Wendy Parker

Editor/publisher, East Cobb News, hyperlocal site serving the East Cobb community of metro Atlanta with 24/7 news, events and information.

East Cobb shooting suspect remains in jail; wife files for divorce

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Larry Joel Epstein, charged in the March 6 shootings of two electrical contractors working at his East Cobb home, remains in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center without bond after a probable cause hearing on Tuesday.East Cobb shooting suspect, Larry Epstein

Epstein, 69, was arrested after a heavy police presence stemming from the shootings on Wellington Lane, off Johnson Ferry Road.

One of the contractors, Jake Horne, 21, of Kennesaw, died after being shot in the head.

The other worker, Gordon Montcalm, 37, of Buchanan, Ga., was taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital after being shot five times and is facing a long recovery, according to family members.

Epstein was charged with one count of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated battery. He has been held at the jail without bond since his arrest, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records.

Cobb Police have not indicated a motive for the shootings.

According to Cobb Magistrate Court records, Epstein’s court-appointed attorneys did not pursue a bond request.

Kim Isaza, public information officer for the Cobb District Attorney’s Office, said the next step is to present the case to a grand jury, ideally within a 90-day period.

The quiet neighborhood street in the Kensington subdivision was blocked off by police, including SWAT units and the Cobb Police mobile command unit, after a resident called 911 to report an active shooter.

Other neighbors were asked to stay inside after the shootings, which took place around 2:30 p.m., and as the contractors were wrapping up their work day at Epstein’s home. Police said Epstein was peacefully taken into custody shortly after 3 p.m.

East Cobb News does not publish photographs of crime suspects before their cases have gone through the legal system, and then only if they are convicted or plead guilty and are sentenced.

On Monday, Bonnie Irlyn Epstein, Epstein’s wife since 1971, filed for divorce in Cobb Superior Court, saying the marriage “is irretrievably broken.”

Court documents indicate that Bonnie Epstein separated from her husband on March 7, the day after the shootings, and that her divorce complaint was to be served to him at the jail.

 

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East Cobb Food Scores: Fresh to Order, Salata, Tin Lizzy’s and more

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Fresh to Order. East Cobb Food Scores

The following East Cobb restaurant scores from March 18-30 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing to view details of the inspection:

A.G. Rhodes Health & Rehab Cobb
900 Wylie Road
March 18, 2019 Score: 81, Grade: B

Arbor Terrace of East Cobb
886 Johnson Ferry Road
March 28, 2019 Score: 99, Grade: A

Barberito’s 
2960 Shallowford Road, Suite 303
March 28, 2019 Score: 97, Grade: A

Chopstix Sushi House and Asian Fusion
4651 Woodstock Road, Suite 301, Roswell
March 25, 2019 Score: 74, Grade: C

Dodgen Middle School
1725 Bill Murdock Road
March 28, 2019 Score: 100, Grade: A

Fresh to Order
1333 Johnson Ferry Road
March 20, 2019 Score: 99, Grade: A

G’Angelo’s Pizza & Pasta
3205 Canton Road, Suite 108
March 20, 2019 Score: 81, Grade: B

Parc at Piedmont
999 Hood Road
March 27, 2019 Score: 85, Grade: B

Real N.Y. Pizza Italian Restaurant
1482 Roswell Road
March 20, 2019 Score: 90, Grade: A

Salata
4101 Roswell Road
March 20, 2019 Score: 70, Grade: C

Shallowford Falls Elementary School
3500 Lassiter Road
March 22, 2019 Score: 91, Grade: A

Subway
3079 Hidden Forest Court, Suite 110
March 27, 2019 Score: 88, Grade: B

Tin Lizzy’s Cantina/Beni’s Cubano
4475 Roswell Road, Suite 1510
March 22, 2019 Score: 93, Grade: A

Waffle House
550 N. Greenbriar Parkway
March 20, 2019 Score: 95, Grade: A

 

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Commissioners pressed to ‘take action’ now to address Cobb public safety ‘crisis’

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As the organizer of annual dinners to honor Cobb public safety personnel, Susan Hampton is now taking an active role to appreciate them far beyond giving them one special evening out of the year.

Susan Hampton, Cobb public safety crisis
Susan Hampton speaking at a town hall meeting at the Sewell Mill Library on March 4. (ECN file)

Over the last month or so, the East Cobb resident has shown up at all but one of Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce’s 14 budget town hall meetings to speak about what she and others have said is a “crisis” in staffing, pay, benefits and retention for county police, firefighters, EMS personnel and sheriff’s deputies.

She worked up a flyer to hand out to citizens at the town hall meetings, fraught with warnings about how Cobb is struggling to fill many openings, and is losing experienced personnel to other jurisdictions.

Related story

On Tuesday, she and more than a dozen citizens and Cobb public safety employees demanded that the Cobb Board of Commissioners act quickly not just to improve pay and benefits, but to get more aggressive in filling those vacancies, especially in a competitive market for experienced public safety workers in metro Atlanta.

“Each of you says public safety is number one and you are committed to solving the problem,” she told commissioners at their packed meeting in downtown Marietta.

“Then you say you’re only one vote . . . The problem is 10 years old, and it’s getting worse.”

She noted that already in 2019, 25 police officers have resigned or will be leaving soon, and “at this rate, we will lose over 100 officers this year. . . . There is a public safety crisis in Cobb County.”

Hampton, a vice president at the Fidelity Bank branch on Johnson Ferry Road, is co-chair of the East Cobb Business Association’s annual dinner for officers in East Cobb’s Precinct 4, as well as for the entire Cobb Fire and Emergency Services Department.

Cobb public safety crisis
Hampton’s flyer spelling out public safety staffing, salary and retention concerns. Click here for larger view.

Most of her community activism is with ECBA, as well as the East Cobb Lions Club, and other organizations. She’s also a former East Cobb Citizen of the Year for her long-time civic leadership.

“I’m just a concerned citizen that loves Cobb County,” she said.

On Tuesday, she urged commissioners to use some of the $10 million she estimated in pay and benefits that’s available from 211 current openings “immediately” for pay increases, retirement and retention bonuses, and other initiatives to address staffing issues.

She also advocated the creation of a special taxing district for police that’s similar to how Cobb Fire is funded.

“If the city of Atlanta” can address some its public safety staffing concerns, Hampton said, to a rousing chorus of laughter in the room from many of those in uniform, “then why can’t Cobb County?”

Af the end of the meeting, Commissioner Bob Ott of District 2 in East Cobb acknowledged Hampton, telling the public safety employees on hand that “she has been out there advocating for you.”

In recent weeks, those concerned about public safety staffing have spoken out to the commissioners, but Tuesday’s turnout was the strongest yet, as a formal budget proposal for fiscal year 2020 is pending.

Some expressed frustration that the while the budget reflected public cries to enhance library hours and expand greenspace, public safety issues have been overshadowed.

Steven Gaynor, head of the Cobb chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, said every area of the police department is understaffed, but Precinct 4 in East Cobb “is the least-staffed,” with eight officers for 10 beats.

He said Cobb Police can’t wait for the upcoming fiscal year 2020 budget process to address the shortages, and called for “emergency action now.”

Matt Babcock, who lives in District 3 in Northeast Cobb, had been a Cobb firefighter for 10 years until he resigned last month, because he needs “a better paycheck and retirement.” He said “chronic short staffing,” including 80 current open positions, “is a danger to the county.”

He said many engines are staffed with three and not the recommended four firefighters. Many of his former colleagues, Babcock said, “are not sticking around because they don’t see there’s a future in Cobb.”

Cobb budget town hall, Mike Boyce
Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce’s fiscal year 2019 budget calls for the hiring of additional police officers, but more are leaving than can be replaced. (ECN file)

East Cobb attorney Lance LoRusso, who represents many law enforcement officers, told commissioners that in spite of numerous calls in recent years to address public safety staffing issues, “your responses have been weak and demonstrate a lack of leadership.”

Ott and other commissioners addressed the dozen or so speakers and said they’re working to address the staffing concerns but don’t have a specific solution for the moment.

“We hear you, we hear your concerns,” said commissioner JoAnn Birrell of District 3 in Northeast Cobb. “We have made improvements over the years, but it’s not enough. We’re working on options to come forward in the near future.”

Boyce took exception to LoRusso’s comments, and said voting to improve parks and library services doesn’t mean commissioners don’t care about public safety.

“To say that this board doesn’t care is offensive,” Boyce said. “We do care. . . You are a voice. You are here tonight because deep down you know we are going to fix the problem.”

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Skidaway Island is latest Georgia cityhood referendum rejected by voters

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We’re still waiting for the East Cobb cityhood bill to be introduced in the legislature (it wasn’t in the hopper as of lunchtime Tuesday and it’s not on today’s local calendar).

Last week there was a cityhood referendum on Skidaway Island that was defeated soundly by voters, and it’s worth considering ahead of Thursday’s town hall meeting with East Cobb cityhood leaders.City of East Cobb map

The vote on Skidaway is the latest cityhood initiative that has been rejected in recent years, after the success of efforts in Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Johns Creek, Milton, Peachtree Corners, Brookhaven, Tucker and other parts of the Atlanta suburbs.

Last November, a referendum to create a city of Eagle’s Landing in Henry County went down to defeat. So did the proposed city of Sharon Springs in Forsyth County.

Efforts in DeKalb County to create two other cities, including one area where voters rejected incorporation in 2015, are being fought.

As the Skidaway saga unfolded, local opposition mounted to the cityhood drive, and it was powerful. In the end, voters there elected to stay part of combined Savannah-Chatham County government, with 62 percent voting “no.”

Community leaders in Mableton have had a cityhood bill introduced in the legislature for many of the same reasons cited by those leading the effort in East Cobb: More local control.

Related coverage

Charlie Harper, who publishes the GeorgiaPol.com state political website and runs a Republican-focused policy consulting firm based on Powers Ferry Road, offered some perspective on the Skidaway vote on Monday that he thinks could have wider statewide implications:

“For a while, the battle of Republican bumper sticker slogans had “local control” winning out over ‘less government.’ During this successful run, success bred success for many, as the same lobbyists, consultants, and vendors seemed to form a niche that has moved from one cityhood effort to another.

“While casting no aspersions on those who are good at what they do for a living, it’s also time in the wake of this defeat to assess. Is the current list of areas exploring the option of incorporation really the result of a groundswell of public support, or have we now created an industry with the right connections and capital that is planting seeds of cityhood in the hopes that public support will then sprout?”

Those are some of the points that have been made by East Cobb News readers since we began posting about the East Cobb cityhood effort in December.

To be sure, there are supporters of cityhood who also have spoken out, and there are those who are open to listening to what those behind a proposed City of East Cobb have to say.

(Here’s the revised website for the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb, Inc.)

But there are many questions readers have been posing to us that reflect much of what drove the opposition in Skidaway.

As Harper noted about the failed effort there as well as Eagle’s Landing:

“At the core of each battle was a commercial tax base. Both were deemed necessary for long term viability with low/stable tax rates. Skidaway Island, dominated by the mega gated community The Landings, is almost exclusively residential.

“This difference, combined with the political savvy of a few key residents, led to Skidaway’s defeat.”

The financial feasibility study conducted for the Committee for Cityhood for East Cobb noted that the tax base split for the proposed city limits would be 85 percent residential and only 15 percent commercial.

That’s another major question East Cobb cityhood leaders will have to address in the coming months, starting Thursday at Bob Ott’s town hall meeting at the Catholic Church of St. Ann.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in Nolan Hall. The church is at 4905 Roswell Road, at the corner of Bishop Lake Road.

 

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Cobb schools holding teachers job fairs this week

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From the Cobb County School District:

The Cobb County School District is hiring, and educators are invited to attend the district’s two upcoming job fairs on March 26 and March 28. The hiring events are open to anyone interested in certified teaching positions. Thousands are expected to attend. 

The job fairs put teachers face-to-face with school administrators in a relaxed and personal setting and give candidates the opportunity to talk directly about teaching and learning in a diverse and dynamic school district. 

“Our job fairs help us hire the very best so we can strengthen our team of talented educators who continue to make Cobb the best place to teach, lead, and learn,” said Cobb Schools Superintendent Chris Ragsdale. “This year, we were once again the first metro district to issue teaching contracts, which has allowed us to identify areas of need and begin looking for tomorrow’s top teachers to support our vision of One Team, One Goal: Student Success.” 

Middle and High Schools Job Fair: 

  • Date: Tuesday, March 26, 2019 
  • Time:
  • 5-6 p.m. (Current CCSD Employees Only with ID)  
  • 6-9 p.m. (Open to All) 
  • Location: Kennesaw Mountain High School: 1898 Kennesaw Due West Rd NW, Kennesaw, GA 30152 
  • Register for the MS and HS Job Fair Here

Elementary School Job Fair: 

  • Date: Thursday, March 28, 2019 
  • Time: 
  • 5-6 p.m. (Current CCSD Employees Only with ID)  
  • 6-9 p.m. (Open to All) 
  • Location: Wheeler High School: 375 Holt Rd NE, Marietta, GA 30068 
  • Register for the Elementary Job Fair Here

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Dodgen MS art teacher honored by national arts educators’ group

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From the Cobb County School District:Joan Weatherford, Dodgen MS art teacher honored

The National Art Education Association (NAEA) recently named Dodgen Middle School art teacher Joan Weatherford the 2019 Outstanding National Junior Art Honor Society Sponsor.  

This prestigious award, determined through a peer review of nominations, recognizes dedication from an NAEA member who sponsors an outstanding National Junior Art Honor Society Chapter.

The award was presented at the NAEA National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts, March 14-16, 2019. 

“This award is being given to recognize excellence in professional accomplishment and service by a dedicated art educator. Joan Weatherford exemplifies the highly qualified art educators active in education today: leaders, teachers, students, scholars, and advocates who give their best to their students and the profession,“ stated NAEA President Kim Huyler Defibaugh. 

The Cobb County School District’s supervisor of learning design and visual arts echoes the praise of Weatherford by NAEA’s president.  

 “Joan Weatherford personifies teacher dedication and advocacy of Visual Arts Education in Cobb County. Her commitment allows students to see the importance of the arts in their school and their local community. I applaud Joan and commend her efforts as she receives this national award and is named the 2019 Outstanding National Junior Art Honor Society Sponsor,” said Laura LaQuaglia, Cobb Schools Supervisor of Learning Design and Visual Arts Division of Teaching and Learning Instruction and Innovative Practice. 

 

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Handel announces bid to regain Georgia 6th Congressional District seat

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Karen Handel said Monday she’s running for the Georgia 6th Congressional District seat she lost last November. Karen Handel, Georgia 6th Congressional District

The Roswell Republican and former Georgia Secretary of State held the seat for a little more than a year following a 2017 special election, then was defeated by Democrat Lucy McBath.

In a brief message on her website, Handel said she’s running because the 6th District—which includes East Cobb—”deserve[s] better than a Pelosi pawn as our representative in Washington. We need someone who works for our best interests, not just for the Pelosi agenda or to gain national celebrity.”

Those were references to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who regained that position when Democrats took the House in the November elections, and to McBath, who’s gained national attention for her gun-control efforts.

McBath, who lives in Marietta, became the first Democrat elected to the seat once held by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in 40 years after she narrowly defeated Handel.

McBath used Handel’s announcement to make a fundraising pitch on her campaign Facebook page, saying “we know we’re in for a tough re-election fight… but when the going gets tough, #TeamLucy hasn’t failed me yet.”

No other candidates have announced to run for the 6th District seat, which includes North Fulton, Sandy Springs, and north and central DeKalb.

 

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Cobb Career Academy approved on campus of Osborne High School

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Last week the Cobb Board of Education approved the creation of the Cobb Career Academy, a magnet program that will provide a career tech pathway for students. Cobb Career Academy approved

The $14.5 million academy will be built on the campus of Osborne High School, which is undergoing a rebuild, and is slated to be completed by May 2020.

The academy is projected to accommodate 500 students as an extension of Cobb’s current Career, Technology, and Agriculture Educational programs.

More than 36,000 students participated in CTAE classes last year, according to the Cobb County School District.

“Our CTAE programs are not only preparing students for choice-filled lives through career opportunities, but clearly, they already having a positive impact on our county’s economic development, and they have yet to graduate from high school,” said Jennifer Lawson, Cobb Schools Chief Academic Officer, who briefed board members on the academy plans before their vote.

Cobb Career Academy students will be considered Osborne students—much like those attending the STEM magnet at Wheeler are Wheeler students—and they will be able to participate in work-based learning, dual enrollment, and advanced placement, among other benefits.

The academy will be built by Carroll Daniel Construction Co., with the funding coming from sales tax revenues in the Cobb Education SPLOST IV collection period.

In addition to the Wheeler STEM program, the other magnets in Cobb schools are at Campbell (International Baccalaureate), Kennesaw Mountain (math, science and technology), North Cobb (international studies), Pebblebrook (performing arts) and South Cobb (research and medical sciences).

 

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East Cobb cityhood group speaking at town hall meeting this week

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City of East Cobb mapSeveral months after forming an organization to explore incorporating a portion of East Cobb, representatives of the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb are formally taking their case to the public.

They are scheduled to speak Thursday at a town hall meeting of Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott at the Catholic Church of St. Ann.

At the same time, legislation calling for a local referendum on cityhood is expected to be filed in the final days of the Georgia General Assembly session.

Ron Eble and David Birdwell are among those who will be speaking at the town hall meeting. They’re part of the cityhood committee whose membership is being revealed only now.

Eble is a management consultant with Slalom Consulting, a business and technology firm. David Birdwell is a real estate entrepreneur who lives in the Atlanta Country Club area.

Ever since the cityhood group was formed last fall, only Joe Gavalis, a resident of the Atlanta Country Club, and Owen Brown, the founder of Retail Planning Corp., have been publicly identified with the group.

Related coverage

The committee has commissioned a City of East Cobb feasibility study and has hired a public relations representative and a lobbyist in the legislature.

That study concluded that the city, with boundaries proposed by the committee, is financially feasible and that additional tax rates wouldn’t be needed. In fact, the study, conducted by the Georgia State University Center for State and Local Finance, suggested that a City of East Cobb would start out with a surplus of a few million dollars.

The boundaries include only unincorporated east Cobb that is in Ott’s District 2, and cover a population of 97,000. The committee has not explained why it’s not including what is generally regarded as most or all of East Cobb in its proposed city map.

Among the reasons cited for pursuing cityhood are enhancing local control of services, especially public safety, roads and zoning. The group is calling for a city government that would have an elected mayor and council and an appointed city manager, with city hall possibly being located at an expanded East Cobb Government Service Center on Lower Roswell Road.

State Rep. Matt Dollar
State Rep. Matt Dollar

A citizens group in Mableton, which also is pursuing cityhood and has had legislation filed for a referendum in 2020, is citing similar reasons for its cityhood drive.

State Rep. Matt Dollar, a Republican who represents part of the proposed City of East Cobb, told East Cobb News last week that he will be sponsoring a bill shortly calling for a referendum in 2020; as of Friday, that bill has not been introduced.

Cityhood is a two-year process in Georgia. Local legislation must at least be introduced a year before any referendum can be scheduled.

Cityhood legislation also must be sponsored by at least one state senator whose district includes a proposed new city. Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, the only lawmaker in the upper chamber who could do that, told East Cobb News last week that she doesn’t have a position on cityhood for now, “but the bill will get the conversation started.”

By contrast, those in Mableton leading the cityhood effort there have held a series of public meetings over the last couple years before having legislation filed. The group still must have a feasibility study conducted.

Who else is involved?

Rob Eble
Rob Eble

Joining Birdwell and Eble on the committee, along with Gavalis and Brown, are Dee Gay, Karen Hallacy, Sharon McGehee, Chip Patterson, Carolyn Roddy, Jerry Quan, Kevin Taitz and John Woods, according to the group’s revamped website, which is now subtitled “Good neighbors make for good government.”

Gavalis is an appointee of Ott’s, serving on the Cobb Neighborhood Safety Commission. He’s also served on the Cobb Elder Abuse Task Force.

The group also is being advised by Riley Lowery, a political consultant who has long advised Ott, and who has been sparring with some citizens in recent days on social media about the cityhood effort and his role in it.

East Cobb News asked Phil Kent, the cityhood group’s P.R. representative, to provide basic biographical information about the rest of the committee. He replied that he doesn’t know “most of the East Cobbers” with the expanded group and “suggest you perform old-fashioned journalism research” by attending the town hall meeting.

When East Cobb News followed up that reply with a request to get the information before the town hall, and to explain how these individuals were selected and what their roles will be, Kent did not respond. Here’s a bit more about them:

  • Dee Gay: A commercial real estate broker who is active with the Cobb County Republican Women’s Club, and who lives in the Atlanta Country Club area;
  • Karen Hallacy: Longtime East Cobb civic activist, president of Georgia PTA and Ott’s appointee to the Development Authority of Cobb County;
  • Sharon McGehee: Associate director of advancement at Mt. Bethel Christian Academy;
  • Chip Patterson: Atlanta Country Club area resident and a partner in Three P Partners, an Atlanta real estate development firm, as well as a former head of the Walton Touchdown Club;
  • Jerry Quan: The former commander of the Cobb Police Precinct 4 station in East Cobb, now serving with the Cobb County School District police department. He’s a former East Cobb Citizen of the Year;
  • Carolyn Roddy: An administrative law attorney in Marietta;
  • Kevin Taitz: Technology consultant at Slalom Consulting;
  • John Woods: CEO of Southport Capital, based in the Cobb Galleria, and a chairman of the Walton Touchdown Club. Three sons played football at Walton, most recently Dominick Blaylock, an all-state wide receiver and University of Georgia signee. Woods also is the owner of the Chattanooga Lookouts minor league baseball team.

The town hall meeting starts at 7 p.m. Thursday in Nolan Hall at the Catholic Church of St. Ann, 4905 Roswell Road (at Bishop Lake Road).

 

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Cobb schools FY 2020 budget outline: Employee pay raises, more teacher allotments

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Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said Thursday his priorities for the fiscal year 2020 budget are for across-the-board employee pay raises and increases in the teacher allotment pool to reduce class size. Chris Ragsdale, Cobb school superintendent

He and Brad Johnson, the chief financial officer for the Cobb County School District, briefed board members at their monthly work session.

There’s not a formal budget proposal now—that’s expected in April—so the size of the raises and the number of new allotments haven’t been determined.

The district is waiting on estimates for the Cobb tax digest for 2019 and monitoring the final days of the legislative session.

“The numbers are still changing,” said Ragsdale, who said he will not be recommending employee bonuses for FY 2020 and called the upcoming process “definite creative budgeting.”

Last year, Cobb employees got a late 2.6 percent raise to go with 1.1 percent bonuses in a $1.2 billion FY 2019 budget that included no millage rate increase.

Ragsdale said he’s emphasizing raises this year over bonuses because the raises can be figured into Georgia Teachers Retirement System calculations.

“It’s best for the employee to maximize that raise,” said Ragsdale, adding that he sought feedback from teachers. This decision, he said, “wasn’t made in a vacuum.”

Last year marked the end of education austerity cuts in Georgia that lasted more than a decade. That freed up $10.2 million in restored funds for Cobb, and Ragsdale immediately applied most of it to employee raises.

Johnson estimated that Cobb lost an estimated $586 million in revenues due to the austerity cuts since 2003.

“I’m not sure how we did balance the budget during some of those years,” he told board members.

The reference was part of a larger financial picture district officials painted as the board prepares for the budget process.

Cobb allows for a senior property tax exemption for homeowners aged 62 and older. Johnson said all exemptions totaled $146 million in FY 2019, with $111.9 million of that due to the senior exemption.

Cobb schools fair share revenue chart

At the board’s Thursday night business meeting, the two newest board members asked about the senior exemptions. Jaha Howard, who represents the Campbell and Osborne clusters, asked if budget information presented to the public will clearly include the funding Cobb is not getting due to that exemption.

Ragsdale said he does explicitly mention that when he speaks in public “as a point of education.” He said while the senior exemption is “is a benefit to our constituents in Cobb,” the larger issue for the district is addressing state “fair share” funding issues.

The Cobb schools millage rate is 18.9 (there’s a state cap of 20 mills), and 5 mills goes right back to the state for what’s called “fair share” funding.

But with the senior exemption, Ragsdale said, Cobb actually can’t touch 6.4 of that 18.9 mills. Last year, Cobb’s fair share contribution rose by $10.7 million, to $155.3 million.

“If we could get a cap on that . . . that would go a long way” in easing local budget pressures, he said.

Charisse Davis, who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters, noted that voters in Forsyth County last November voted to eliminate a senior tax exemption for homeowners who still have students living with them but who are not legal guardians. That change will net Forsyth schools an additional $500,000 in revenue a year.

Cobb is Georgia’s second-largest school district, with nearly 112,000 students.

After the formal budget proposal is presented to the school board, it will hold public hearings before adoption, which is slated for May.

The Cobb schools fiscal year is from July 1-June 30.

 

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Man who kidnapped woman at Roswell Road workplace gets prison sentence

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A Cartersville man who was convicted of abducting a woman from her workplace on Roswell Road in Marietta last year was given a 20-year prison sentence by a Cobb judge on Thursday.Roswell Road kidnapping

Antoine Latroy Williams, 40, must serve at least 18 years behind bars, according to the Cobb District Attorney’s office, with the remainder on probation.

The sentence was handed down by Cobb Superior Court Judge Stephen Schuster after Williams was convicted of kidnapping, sexual battery, and three counts of simple battery on Wednesday.

According to prosecutors, Williams met the woman, who is in her early 20s, on Feb. 25, 2018 and offered her a job. The following day he went to her place of business on Roswell Road in the city of Marietta five times and waited for her in the parking lot.

She drove away and he followed her, and a short time later she pulled over to the side of the road, according to prosecutors, who said Williams then forced the woman into his car.

The DA’s office said Williams drove her around Cobb County in his car before traveling to Cartersville and threatened to hurt her if she tried to escape. He also put his hand on her thigh, grabbed her hair, and slapped her hand, prosecutors said.

They also said Willliams threatened to hurt her if she tried to escape, and he groped her on the thigh, pulled her hair and struck her hand.

After Williams stopped at a QuickTrip in Cartersville, prosecutors said the woman managed to escape.

At the trial, prosecutors alleged that Williams has a history of violence toward women. A woman testified that he sexually assaulted her in Los Angeles in 2011.

“Every shiny object you dangled in front of this girl: a Mercedes, cash, a phone and a job was just to lure her into your control. I don’t see these as tokens of your affection, you were grooming her, pure and simple,” Schuster said at the sentencing. “I see you as nothing more than a predator.”

 

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Wheeler student injured in crosswalk accident facing long recovery

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Malik Spellman, Wheeler student injured

A Wheeler High School student who was critically injured when he was hit by a car in the crosswalk in front of the school on March 9 is still in the hospital, and will be in rehabilitation after that.

His family is asking for the public’s help to help pay for medical and other expenses as his parents take time off from work to care for him.

Malik Spellman, a varsity basketball player for the Wildcats, was one of two Wheeler students hit around 7 p.m. on March 9 as they were transporting weight room equipment across Holt Road.

The boys were struck by a black Mercedes driven by Nancy Valentine, 73, of Marietta, according to Cobb Police, who have not yet pressed any charges.

UPDATED, March 21, 3 P.M.:

Cobb Police spokesman Neil Penirelli said traffic citations have been issued to Valentine for failure to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk and failure to use due regard to avoid pedestrians.

ORIGINAL REPORT CONTINUES:

According to an online fundraising note posted by Marquis Wright, Spellman’s stepfather, more than $7,500 of a requested $25,000 has been raised thus far. Spellman is still at Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital, Wright said, and he will need physical as well as psychological therapy.

Police said initially that the student later identified as Spellman was facing life-threatening injuries and that the other boy, who has not been identified, was facing serious injuries. They were both taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital from the accident scene, police said.

Wright said he was making the fundraising appeal after being “instructed by our lawyer just in case the person who hit my son’s insurance doesn’t cover his medical expenses.”

East Cobb Middle School officials said they’ve heard that “some of our families are interested in how they can help” Spellman’s family, and on a social media posting included the GoFundMe link.

“He is progressing well, but still expected to be in a rehab facility for the next 3-4 weeks,” the school message said, referring to Spellman.

 

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Isakson blisters Trump for critical remarks about McCain

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U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson blasted President Donald Trump’s critical remarks about the late Sen. John McCain on a radio interview Wednesday afternoon.

Isakson, a Republican from East Cobb, was interviewed on the Georgia Public Broadcasting program “Political Rewind.”Isakson blisters Trump

(A recording of the interview can be accessed at the program’s website.)

Isakson said he was prompted to speak out not only because of his friendship with McCain, but because of what he thinks is the negative impact of Trump’s remarks, especially by those serving in the military.

McCain, a former Vietnam POW who preceded Isakson as the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee chairman, was a strong critic of Trump, and the enmity was mutual.

Over the weekend, Trump renewed accusations he’s made before that McCain forwarded to the FBI a dossier regarding possible compromising information about Trump before he was elected president in 2016.

“Spreading the fake and totally discredited Dossier ‘is unfortunately a very dark stain against John McCain,’ ” went one Tweet from Trump.

Another Tweet continued the criticism: “So it was indeed (just proven in court papers) ‘last in his class’ (Annapolis) John McCain that sent the Fake Dossier to the FBI and Media hoping to have it printed BEFORE the Election.”

“It’s deplorable what he said,” Isakson said, referring to Trump, during the interview conducted at the GPB studios in Atlanta. “It will be deplorable in seven months if he says it again, and I will continue to speak out. We should never reduce the service that people give to this country.”

The Bulwark, a new conservative political website, reported early Wednesday that Isakson, Georgia’s senior senator, was making good on a pledge he made from the Senate floor after McCain’s death that anyone who “tarnishes the reputation of John McCain deserves a whipping.”

On Tuesday, he said this in an interview with The Bulwark, which is highly critical of Trump:

“I just want to lay it on the line, that the country deserves better, the McCain family deserves better, I don’t care if he’s president of United States, owns all the real estate in New York, or is building the greatest immigration system in the world. Nothing is more important than the integrity of the country and those who fought and risked their lives for all of us.”

More recent information unsealed by a judge last week includes testimony that McCain passed along the dossier to the FBI in December 2016, after the election.

The dossier contents are part of an investigation by former FBI director Robert Mueller into alleged Russian political interference in U.S. elections. Trump’s former campaign manager and personal lawyer have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the probe.

When asked to clarify his comments on Tuesday, Trump said that “I was never a fan of John McCain’s and I never will be.”

Isakson is one of the few Republican senators who’s spoken publicly about Trump’s McCain comments. Thus far he is the only one who is directly challenging what his spokeswoman said is “the president’s continued disparagement” of McCain, who died last summer from brain cancer.

“I want to elevate John. John was better than I am, and I know it,” Isakson told The Bulwark. “John was the best of my generation. John McCain was and is a great human being.”

Last month Isakson was named the inaugural recipient of the John McCain Service to Country Award.

During the GPB interview, Isakson was asked if he was concerned about his legislative priorities being affected by his criticisms of Trump, and not for the first time.

“I never worry about what I’m doing politically or practically in the Senate as long as I think I’m doing what’s right,” Isakson said.

The Bulwark was launched in December and is co-founded by William Kristol, a former White House aide and conservative writer who has been highly critical of Trump, especially on social media.

 

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East Cobb indoor entertainment center gets approval from commissioners

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Sandy Plains Village Shopping Center, East Cobb indoor entertainment center

A proposed indoor recreation and entertainment center at Sandy Plains Village in East Cobb was passed by the Cobb Board of Commissioners at their Tuesday zoning hearing.

By a 5-0 vote on the consent agenda, the commissioners followed the Cobb Planning Commission’s recommendation to keep the existing neighborhood retail commercial (NRC) category, with use-specific conditions for the 67,000-square-foot space that will become Ignite Adventure Park.

(Read the case file here.)

DDR Sandy Plains LLC had sought community retail commercial zoning (CRC) for the entire shopping center it owns because the entertainment center uses didn’t fit the NRC category.

Ignite Adventure Park will include a variety of indoor activities, including go-karts, bumper cars, trampolines, mini-golf and rock-climbing, as well as a restaurant and cafe.

It’s slated to go in the former space of the Walmart Neighborhood Grocery, which closed in 2017.

Planning commissioner Andy Smith of East Cobb—who represents the area of the shopping center on Woodstock Road between Sandy Plains Road and Mabry Road—incorporated several special-use conditions to keep the shopping center NRC.

The commissioners also agreed to planning commission recommendations to mandate that the go-karts and bumper cars be operated on either battery power or electricity (no gasoline-driven engines).

Construction will be limited from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Saturday construction is indoors only (no nights, Sundays or holidays).

Commissioner Bob Ott noted that the case “started as a contentious zoning” and was moved to the consent agenda by the collaborative efforts of the applicant, Smith (his appointment to the planning commission) and nearby residents who initially were opposed.

Also approved on the consent agenda was a residential rezoning for eight farms-style homes on seven acres on Shaw Road (case file here).

As reported late last week, Mt. Bethel Christian Academy withdrew its request to amend a special land use plan for an athletic field at its Upper Campus on Post Oak Tritt Road.

The case was to have been heard Tuesday, but generated strong opposition from some nearby residents.

 

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Cobb Forward transportation town halls include two locations in East Cobb

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Eric Meyer, Cobb Forward transportation town halls
Eric Meyer, Cobb DOT’s planning division manager, recently outlined the Comprehensive Transportation Plan process at the Sewell Mill Library. (ECN photos)

In April and May several town halls will take place for what’s known as Cobb Forward—the county’s comprehensive transportation plan (CTP) for 2050.

It’s a joint effort involving Cobb County government and its counterparts in the county’s six municipalities. A CTP was last done in 2015, but a number of developments since then have led to calls to create a new transportation vision for the county.

They include a referendum for expanding transit and the county government’s next SPLOST referendum in 2022.

Two of those CTP meetings will take place in East Cobb:

  • Thursday, April 18, 6:30-8:30 p.m., East Cobb Library, 4880 Lower Roswell Road;
  • Tuesday, May 7, 7-9 p.m., East Cobb Senior Center, 3332 Sandy Plains Road.

The purpose of the Cobb Forward meetings, per the county, is to develop a series of project lists, some of which would be funded with SPLOST sales tax revenues.

Transit recommendations also will come out of the countywide meetings this spring, some to be included in the new Atlanta Transit Link Authority (The ATL), which includes a 13-county area.

The Cobb meetings also will get underway in the aftermath of a referendum Tuesday in Gwinnett, where voters will decide on whether to join MARTA.

Cobb and Gwinnett were notable holdouts when the the MARTA system was created in the early 1970s and which serves Atlanta, Fulton and DeKalb counties.

At a recent Cobb budget town hall meeting at the Sewell Mill Library, Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce answered questions about some of transit and transportation issues.

He’s seeking legislation this year to allow Cobb to push back a transit referendum to 2022. That vote would decide whether a special transit district would be created out of a portion of the county (South Cobb) or all of it.

That referendum, if approved, would add a penny sales tax in Cobb earmarked for transit funding.

Mike Boyce
Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce

Cobb voters also will be deciding on SPLOST extension in 2020 for a new collection period beginning in 2022. The current SPLOST, which includes funding for transportation and other capital improvements, ends Dec. 31, 2021.

That’s a six-cent sales tax. Four cents go to the state, another is earmarked for Cobb and Marietta schools and the other for county government.

Boyce said an extension would be shorter.

“It won’t be six years,” he said. “I support four years, [Cobb] mayors like five years. This county is doing so well that in six years, we’re going to have a lot of money laying around. You don’t want to do that with politicians around.”

While the SPLOST process is relatively straightforward, hammering out potential transit options figures is more involved.

“It’s going to be long and complicated,” Boyce said.

A county transit survey that was released late last year indicated that a majority of Cobb voters would approve of an additional penny tax for transit expansion. That includes East Cobb, where the only CobbLinc bus line runs down Powers Ferry Road.

Like the SPLOST referendum, the transit referendum also will include a detailed project list and public hearings on what may constitute a future transit plan, said Eric Meyer, the Cobb DOT’s planning division manager.

“Tell us what you will support,” he said. “That’s why this is going to take three years.”

Among the transportation options for Cobb are bus rapid transit, rapid bus, heavy rail and light rail. The financing options could be joining MARTA, connecting with MARTA, expanding service with the sales tax mentioned above, or maintaining the status quo.

The other Cobb Forward town hall schedule this spring is as follows:

  • Wednesday, April 10, 7-9 p.m., West Cobb Senior Center, 4915 Dallas Highway;
  • Wednesday, April 17, 7-9 p.m., Smyrna Community Center, 200 Village Green Circle;
  • Monday, April 29, 7-9 p.m., Cobb Senior Wellness Center, 1150 Powder Springs St.;
  • Tuesday, April 30, 7-9 p.m., Threadmill Complex, 5000 Austell Powder Springs Road;
  • Thursday, May 2, 7-9 p.m.,  Acworth Community Center, 4361 Cherokee St.;
  • Wednesday, May 8, 7-9 p.m., Ben Robertson Community Center, 2753 Watts Drive;
  • Thursday, May 9, 7-9 p.m., South Cobb Community Center, 620 Lions Club Drive.

 

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Wheeler Fresh Collaborative kicks off with April dinner theater

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Wheeler Fresh Collaborative
Pictured (L to R): Will Dezern (Horticulture), Stacy Regitsky (Magnet Advisor), Valerie Bolen (Drafting), Tiera Aguillon (Culinary Arts), Kelly Feddersen (Sports & Entertainment Marketing), Kelly Karr (Graphic Design); not pictured – Christian Barnes (Magnet Coordinator), Dayna Strickland (Theatre), Christopher Walstead & Jennifer Callison-Bliss (Environmental Science), Amanda Williams (Girls Who Code Club Sponsor)

Thanks to student Max Pacula for the submitted information and photo about the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative, described as a “cross-curricular collaboration by teachers and students whose goals are to increase community involvement and provide food essentials when and where needed.”

The project’s kickoff event takes place with a dinner theater event in April that’s detailed at the bottom of the post. Here’s what collaborative effort is all about:

This STEAM initiative (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) was originally conceived as a “farm to table” type program but has since evolved to include a food pantry started by Wheeler students and eventually supplemented with contributions from the surrounding community. The Wheeler Fresh Collaborative will utilize expertise from Wheeler’s culinary, horticulture. environmental science, drafting, graphic design, and marketing classes to help ensure fellow Wildcats students have a reliable source of food when needed.

From concept to realization, many classes have helped develop the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative. Drafting students designed the layout of the grow beds for Horticulture. Environmental Science students are studying the soil and growing environment. Horticulture students are growing herbs and vegetables for Culinary. Culinary students are preparing, cooking, and serving the meal. Graphic Design students are creating logos and visuals. Marketing students are branding and promoting the event and the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative program. Wheeler’s Girls Who Code Club members are creating an online ordering system for the Food Pantry.

To officially kick off the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative, Wheeler is hosting a Dinner Theater event this Spring. On April 26th, Wheeler theater students will perform Annie following a limited seating dinner hosted, prepared, and served by Wheeler students. “Through this dinner theater event, we want to showcase the sense of community Wheeler offers which has enabled a program like the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative to exist,” boasts Kelly Feddersen, Sports and Entertainment Marketing teacher and one of the leaders of the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative. On this night, the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative hopes to spread their mission through a fun and entertaining evening.

 As the program grows, Wheeler Fresh Collaborative hopes to sustain a food pantry with both Wheeler grown food and other nonperishable items to aid the 41% of Wheeler students who benefit from free and reduced lunch. The hope is the Wheeler Fresh Collaborative helps ease this challenge through a program that demonstrates what can be accomplished when students work together, building a true sense of community.

If you would like to attend the Dinner Theater, tickets can be purchased at https://www.showtix4u.com/events/14519. The event is Friday, April 26th, beginning with the Dinner at 5:30pm, and Annie at 7:00pm. Tickets are $50 for the Dinner + Annie, while tickets for Annie alone are $10. If you would like to donate funds, nonperishable food items, or help in other ways, please email Kelly Feddersen at Kelly.Feddersen@cobbk12.org.

 

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Sunshine Week: Filing open records requests for Georgia, U.S. government

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Citizens of Georgia can request public records under the Georgia Open Records Act, which governs the distribution of state records, as well as those of local public agencies in Georgia. Georgia open records requests, Sunshine Week, Georgia First Amendment Foundation

In previous posts, we explained how to file open records requests for Cobb government and Cobb schools. As the final part of this Sunshine Week series, this post will focus on state open records requests and those covered by the federal Freedom of Information Act.

The Georgia Attorney General’s Office has published and periodically updated its Citizens Guide to Open Government, in conjunction with the Georgia First Amendment Foundation and the Georgia Press Association.

The guide was last updated in 2014, following the passage of updated Georgia sunshine laws that lowered the cost of records from 25 cents to 10 cents a page (when there are fees that are charged) and stiffened the fines for violating the Georgia Open Records Act.

The 2012 update also allows the Attorney General to bring criminal as well as civil charges. Recently AG Chris Carr filed a criminal citation for the first time in a GORA case, against a former press aide to ex-Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed.

Georgia state government agencies have three working days to respond to requests for open records, and it is preferred they be made in writing, whether it’s print or online.

(Here’s a link to the state open meetings laws.)

There also are several types of records that are exempt from the law, meaning that they can be withheld or redacted. Other exceptions beyond the scope of the law are included here.

The Georgia First Amendment Foundation encourages requesters to “be specific about exactly the information you want,” including citations of state laws, and includes that in a sample form letter.

The GFAF also monitors transparency legislation and holds a legislative breakfast each session.

The open-government organization MuckRock notes that if an open records request is denied, there is no appeals process except through state superior courts.

The U.S. Freedom of Information Act became law in 1966 and covers federal government records requests.

The main website, FOIA.gov., provides research links, FAQs and background information, including the federal statute. It also includes information on requests previously submitted and submits annual reports on FOIA requests.

The General Services Administration also has a produced a brochure, Your Right to Federal Records.

Like state open records laws, the federal FOIA has exemptions, nine to be exact, which are summarized here.

Numerous independent and non-profit watchdog organizations monitor federal FOIA developments and conduct legal and other advocacy (see the list at the bottom of this post).

There also are numerous organizations that provide assistance and sample forms for filing FOIA requests from the U.S. government. They include:

  • iFOIA.org, from the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press;
  • MuckRock, an open-government non-profit that allows users to file directly from its platform;
  • FIOAMapper, which tracks what it calls “hidden” public data.

More federal resources here from the FOI Center at the National Freedom on Information Coalition.

The National Freedom of Information Day wraps up Sunshine Week each year, and falls around the birthday of James Madison.

General resources

Sunshine Week

 

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East Cobb cityhood legislation expected to be filed before end of 2019 session

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A group pushing for East Cobb cityhood is eyeing the end of the current Georgia legislative session to have local legislation filed that would call for a referendum, probably by 2020.

A notice of intent to file local legislation was published Friday in The Marietta Daily Journal, Cobb’s legal organ.East Cobb cityhood legislation

The legislature has only eight days remaining in its 2019 session. For a referendum to take place next year, it would at least have to be introduced this year.

As of the close of business Friday, no such bill had been filed.

The group, known as the Committee for Cityhood for East Cobb Inc., hired a lobbyist before the General Assembly session but has been quiet since then.

Commissioner Bob Ott told East Cobb News that they’ve been invited to speak at his next town hall meeting, on March 28 at the Catholic Church of St. Ann.

Related coverage

The group has been reluctant to reveal much information about who’s behind the cityhood effort and has cited general “local control” and public safety concerns.

It did pay $36,000 for a financial feasibility study that made a favorable conclusion. The proposed city map would include only a portion of what’s considered East Cobb, all of it within Ott’s District 2. The population would be around 96,000.

(Here’s the cityhood group’s website.)

The MDJ reported Friday that David Birdwell, an East Cobb resident, is also involved in leading the group. Joe Gavalis, an appointee of Ott’s to the Cobb Neighborhood Safety Commission, is the president of the group, and real estate developer G. Owen Brown of Retail Planning Corp. is listed as having paid for most of the study.

No other individuals have been publicly named, and when the group asked an ad hoc citizens committee to look over a feasibility study, one of those citizens, Joe O’Connor, quit in protest, citing a lack of transparency.

Birdwell, like Gavalis, lives in the Atlanta Country Club area. According to the Cobb Chamber, he’s also in the real estate industry and has gone through the organization’s Leadership Cobb development program.

State Rep. Matt Dollar
State Rep. Matt Dollar (R-East Cobb)

Local incorporation legislation must be introduced by at least one Senator and one House member who represents at least a portion of the proposed city.

Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick and Reps. Sharon Cooper and Matt Dollar are the three lawmakers who could do that. They have been contacted for comment by East Cobb News.

UPDATE: Kirkpatrick told East Cobb News that “I haven’t taken a position on this but the bill will get the conversation started.”

The notice of intent to file the bill indicates the sponsor is Dollar; cityhood bills are initially filed in the House.

A cityhood bill for Mableton was filed last week by State Reps. Erica Thomas, Erick Allen and David Wilkerson of South Cobb. The South Cobb Alliance citizens group has been seeking incorporation but has not yet had a feasibility study done.

Unlike the East Cobb group, the Mableton group has gone to the public with a number of town halls and other events in the community over the last couple of years.

The earliest a Mableton referendum could take place also would be next year. That proposed city would have a population of more than 87,000.

Some of the reasons cited for cityhood there are similar to East Cobb, in particular more localized control of services.

Cobb hasn’t had a new city in more than a century. Mableton was briefly a municipality, from 1912-1916.

 

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Mt. Bethel Christian Academy withdraws sports stadium request

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The lawyer representing Mt. Bethel Christian Academy in its request to allow a sports stadium on its campus at 2509 Post Oak Tritt Road has withdrawn the application.

The letter sent to the county zoning office on Tuesday by attorney Jim Ney did not give a reason for the withdrawal (you can read it here), but it had been strongly opposed by nearby residents.

Cobb commissioners were scheduled to hear the Mt. Bethel application next Tuesday at their monthly zoning hearing. The case has been delayed since it was first scheduled to be heard in December.

The letter by Ney beat the deadline for having the application withdrawn without the commissioners having to vote on whether to do so. That deadline is the Wednesday before the following Tuesday.

Mt. Bethel operates grades 9-12 on what it calls its Upper Campus (with K-8 classes on the Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church grounds on Lower Roswell Road).

When Mt. Bethel purchased the Post Oak Tritt property from the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta in 2013, it said it had no intention of building out a stadium. Some neighbors were concerned then about noise and lighting, and those concerns were raised anew when Mt. Bethel applied for the land-use permit revision last fall.

(Here’s the full case file.)

In an e-mail letter sent to the county zoning office and commissioners the same day as Ney’s withdrawal letter, Becky Carlin, a resident of nearby Marneil Drive, complained that if a stadium is allowed, “I will be able to hear every single word announced at every game played there, as I already can hear noise from Sprayberry High School which is further away.

“This is was one of my concerns when it was first proposed that Mount Bethel purchase this property. The church essentially lied to us, saying they wanted to be part of the community and they would minimize the impact to the neighbors nearby.”

She said the area around the high school, which opened in 2014, has become a nuisance due to increased traffic. (Read her letter here.).

Another resident told East Cobb News she was upset that the stadium would include a 90-foot light tower and loudspeakers “less than 200 feet” from homes.

She was among several who said they intended to speak against the Mt. Bethel request on Tuesday.

 

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Sunshine Week: Filing open records requests for Cobb schools

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Obtaining public records from the Cobb County School District is similar to requesting them from Cobb County government, but there are some differences due to federal laws governing student privacy.

Anyone may request public records from the CCSD at following addresses below:Cobb schools open records requests

Dr. Darryl York
Open Records Officer
Cobb County School District
514 Glover Street, Marietta, GA 30060
770-514-3870
openrecords@cobbk12.org

Like Cobb government, Cobb schools are also subject to provisions of the Georgia Open Records Act, and the CCSD also must reply to open records requests in three working days.

If open records requests are denied, school officials must cite a specific provision in the law that exempts that information from being released.

The information that’s available to the public from Cobb schools includes general administrative and operations records, school board proceedings, contracts and purchasing, budget and finance, curriculum and instruction, some hiring and personnel records, campus public safety records, SPLOST records and more.

These records include those in printed and electronic form, including tapes, computer records and correspondence, maps and photographs.

The exemptions are significant and are complicated, due to the federal law mentioned above. It’s called the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), first passed in 1974 (and also known as the Buckley Amendment), that governs the disclosure of student educational records.

The Georgia Attorney General’s Office produced this guide to the Georgia law and school records in conjunction with the Georgia Department of Education, the Georgia Press Associaiton and the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.

For students in K-12, the rights to educational records belongs primarily to their parents. They have the right to inspect educational records kept by school districts, and to request that information be revised for corrected if deemed inaccurate.

They also may request a formal hearing if those requests are denied. Likewise, K-12 parents must consent to any educational records of their children being released.

Certain non-educational information, such as a student’s name, address, date of birth and when they attended school, is generally considered public. So are records created after a student leaves a school.

After the age of 18, students have the rights to their educational records.

Test score information for individual schools and school districts is publicly available, but individual test scores of specific students are not.

Records produced by a school’s law enforcement department (Cobb schools has its own police force) are not protected from disclosure by the federal privacy law.

According to a revision of the law in the 1990s, “education records” subject to FERPA provisions do not include those “maintained by a law enforcement unit of the educational agency or institution that were created by that law enforcement unit for the purpose of law enforcement.”

However, FERPA does apply to records about internal student disciplinary matters.

Records that don’t need a parent or student’s consent to be released include “information necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other individuals” and regarding a student whose “conduct poses a significant risk to the safety of that student, other students, and the school community.”

The Georgia Attorney General’s office notes, however, that in the case of the latter, another state law keeps most of that information confidential.

School employees, including teachers, may request that certain portions of their personnel records, such as Social Security number, date of birth, credit reports, financial data and insurance and medical information, be redacted.

The state guide to FERPA and schools includes more detailed appendices of what information is subject to open records laws and what may be exempted from disclosure.

There’s also a sample letter format. As with any other open records requests, the more specific, the better. There may be some fees that are charged for researching, retrieving and preparing documents for disclosure and for some copying expenses.

The Georgia First Amendment Foundation has published a guide to Georgia’s Sunshine Laws, which has further resources on open government.

Later this week East Cobb News will post similar information about obtaining public records from state and federal government agencies.

It’s all part of Sunshine Week, which is being observed March 10-16 by news organizations and open-government advocates.

Through Saturday, East Cobb News invites you to send your questions about how to get public information. E-mail: editor@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll get some answers for you.

General resources

Sunshine Week

 

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