a great time to enjoy books with summer program participants—and 30 minutes a day goes a long way! Take trips to the local library or create a family reading challenge to see who can log the most minutes of reading. Encourage youth to create their own stories as well.
Get Moving! – Activities that require movement also help kids flex their mental muscle. Use materials in unique ways: ask youth to build models, manipulate tools or develop their own theatrical scenes.
Play Together – Play may be the best way to prevent childhood obesity. By putting more play into your family’s day, you will soon find yourself getting the activity that will have your family feeling energized and strong.
Make sleep a priority – Doctors recommend 10-12 hours of sleep a day for children ages 5-12 and 7-8 hours per night for adults. Sleep plays a critical role in maintaining our healthy immune system, metabolism, mood, memory, and learning.
McCleskey-East Cobb YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day takes place at 1055 E. Piedmont from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. and features fun, active play and educational activities. This year, in partnership with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, the YMCA will be offering vouchers for a session of FREE swimming lessons.
Locally, Healthy Kids Day is sponsored by Life University, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and many more.
For more information, contact McCleskey-East Cobb YMCA at 770-977-5991.
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Four public schools in East Cobb will have new principals for the next school year.
The first wave of principal moves for the 2019-20 school year were announced Wednesday by the Cobb Board of Education, after it came out of an executive session.
Peter Giles
Two of the six East Cobb high schools have new new leadership. Peter Giles will move over from Wheeler High School to Kell High School, while the new principal at Wheeler will be Paul Gillihan, who has been the principal at Griffin Middle School.
Kell principal Andy Bristow has been appointed the new principal at Durham Middle School.
The new principal at Dodgen High School will be Patricia Alford, who’s been the principal at Durham. Loralee Hill moves from Dodgen to Griffin Middle School.
Patricia Alford
At the elementary school level, Timber Ridge will be led by a familiar face in August. Shannon McGill, a former assistant principal there and at Powers Ferry Elementary School, is returning after serving as principal at Vaughan Elementary School. She succeeds Jeff Castle, who has resigned.
The new appointments will be effective July 1, the start of the new fiscal year.
The Cobb County School District also announced that key members of Superintendent Chris Ragsdale’s cabinet have been reappointed, including chief of staff Kevin Daniel, deputy superintendent John Adams, chief financial officer Brad Johnson, chief leadership officer Sherri Hill, chief academic officer Jennifer Lawson, chief strategy and accountability officer John Floresta and several assistant superintendents.
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All Cobb County School District employees will get raises ranging between 8 and 12.6 percent in the fiscal year 2020 budget presented to school board members and the public on Wednesday.
Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale
Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said it’s the biggest raise in at least 25 years and may be the biggest ever for Georgia’s second-largest school district, with 112,000 students.
“We have truly maximized the dollars so we can do this,” he told board members at a Wednesday afternoon work session. The board was expected to tentatively approve the $1.17 billion budget propopsal, with final approval expected May 16.
The raises are across-the-board, and apply to all non-temporary employees, from teachers to administrators, and include custodians, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, substitute teachers, social workers and counselors.
Ragsdale said the size and scope of the raises were enabled by the Georgia legislature’s approval of $3,000 pay raises for teachers.
The Cobb budget includes “step” increases for eligible employees and adds school nurses to the “step” ranks for the first time. Teacher allotments will increase by 90, and district public safety employees also will get a “competitive salary adjustment” in the budget, which maintains a property tax rate of 18.9 mills.
According to Brad Johnson, the district’s chief financial officer, the raises will account for $74 million in expenses. The additional teacher allotments, adjustments for public safety, school nurse “step” increases, a change in how bus drivers are compensated and 7.5 new custodial positions will cost another $9.6 million.
A total of $81 million in increased revenues, including $43 million in state Quality Basic Education funding as well as $30 million in additional property taxes due to an estimated 5.5 percent growth in the Cobb tax digest, has been worked into the budget proposal.
The proposed budget also calls for spending $18.3 million in reserves.
“I’m very pleased with the raise and the respect and consideration it shows for all employees,” said Connie Jackson of the Cobb County Association of Educators, which represents teachers and non-administrative employees. “I’m super ecstatic we got step raises for nurses. We can offer them an incentive to stay.”
Ragsdale said those teachers on the higher end of the proposed raises will be newer teachers, in large part to incentivize retention.
Deputy superintendent John Adams said Cobb has the highest retention rate of the six biggest school districts in Georgia and has the lowest rate of teachers leaving for other districts.
But Cobb is behind other districts in metro Atlanta in starting teacher pay, which is around $43,000 a year.
Last year most Cobb school employees received a 2.6-percent raise and a 1.1 percent bonus. The former became available only after the state ended education austerity cuts.
There will be no bonuses in this Cobb budget, Ragsdale said, because he wanted the additional pay for employees, especially teachers, to add to their retirement system calculations.
“There are a lot of teachers watching this meeting now who are a lot happier than they were this morning,” said school board member David Banks of East Cobb.
The full budget details will be posted soon on the CCSD’s budget page. Another public hearing will take place at 6:30 p.m. on May 16, right before the board is scheduled to vote on final budget adoption.
The new budget will take effect on July 1, when the district’s fiscal year begins.
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As the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved the hiring of a new public safety director Tuesday night, many of those working for county public safety agencies and members of the public told them that a proposed five-percent pay increase isn’t sufficient.
That’s how much more Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce wants to pay them in his draft fiscal year 2020 budget proposal. The boost includes a three-percent hike for all county employees, plus another two percent for public safety personnel.
For several weeks those working for police, fire, sheriff’s office and 911/emergency agencies have told commissioners morale is deteriorating because of poor salary and benefits packages and retention rates, compared to other jurisdictions in metro Atlanta.
Among those speaking out was Susan Hampton (in photo), an East Cobb citizen who helps organize an annual public safety appreciation dinner for police officers in Precinct 4 and another for Cobb firefighters.
“I am begging you to fix it now,” she said as the last of a long line of public speakers demanding immediate action, and not later in the summer, during the budget process.
“Fix it now” was a message some brought to the meeting as they held up signs and wildly applauded what Hampton and others were saying.
Commissioners named Cobb Police Chief Mike Register the new public safety director, and he pledged to those in the audience to “make public safety a better place to work.”
The vote to approve Register was 4-1, with Commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb opposed, saying he’d prefer the $300,000 or so budgeted for public safety director (half salary, the rest support staff) go to addressing staffing shortages.
Ott said he wasn’t opposed to Register, whom many praised during the evening, getting the job.
Hampton, who’s been especially vocal about what she has called a public safety “crisis” in Cobb, said starting police officers in Cobb are paid around $40,000 a year, compared to $48,800 in Atlanta and Brookhaven.
After five years of service, that Cobb officer would get $44,000. A five-percent raise would result in a salary level of $46,000, she said. In Gwinnett, officers at the five-year level are paid around $53,000, while in Atlanta and Brookhaven it’s around $59,000.
“A five-percent increase will not make Cobb County competitive,” she said.
To fund the extra two percent raise, Boyce has proposed not funding an allotted 40 new police officer positions and another 40 new sheriff’s office positions.
In other words, Hampton concluded, “public safety has to fund their own increase.”
She suggested that the county use revenues from projected growth in the county tax digest this year to help pay for additional public safety spending.
Others urged the commissioners to address retirement and retention issues they say are getting worse.
Steven Gaynor of the Cobb Fraternal Order of Police said the savings from not funding a public safety director, as Ott prefers, “wouldn’t have helped us much.”
Gaynor requested a 10-percent raise and prefers a step and grade retirement system that Ott has suggested.
The most pressing issue, Gaynor said, is filling job openings that are continuing, as the county is conducting a hiring spree for public safety.
“We had eight [police academy] graduates last Thursday,” he said, “but we lost 13. We cannot keep this up. . . .
“Set in place a plan that will take us into the future.”
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The following East Cobb restaurant scores from April 15-26 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing to view details of the inspection:
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!
Thanks to Cindy Theiler, board member of the East Cobb-based Aloha to Aging, for the information about its second annual gala fundraising event on Aug. 16. At the bottom of the post is sponsorship information:
In celebration of its 10th anniversary, Aloha to Aging’s annual gala willfocus on “Building Our Legacy” with special guest speaker: Sarah Stanley Fallaw, PhD, east Cobb resident, and co-author of “The Next Millionaire Next Door.”
Proceeds from the event will fund programs and services to ensure enhanced quality of life for seniors, their care partners, and the community in metro Atlanta.
Reception and silent auction, 5 p.m.; banquet dining, live auction and program, 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $75 per person. Sponsorships are available. Olde Towne Athletic Club, 4950 Olde Towne Parkway NE, Marietta.
Fallaw is the founder of and president of DataPoints, which provides analytic tools for financial advisors and is based at Parkaire Landing Shopping Center.
Aloha to Aging is soliciting sponsorships for the gala, and here are some the details and links to download forms and get other information:
Hibiscus Sponsor $10,000: Sponsor will be given credit as an Event Sponsor in all promotional materials; Full page ad in the auction catalog presented to each patron; announced during the event; on signage displayed at the event and on our website. Event Sponsor will also receive 16 complimentary tickets (2 tables) to the Gala.
Bird of Paradise Sponsor $5,000: Sponsor will receive 1/2 page ad in the auction catalog presented to each patron; Listed in all media and printed materials before and after event, on signage displayed at the event, and on our website. Sponsor will receive 8 complimentary tickets (1 table) to the Gala.
Orchid Sponsor $2,500: Sponsor will receive 1/4 page ad in the auction catalog presented to each patron. Listed in all media and printed materials before and after event; listed on sponsor board at event; 4 complimentary tickets to the Gala.
Pumeria Sponsor $1,250: Sponsor will receive mention in the auction catalog presented to each patron. Listed in all media and printed materials before and after event; listed on sponsor board at event; 2 complimentary tickets to the Gala.
Game Sponsors $1000: Sponsor will receive mention in the auction catalog presented to each patron. Recognition at the event; listed on sponsor board at event.
If you would like to support us by providing a new item, service or get-a-way for our silent or live auction please contact us at 770-722-7641 or download A2A 2019 Gala Donor Sponsor Forms pdf and send back to us.
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MUST Ministries has been a growing beacon in the local community for the homeless and families who need a hand up for the past 47 years.
Recently they have put out an urgent SOS for food items they are critically low on for their local Cobb County food pantries which serve an average of 345 families per month.
The Janice Overbeck Real Estate Team with Keller Williams is holding an ongoing food drive for MUST at their office located at 2249 Roswell Road in East Cobb.
Items can be dropped off there or can be arranged for pick up by calling 404-585-8881.
The items they need include but are not limited to canned meats, canned fruits, canned vegetables and other non-perishable grocery items.
To learn more about the current food pantry needs or make a donation online visit bit.ly/MM-FOOD.
Photo: Janice Overbeck and Tom Gonter, MUST Ministries.
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He added that the map is subject to change, and that doing so “is under discussion. We want to hear from people.”
