The Cobb County School District is having a job fair for support staff positions next Tuesday, Dec. 7.
The job fair will take place at the Cobb Energy Centre for Performing Arts (2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway) from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The available positions include bus drivers, custodians, Food & Nutrition Services, substitutes, and special education paraprofessionals. The district said that candidates for other jobs, including teachers, are welcome to attend.
Participants can register in advance by clicking here or onsite at the job fair.
In August, substitute teachers and other support staff members received bonuses through the end of the current 2021-22 school year.
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At the Nov. 11 Cobb Board of Education meeting, East Cobb Middle School was recognized as having earned STEAM certification from the Cobb County School District.
It’s the third school in the Cobb school district to earn such certification, which combines the traditional STEAM disciplines science, technology, engineering and math) with the arts.
The other STEAM-certified schools by the Cobb school district also are in East Cobb, Simpson Middle School and Tritt Elementary School. Here’s more about the STEAM program at East Cobb MS.
The Georgia Department of Education has recognized two Cobb schools as STEAM schools: Wheeler High School and Mableton Elementary School.
Also on Nov. 11, the Cobb school district recognized Garrison Mill ES, Rocky Mount ES and Sprayberry HS with having earned STEM certifications.
Here’s more from the district about those designations:
“The Cobb STEM Certification recognizes schools that provide students with STEM-enriched learning opportunities and are committed to helping students cultivate critical thinking and problem-solving skills necessary for future success in STEM-related college and career fields. ”
A total of 39 of the Cobb school district’s 112 school have earned STEM certifications along with three earning STEAM certification.
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Among the many East Cobb area events that didn’t take place in 2020 was the Sprayberry PTSA Craft Show, the organization’s biggest fundraiser that benefits school projects and helps students get volunteer hours.
It’s also among those events that’s back on the schedule for 2021, and it’s taking place this coming weekend, Nov. 20-21.
This is the 39th year for the craft show, which includes more than 200 craft booths and in the past has attracted around 10,000 to do some early holiday shopping over two days.
More information can be found on the flyer at right and by clicking here.
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Activities involving the Cobb Board of Education—in particular open conflicts in public meetings, members’ communications with the public and the elected body’s code of ethics—constitute a considerable portion of a special review report compiled by the Cobb County School District’s accrediting agency.
In its report delivered to the district this week, Alpharetta-based Cognia said it was continuing to maintain full accreditation status for the 107,000-student CCSD, the second largest public school district in Georgia.
But it cited several areas for progress over the next year for the district, and especially for the school board, to address.
The district released the report and accompanying documents late Thursday night, after the school board held a previously unannounced executive session.
Cognia, which announced it was doing an unusual “special review” in April at the behest of three Cobb school board members and after receiving nearly 50 complaints from the public, conducted more than 170 interviews during that week-long process in August.
Of the four areas of its focus, Cognia said the Cobb school district met the highest ranking on its 4-grade system on only one of them—educational equity, and that was with some conditions.
The other three—board policy-making, the board’s code of ethics and fiscal responsibility in the school district—were cited as needing improvement.
Cognia is giving the district until December 2022 to meet the requirements of what it calls a “Progress Monitoring Review.”
Among Cognia’s major findings, it concluded that the school board ethics code “is not adhered to with fidelity by most board members.”
The Cobb school district also was found to lack “a consistent and formal process for making resource allocation decisions raised questions about how the Board handles its fiduciary responsibility,” in particular its purchase of equipment related to its COVID-19 pandemic response, and the board’s appointment of a law firm to draw reapportionment maps.
The accrediting agency urged the district to “revise [its] strategic plan to “include measurable goals, initiatives, and budgetary allocations would better ensure the presence of a comprehensive plan to guide the system during its continuous improvement process.”
And fourthly, the report concluded that while standardized assessments show that academic “progress is being made in subgroup performance even though there is still a need for a continuous focus on closing the achievement gaps.”
In a statement accompanying the district’s release, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said that “as is the case with any feedback we receive, our educators will review Cognia’s process and recommendations closely and consider areas of recommended growth. I am committed to keeping our focus on high-quality teaching and learning and meeting Cobb County’s high expectations for all students.”
He did not specify those areas of improvement, nor did he mention issues regarding school board relations.
A Fractured School Board
Cognia’s report concluded that divisions and “the lack of trust among board members projects a negative light on the district and hinders the Board’s ability to lead the district toward its mission of ‘One Team, One Goal: Student Success.’ ”
Charisse Davis
The current school board is made up of four white Republicans and three black Democrats, and for the last two years sharp partisan divisions have deepened over issues involving race and equity and COVID-19 response, among others.
Those Democrats—including Charisse Davis, whose Post 6 includes the Walton and Wheeler clusters—first went to Cognia, complaining that they were being silenced by their GOP colleagues.
In late 2019, the Republican majority voted to change board policy to ban board member comments at the end of meetings.
That enflamed differences even more, even as the board tried to find consensus on an anti-racism resolution in 2020, but could not.
After the 2020 elections—in which then-chairman Brad Wheeler and vice chairman David Banks—narrowly won re-election to maintain a Republican board majority—the GOP contingent pushed through a policy change to limit how board members can place items on meeting agendas.
While the chairman and superintendent can unilaterally add items, any other board members must now get a majority of his/her colleagues to agree.
For most of 2021, issues that Democratic members have wanted to discuss—including a possible name change for Wheeler High School—have not been aired in meetings, other than from citizens making remarks during public comment.
There also was no discussion on the board regarding a resolution to ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory, a measure that passed by another partisan 4-0 vote, with the Democrats abstaining.
In its report, Cognia said faulted board leadership for not fully communicating with colleagues about what’s on agendas, and not giving them adequate time to review them before a meeting:
“Debate related to the removal of Board Member Comments highlights the Board’s recent lack of transparency and trust and the change in Board dynamics. The discussion also shows that some board members may not be able to fully represent their constituents due to their lack of knowledge of what will be discussed and voted on before the board meeting and in time to study the issues fully.”
The Cognia review also outlined that the district is aware of 113 “potential Board policy violations” by Howard, 41 by Davis, 13 by Tre’ Hutchins (the other board Democrat) and two by Banks, all “through social media, traditional media, or other interactions with the public or the District.”
Wheeler, current chairman Randy Scamihorn and board member David Chastain—all Republicans—were found not to be in apparent violation of any board policies.
The review also found “some inappropriate comments by board members” that violated board policies encouraging them to make comments to the news media that “should be helpful to the District and not harmful.”
Cognia’s directives include having the board find an “external expert” to facilitate a self-assessment process “about best practices in school governance and develop a plan to use findings from the self-assessment to improve the Board’s effectiveness, collegiality, and trust among board members.”
Purchases in Question
Another area of concern were financial matters related to the Cobb school district’s COVID-response.
In December 2020, the board approved a request from Ragsdale to spend $12 million in general fund balance to purchase UV disinfecting lights and hand sanitizing stations that would first be installed at the elementary school level.
A contract for disinfecting UV lights was abruptly cancelled.
Ragsdale explained at the time he was confident the district would be reimbursed through additional federal CARES Act funding.
While noting that the district has historically excelled in financial reporting, the Cognia report stated that “a review of board meeting work sessions and board meeting videos may demonstrate a lack of clarity about the collection and analysis of data used to assess the impact of resources on meeting identified goals and priorities.”
Among the recommendations are for the Cobb school district to “develop, implement, and monitor board actions regarding fiduciary matters to ensure adherence to adopted policies.”
In the Cobb school district release Thursday, Scamihorn issued a statement saying that the district still hasn’t been provided with all of the “specific allegations” that led to the special review.
The district said it spent $75,000 to prepare for the review. Cognia fully reaccredited Cobb in 2019, through 2024.
In its report, Cognia did not indicate what might happen if the Cobb school district doesn’t meet the directives of its improvement plan.
“It is disappointing the Special Review Team chose not to consider much of the context leading to various Board decisions, and their review of evidence requested from the District appears to be cursory and incomplete,” Scamihorn said. “While I am pleased this review is unlikely to have an immediately negative effect on the District’s students, it did serve as a significant distraction for the staff.”
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The Cobb school district Thursday night released the Cognia special review report, which does not recommend changing the status of the district’s full accreditation.
The agency did note several areas of improvement for the district to address over the next year, especially involving school board policy-making and ethics and fiscal responsbility.
Our follow-up story to the report below can be found by clicking here.
ORIGINAL REPORT:
The Cobb County School District has received the findings of a special review conducted in August by its accrediting agency, but isn’t commenting on them for now.
Nor is the district immediately releasing the report from Cognia, based in Alpharetta, which was responding to complaints from three members of the Cobb Board of Education and around 50 others from the community.
A Cobb school district spokeswoman told East Cobb News that “the District is in the process of carefully reviewing the report from Cognia in preparation for release in the near future. Cobb Schools remains committed to providing a world-class education and continuing the District’s legacy of student success.”
When asked if the report would be provided to media representatives upon request, the spokeswoman said that request should be directed to the district’s open records officer.
Under the Georgia Open Records Act, public agencies have three business days to respond to open records requests.
Cognia delivered its report to the Cobb County School District on Monday.
During its special review (previous ECN story here), Cognia representatives interviewed school board members, district staff, principals, teachers, parents, students and other stakeholders in its special review in August on a range of board governance matters and concerns over equitable opportunities and student performance.
The district announced in April that Cognia would be conducting the review, expressing concern that “determinations made through a Special Review Team can negatively impact college acceptance rates, college scholarships, enrollment, funding, and educator recruitment and retention . . . Impacts can also negatively affect a county’s economy, property values, and bond credit ratings.”
In 2019, Cognia reaccredited the Cobb County School District—the second-largest in Georgia, with more than 107,000 students—through 2024.
But Democratic board members Charisse Davis, Jaha Howard and Tre’ Hutchins went to Cognia after saying they were being ignored by the board’s Republican majority and Superintendent Chris Ragsdale to discuss early literacy, educator and employee support and board governance training topics.
Depending on the findings, a special review—which is a rare occurrence—typically affords school districts time to make recommended changes before a possible loss of accreditation.
In September, Cognia released its findings in a special review of Gwinnett County Public Schools, indicating several areas of improvement. But the accrediting agency did not recommend any change in that school district’s full accreditation status.
At a Cobb school board work session Thursday afternoon, the Cognia report was not on the published agenda, nor was it discussed until the very end, and then only in procedural terms.
The board heard several presentations about the district’s legislative priorities and its quarterly financial report.
Just as the board was to approve the agenda for the Thursday 7 p.m. business meeting, Howard asked board chairman Randy Scamihorn if an item for discussion of the Cognia review could be added.
“There was some big news that came out, and we haven’t talked about it yet,” Howard said. “I would like the agenda to reflect that urgent matter.”
But Scamihorn said the agenda can be revised for an emergency, and said he didn’t think Howard’s request was “applicable, as the agenda has been developed.”
When Howard appealed to Suzanne Wilcox, the board attorney, she said such an item would could be added if the board determined it was “necessary” and in particular if it was a matter that was “not known about in advance.”
When Howard asked her why she didn’t recommend revising the agenda, she said that state law says an item has to be considered an emergency to be added.
“At this time, I’m not aware of anything that makes it necessary to address,” Wilcox said.
Howard then asked if a Cognia discussion could be added to the board’s December agenda, but Scamihorn said he couldn’t give an “absolute yes or no” since “none of us have seen the report yet. . . . But the chair appreciates your concern.”
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Four parents of medically fragile students in the Cobb County School District are appealing a federal judge’s denial of their request for an injunction over COVID-19 protocols, including the district’s lack of a mask mandate.
Attorneys with the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a notice of appeal on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for Northern Georgia in Atlanta (you can read it here).
On Oct. 15, federal district judge Tim Batten denied their request for an injunction and a temporary restraining order. The parents wanted the court to order stronger COVID-19 measures in the schools, including mandatory masks, saying their children are unable to learn in-person as a result.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys have said the parents have removed their children from in-person learning, which “has had a negative effect on them socially, physically, and emotionally.”
The parents “further allege that unless and until the school board reimplements safety measures, they will be unable to attend school and will continue to suffer irreparable harm.”
The four parents, including Sara Cavorley of East Cobb (previous ECN story here), filed suit on Oct. 1, claiming that the Cobb school district’s policies are denying their children a proper in-person education under the federal Americans With Disabilities Act.
The SPLC issued a press release Wednesday saying that “this case isn’t just about masks, this is about disability discrimination in the Cobb County School District and ensuring that all children have an equal opportunity to access an in-person learning environment.”
Cobb schools have a masks-optional policy this year after mandating them for the 2020-21 school year.
But unlike last year, the 2021-22 school year does not provide virtual learning options that are identical to classroom instruction.
The Cobb school district is making a limited number of virtual options available for the spring semester via a lottery process (the deadline for applying for that has passed).
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Turnout was low, just under 10 percent across the county, with most East Cobb precincts in the 10-20 percent range;
The highest turnout was in the City of Marietta, which had mayor’s, city council and school board elections.
As we noted then, “yes” votes in the SPLOST referendum won every precinct, and handily.
What follows below is the vote count in East Cobb precincts. These include election day, advance, absentee and provisional totals, as well as the turnout at each polling station.
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There won’t be any classes Friday in the Cobb County School District, which has declared a “student and teacher” holiday due to festivities surrounding the Atlanta Braves.
The Braves are holding multiple events Friday after the team won its first World Series in 26 years Tuesday over the Houston Astros.
Here’s from a Cobb school district announcement Wednesday afternoon:
“The Atlanta Braves parade and celebratory events will occur in Cobb County during the day and this holiday will also keep anticipated high traffic, throughout Cobb County, as manageable as possible for everyone who lives in Cobb.
“Friday will be a student and teacher holiday while all annual and hourly staff will receive direction from their direct supervisor. After-school program (ASP) will not be available and Friday night athletic activities will remain as scheduled.”
Some of the details of the celebrations are still to be released; for now, the Braves are saying that they will have a parade in downtown Atlanta, then head up Interstate 75 for a celebration near their home stadium at Truist Park.
The downtown Atlanta parade begins at noon Friday along Peachtree Street, from Marietta Street to 10th Street, before heading to Cobb.
Cobb DOT sent out the following message at 4 p.m. Wednesday:
“Braves parade will be on Friday (11/5) starting in Atl and ending in Cobb. Major impacts to traffic & bus service anticipated. Known areas of impact include Cobb Pkwy (Riverwood Pkwy to Battery Ave) & cross streets. Please plan accordingly. Details will be shared as available.”
Marietta City Schools and the Fulton County School System also have called off classes for Friday because of the Braves’ events.
The World Series championship is the second for the Braves since they moved to Atlanta in 1965. The Braves also won Game 6 of the 1995 World Series at Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium, before moving to Turner Field from 1997-2017.
The franchise’s other World Series titles occurred in Boston in 1914 and Milwaukee in 1957.
Nearly 20,000 fans showed up at Truist Park Tuesday for a viewing party for the clinching Game 6 in Houston.
Crowds of more than 100,000 were reported at Truist and The Battery Atlanta for the three World Series games played last weekend in Cobb County.
A Veterans Day parade is scheduled for The Battery on Saturday.
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Last week the Cobb Chamber of Commerce held a celebration luncheon for the teachers of the year at each of the schools in the Cobb County School District and Marietta City Schools, as well as overall recipients.
As we noted previously, Pope High School graduate Beth Foster was named the Cobb teacher of the year for 2021, and Michelle Gottenberg of Mabry Middle School was the middle school teacher of the year for the district.
They also were recipients of new automobiles, courtesy of the local Ed Voyles dealerships that they will pick up at the Cobb Chamber luncheon on Nov. 8.
Foster, who teaches at Osborne High School, also unveiled her handprints on the Teacher Walk of Honor at Glover Park in the Marietta Square.
Here are the other teachers of the year from East Cobb schools who were honored at the Chamber gathering:
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Geetha Krishna may only be in sixth grade, but she has already served as a representative of the United States on the world stage and has the gold medals to prove it.
The Dodgen student recently participated in the International Table Tennis Federation Pan American World Championships in Cuenca, Ecuador.
Geetha won a gold medal at the championship with her 2021 US National U-11 Girls’ teammate. During the tournament, Geetha and her teammate defeated Ecuador, Brazil, Puerto Rico, the other half of the US National U-11 team. In total, Dodgen student walked away from the games with a Team Gold, Girls Doubles Gold, and Girls Singles Bronze.
Pan American World Championships represent the highest level of competitive table tennis for Americans in the U-13 and U-11 age categories.
“…the future of American table tennis is really in the hands of these young athletes…,” Sean O’Neill, the High Performance Director for USATT, said ahead of the championships.
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Just as the Atlanta Braves were completing a 7-0 win over the Houston Astros to clinch the World Series, voters in Cobb County finalized another rout on Tuesday.
More than 72 percent of the voters casting ballots in the Cobb Education SPLOST VI voted yes (35,427), while 29 percent said no (13,713), with all 145 precincts fully reporting.
That means that starting in Jan. 2024, a one-percent sales tax for construction, maintenance and technology projects in the Cobb County School District and Marietta City Schools will be collected for another six years, ending in Dec. 2029.
The SPLOST extension is expected to generate $894 million in revenues for Cobb schools and $71.5 million for Marietta schools.
The results compiled by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office can be by clicking here; they are final and unofficial. Certification of results by the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration is scheduled for Nov. 8.
Slightly less than 50,000 of the 530,000 registered voters in Cobb County voted, a turnout of 5 percent.
From the earliest returns of advance voters, “yes” votes never had less than 70 percent of the vote.
The “yes” votes claimed every single precinct in Cobb. Final precinct breakdowns are not yet available; East Cobb News will list them in a separate post later in the week.
Voters in East Cobb were galvanized the project list for the Cobb school district, which include a rebuild of the main Sprayberry High School building and classroom additions at Kincaid, Mt. Bethel, Murdock, Sope Creek and Tritt elementary schools in East Cobb.
Voters in Cobb’s six cities also chose city council members and mayors on Tuesday.
In Marietta, three-term incumbent Mayor Steve “Thunder” Tumlin was re-elected after he defeated city council member Michelle Collins Kelly by 57-43 percent of the vote.
Kelly’s Ward 6 seat, which includes East Marietta, will be filled by Andre Sims, who was unopposed in the non-partisan election.
In Marietta school board races, Kerry Minervini, the incumbent in Ward 6 that includes East Marietta, was re-elected without opposition.
UPDATED, 11:30 PM:
With 95 percent of precincts reporting (138/145), yes votes are 34,257 (72%), no votes are 13,261 (28%) in the Cobb Education SPLOST.
Final figures to come Wednesday.
UPDATED, 11:15 PM:
With 77 percent of precincts fully reporting, yes has 29,441 votes (71.6 percent) to 11,662 no votes (28.4 percent).
UPDATED, 10:30 PM:
With 44 percent of the vote counted, yes leads SPLOST 20,093 to 7,965 voting no, 71.6-28.4.
UPDATED, 9:45 PM:
With 12 percent of the vote in, yes votes are 11,796 and no votes are 4,687, still a roughly 71-29 split.
UPDATED, 7:55 P.M.:
The initial returns from the Cobb Education SPLOST VI referendum show “YES” votes leading with 71 percent of the vote (advanced votes).
Those voting in favor are 6,928 thus far, and voting against are 2,824.
ORIGINAL POST, 7:01 P.M.:
The polls have closed in Cobb County and the the counting has begun for the Cobb Education SPLOST VI referendum and municipal elections.
Voters in Cobb County were asked whether to renew a one-percent sales tax for construction, maintenance and technology for the Cobb County School District and Marietta City Schools.
Voters in Cobb’s six cities were deciding city council races, including a contested mayor’s race in Marietta. Marietta voters also were voting in school board elections.
Headlining the SPLOST VI project list for the Cobb school district include a rebuild of the main Sprayberry High School building and classroom additions at Kincaid, Mt. Bethel, Murdock, Sope Creek and Tritt elementary schools in East Cobb.
See the East Cobb Newsvoters guide for more information.
Voters who were in line at the polls by 7 p.m. Tuesday were eligible to vote. Voters in eight precincts were able to vote beyond 7 p.m. due to various technical issues. They included the Hightower and Post Oak precincts in East Cobb, which were to close at 7:05 p.m.
Absentee ballots also were either mailed in or hand-delivered to the Cobb Elections office by 7 p.m. Tuesday or dropped off at a designated location, including The Art Place (3330 Sandy Plains Road).
Cobb Elections said nearly 13,000 people voted during the advance voting period the last two weeks, in-person and absentee voting combined.
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UPDATED, TUESDAY, NOV. 2, 7:40 P.M.: The polls have closed. Follow real-time results by clicking here.
ORIGINAL POST:
All the early voting has been completed for the 2021 elections in Cobb County, which feature municipal races in the six cities in the county and a referendum on whether to extend a sales tax for public schools.
Those who will be voting on Tuesday will go to their assigned precinct (if you don’t know where it is, you can check here and get a sample ballot).
The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and if you are in line when the polls close you will be able to vote.
UPDATE, TUESDAY, 1:03 P.M.: Eight precincts, including two in East Cobb, will be open past 7 p.m. due to technical issues at those polls.
Cobb Elections said that 10,104 people voted in two weeks of early voting across Cobb County, including 2,038 at The Art Place in Northeast Cobb.
That’s the second-highest figure for any early voting location, after the main Cobb Elections office. On Friday, 349 people voted at The Art Place.
Citizens living in unincorporated Cobb County will have only one item on their ballots (above): the Cobb Education SPLOST VI, a one-percent sales tax for school construction, maintenance and technology to be collected from 2024-2029.
The main projects in Cobb include a rebuild of the main Sprayberry High School building and classroom additions at Kincaid, Mt. Bethel, Murdock, Sope Creek and Tritt elementary schools.
Cobb voters haven’t rejected a school SPLOST since the first referendum in 1998, but Cobb superintendent Chris Ragsdale has been actively defending the sales tax and how the money has been distributed following criticism of school district finances.
In 2017, Cobb voters overwhelmingly approved the current SPLOST V referendum, with 73.8 percent voting yes.
Turnout has typically been light for the Ed-SPLOST. In 2017, only 7.7 of registered Cobb voters took part, with 25,019 voting yes and 8,902 voting no. Some of the highest turnout has been in East Cobb.
Voters in the cities of Acworth, Austell, Kennesaw, Powder Springs and Smyrna also will have the Cobb Ed-SPLOST VI question on their ballots pertaining to the Cobb school district, as well as their city council elections.
For voters in the City of Marietta, they’ll get a school sales tax referendum question on their ballots too, since Marietta City Schools would collect $71.5 million if it is approved.
Marietta voters also deciding school board and city council members in their respective wards, as well as a contested mayor’s race in non-partisan elections.
Incumbent Mayor Steve “Thunder” Tumlin is seeking a fourth term, but is being challenged by Michelle Cooper Kelly, a city council member whose ward includes much of East Marietta.
As we noted earlier in the week, if you have an absentee ballot that hasn’t been mailed (and you shouldn’t, since it won’t get to the Cobb Elections office by the 7 p.m. Tuesday deadline), you’ll need to drop it off at a designated location.
There aren’t the outdoor dropboxes as there were in 2020; here’s a list of where and when you can do this.
Those absentee locations include the East Cobb Library (4880 Lower Roswell Road) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday.
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The Cobb County School District has been posting several pieces on its website about the Nov. 2 SPLOST VI referendum, illustrating what has been—and will be—constructed with previous and continuing sales tax revenues.
One of them is the upcoming replacement of Eastvalley Elementary School, which has been earmarked for $31.6 million in current SPLOST V funding.
But since an architectural contract was approved in February 2020—right before the COVID-19 pandemic—there’s been little information forthcoming about construction details.
That work is expected to be done by December. When we saw the district’s post about Eastvalley dated Monday, it included three renderings (shown at top and below), so we thought we’d ask again.
Here’s what a district spokeswoman passed along on Wednesday:
“Once details for the Eastvalley replacement school are finalized and the contract awarded, construction is expected to begin in 2022. The new facility is scheduled to welcome students in August 2023.”
The Atlanta architectural firm of Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates, Inc. hired by the Cobb school district designs a wide variety of buildings, including schools, among them Duluth High School and Lithonia High School in metro Atlanta.
The new Eastvalley campus is projected to be built to include 136,110 square feet and 61 classrooms, and could hold around 962 K-5 students. It’s one of three elementary school replacement projects in the current SPLOST V, which expires at the end of 2023.
Eastvalley parents have been pressing the district about overcrowded conditions for years at the Eastvalley campus on Lower Roswell Road, which was built in the early 1960s to hold around 400 students.
This year Eastvalley has more than 700 students and more than a dozen trailers, whose conditions have been called “deplorable.”
It’s the only school in East Cobb to get a rebuild in the current SPLOST. If the extension is approved by voters, SPLOST VI will generate revenues for a rebuild for Sprayberry High School and classroom additions at Kincaid, Mt. Bethel, Murdock, Sope Creek and Tritt elementary schools.
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Bandwagon-jumping is nothing new with the success of a local sports team.
The Cobb County School District is urging citizens to vote to extend the Special-Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) for schools by noting in a post that leads its website how schools have benefitted from having the Atlanta Braves in the county.
The proposed SPLOST VI, if approved by voters, would generate nearly $900 million from 2024-2029 for construction, maintenance and technology projects for both Cobb and Marietta schools.
Saying that “Cobb County will also win big due to the Braves’ success on the diamond,” the Cobb school district noted how out-of-town fans during the playoffs have already been boosting the local economy—and school SPLOST coffers by extension:
“Now, with worldwide attention focused on pro baseball’s most celebrated stage, Cobb County residents will once again benefit from outside money being spent locally, this time thanks to Astros fans. Every drink, snack, and souvenir purchased by every baseball fan at Truist will help fund education in Cobb County.
“Those 40,000+ fans won’t just be spending money at the park; they will also purchase many other items locally, like meals and gas, that help fund local businesses and services. The economic impact from the 2021 Braves will be felt long after the Commissioner’s Trophy is presented to the team.
“The NLCS and the World Series are high-profile events that bring notice to Cobb County, but they also bring dollars and help to stimulate and prosper our local economy. While most don’t often think of the economic impact of sports at the local level, they are incredibly significant. While we cheer for our home team to end Atlanta’s 26-year World Series win drought, we can also cheer that our local schools are being helped by dollars from Houston fans.”
The post linked to related news stories and a special video the district produced to promote the SPLOST but didn’t break down any dollar figures.
The one-percent sales tax was first approved by Cobb voters in 1998, but some critics wonder why the Cobb and Marietta school districts wanted a referendum two years before the current SPLOST expires.
There’s been some political pushback, both in terms of how previous school SPLOST funding has been distributed, and against current Cobb school board spending practices.
That prompted a reaction from Cobb superintendent Chris Ragsdale, as well as from parents and citizens working to extend the sales tax, including those advocating for a rebuild of Sprayberry High School.
As the Braves swept to a 6-2 Game 1 victory over the Astros Tuesday night in Houston, the Cobb school district posted a similar SPLOST message on its social media channels.
The Eastvalley project is to be funded with revenue from the current SPLOST V, but a timetable for construction hasn’t been announced. The former ECMS campus is slated to be demolished by December.
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For the first time in the 2021-22 school year, fewer than 100 active COVID-19 cases are being reported in the Cobb County School District.
The district’s weekly case notification report shows 86 cases currently, but 13 of them are at Mountain View Elementary School in East Cobb.
That’s the only school in the 112-campus district that’s in double figures this week, as cases continue a steady drop since the start of the school year.
Last week, that figure was at 136, under 200 for the first time since the first week of classes in early August.
But a surge in COVID-19 cases across the South ramped up those figures dramatically later into late August, surpassing 1,000 active cases at one point and prompting the entire 5th grade at East Side Elementary School in East Cobb to learn remotely for nearly two weeks.
This week, most schools are reporting no cases at all, including the following in East Cobb:
The Georgia Department of Public Health keeps a 7-day moving average of COVID-19 figures, and for Cobb County that number is dropping toward that threshold, at 118 cases per 100,000 according to date of onset.
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The mother of four children in the Walton High School cluster who pushed for the Cobb County School District to drop its mask mandate during the 2020-21 school year has declared her intent to run for the Cobb Board of Education.
CCSD map
Amy Henry, who moved with her family to East Cobb from DeKalb County in 2019, filed her declaration with the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration on Tuesday.
It says she is running as a Republican in Post 6, which includes most of the Walton and Wheeler clusters and part of the Campbell cluster.
That seat is currently held by first-term Democrat Charisse Davis, who has not announced whether she’s seeking re-election.
That school year began with all-virtual learning after Superintendent Chris Ragsdale initially announced in-person classes, but switched due to high COVID-19 metrics.
“They need to have a normal childhood,” Henry told the school board in March. “We’re teaching them that they’re dirty. We’re creating a fearful environment that for these kids cannot be normal.”
That was right before other Cobb school parents filed a lawsuit trying to overturn the mask mandate (Henry wasn’t one of them). The suit was dropped when Ragsdale said in May that masks would be optional for 2021-22.
When contacted by East Cobb News, Henry declined to comment on why she’s running and to state her priorities, saying she wanted to wait until she makes a formal announcement at the Cobb Republican Party breakfast on Nov. 6.
She’s also involved in the revived East Cobb Cityhood effort, and has listed as her campaign chair Cindy Cooperman, who handles publicity for the current Cityhood committee.
Post 6 has traditionally been in Republican hands. In 2018, Davis, who lives in the Campbell cluster, edged two-term GOP board member Scott Sweeney, who is now the chairman of the state board of education (and also is part of the Cityhood group).
That seat is one of three up for grabs in 2022 elections, with the lines for those three posts expected to change.
Members of the Cobb legislative delegation will redraw Cobb Board of Education post boundaries after the first of the year, following Congressional and legislative reapportionment.
In Post 4 (Sprayberry and Kell clusters), three-term Republican incumbent David Chastain has said he is seeking re-election but hasn’t formally announced; the only announced Democrat is Kennesaw State University student Austin Heller (previous ECN story here).
Democrat Jaha Howard, a first-term board member from Post 2 (Campbell and Osborne clusters), recently announced his intent to run for state school superintendent.
Republicans hold a 4-3 majority on the school board. In 2020, three of the current GOP members won re-election to maintain that edge.
Davis and Howard have challenged their GOP colleagues on racial and equity initiatives and have questioned the Cobb school district’s COVID-19 protocols, often leading to contentious disputes at board meetings.
In 2019, the Republican majority passed a policy change to bar board members from making comments during public meetings, with Davis and Howard objecting, calling it censorship.
In late 2020, after the elections, the GOP members approved a policy change that allowed board members to add agenda items to public meetings only if a board majority approved.
At the October board meeting, and in a party-line vote, the Republicans approved a resolution condemning Antisemitism and racism that the Democrats said took them by surprise. Davis was absent from the meeting.
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The Cobb County School District announced Thursday its graduation rates for the Class of 2021, and three high schools in East Cobb are near the top of the list.
Pope High School had a 97.2 percent graduation rate, second only to Harrison High School, which led the district at 97.7 percent (full table below).
Lassiter and Walton tied for third at 96.1 percent; they were among the six schools in the 16-high school district at or above 96 percent, according to a release.
Also in East Cobb, Kell’s graduation rate was 88.9 percent, Wheeler’s was 87.1 percent and Sprayberry’s was 86.3.
The Cobb school district average was 87.2 percent, ahead of the statewide average of 83.7 percent.
All of those figures are calculated by the U.S. Department of Education, which covers a four-year period, including students who are enrolled for a minimum of one day over that time.
Here’s how the Cobb school district is explaining what it calls a more accurate reflection of graduation rates, and as shown in the table below:
“The federally mandated method for calculating the 4-year graduation rate includes all students expected to graduate in 2021, including those enrolled for a single day. When examining the graduation rate for students enrolled for a minimum of two years in Cobb Schools, the graduation rate for the district is 92.3%. The graduation rate climbs to 94.6% for students enrolled for three years in Cobb. Cobb’s 16 traditional high schools all have graduation rates above 91% for students who attended all four years.”
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Students at Walton and Wheeler high schools in East Cobb had the highest composite scores in the ACT in the Cobb County School District for 2021.
The district sent out a release Tuesday morning saying that Walton students in the Class of 2021 had an ACT composite of 27.6 and Wheeler students were at 27.1.
The overall Cobb school district’s composite score was 24.3 across 16 high schools, higher than the Georgia average of 22.6 and the national average of 20.3.
The Cobb score is 1.1 percent higher than 2020. The district explained how the ACT works:
“The composite ACT score is based on curriculum-based tests in English, math, reading, and science. Cobb students scored 24.0 in English, 23.7 in math, 25.1 in reading, and 23.9 in science – all above the Georgia and national averages.”
The district statement said that Wheeler students had two-point gains in English, reading, math and science over 2020, and Sprayberry students scored 2.3 percent higher in science in 2021 from the previous year.
There were 15 students with perfect individual composite scores of 36 on the ACT. Four graduated from Wheeler, two from Lassiter and one each were from Pope and Sprayberry.
More from the district release; here are the ACT breakdowns at the six East Cobb high schools. The number in parenthesis next to the school name is the number of students at that school taking the test:
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A Cobb school district graphic shows how SPLOST funds have been distributed by school board post.
During a Cobb Board of Education meeting Thursday night, school superintendent Chris Ragsdale took issue with criticism of how Education SPLOST funds have been distributed across the county.
Early voting began Monday in a Cobb Education SPLOST VI referendum that would extend the one-percent sales tax for school construction, maintenance and technology from 2024-28.
That extension, if approved, would provide nearly $900 million for the Cobb County School District and Marietta City Schools.
The Education SPLOST (Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax) began in 1999 and has been extended by voters ever since. The current SPLOST V expires Dec. 31, 2023, and is expected to collect nearly $800 million.
At a SPLOST virtual town hall earlier this week held by the Mableton Improvement Coalition, there were complaints that some parts of Cobb County were being left behind in SPLOST funding.
“I truly do not understand how anyone in due conscience can propagate such a false narrative,” he said. “I need to present data to show a true and accurate picture of SPLOST. Some continue to push the idea that only certain schools or areas of Cobb get the majority of SPLOST funding.”
Ragsdale then showed a pie chart illustrating how SPLOST revenues from the first five sales tax collections have been distributed, according to school board post (above).
Although dollar figures were not provided, the chart showed that Post 2 (Smyrna/South Cobb), Post 1 (North/West Cobb), Post 6 (Part of East Cobb/Cumberland) and Post 3 (South Cobb/Mableton/Austell) have had the highest percentages.
The other two East Cobb-area posts, 4 and 5, and Post 7 (West Cobb/Powder Springs) had the lowest percentages, at around 10 percent each.
“Cobb has always provided SPLOST funds to the areas of greatest need,” Ragsdale said, reading from prepared remarks. “Those areas change over time. . . . When those needs change, that’s where the funding will be provided as well.”
Ragsdale did not respond to citizens who spoke earlier in the meeting that they were opposing SPLOST because they think the Cobb school district isn’t doing a good job handling the money.
Among the critics is Heather Tolley-Bauer, an East Cobb resident and a co-founder of Watching the Funds, a citizen watchdog group that’s been tracking Cobb school district finances since late last year.
The group (we profiled WTF in July) has been critical of district spending on COVID-19 safety measures, as well as the AlertPoint emergency system that has malfunctioned.
Her message was “No Accountability, No SPLOST.”
“In the past I’ve voted yes, but as a parent and an advocate for fiscal responsibility in our schools this year I will vote no,” Tolley-Bauer said during a public comment session. “And I am not alone.
“Because of the actions of this board, we have no confidence in you. . . . Why have you neglected your fiduciary responsibility to us?”
Later Thursday, the school district posted the pie chart on its Facebook page but faced more criticism from voters who made similar complaints.
Some wanted to know more details of how the district has been spending federal money designated for COVID-19 recovery, and the district linked to a Georgia Department of Education page with related information.
That didn’t satisfy some citizens, including one who wrote “Clean house, CCSD leadership and I, along with a large number, will happily vote for this 2024 SPLOST.”
Those responses have concerned parents who are advocating for SPLOST VI, which includes a rebuild of the main campus building at Sprayberry High School (full list of projects here).
They’re having a community meeting on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the school (2525 Sandy Plains Road) to go over the proposed rebuild, as well as newly approved projects for a new Sprayberry gym and renovations to the school’s career training facility.
Shane Spink, a leader of the Sprayberry rebuild effort, has continued to counter current criticisms by saying that the “Ed-SPLOST is not about the curriculum or school board policies. The Ed-SPLOST is not partisan. The project list for Cobb County School District reaches across party lines of the school boards and each and every Cobb County School gets improvements through this.”
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A federal judge has sided with the Cobb County School District in denying a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction sought by parents who’ve filed a lawsuit over the district’s COVID-19 policies.
They’ve alleged their medically fragile students are being denied a proper in-person education under the federal Americans With Disabilities Act because of what they claim are the district’s lacking safety protocols, including a masks-optional policy.
After a hearing Friday morning, Chief Judge Timothy Batten of the U.S. District Court for Northern Georgia in Atlanta said the plaintiffs haven’t proven differing treatment because those policies apply to all students.
“Plaintiffs essentially ask this Court to second-guess Defendants’ operational decision making and wrest from Defendants’ control the authority to decide how to best protect students’ health,” Batten wrote in his order denying them immediate relief. “The Court finds that Defendants have made an informed choice that is neither arbitrary nor unreasonable, and declines Plaintiffs’ invitation to usurp this function of the executive branch.”
Batten is essentially making the same argument the district claimed earlier this week in its response to the lawsuit (our story from Thursday), which names Superintendent Chris Ragsdale and the seven members of the Cobb Board of Education as defendants.
Batten continued by saying that “plaintiffs—like all students in Cobb County—were given the option to attend virtual school in lieu of in-person classes. Plaintiffs’ attempt to allege disparate treatment by a facially neutral policy that applies to disabled and non-disabled students alike, and their argument falls well short of the high bar required for injunctive relief.”
That’s the recommendation of Cobb and Douglas Public Health, which filed a declaration on behalf of the plaintiffs.
But in his order, Batten didn’t weigh in on those matters.
“While Plaintiffs may prefer a mask mandate and other stricter policies, Defendants are not required to provide Plaintiffs with their preferred accommodation,” the judge wrote. “So long as Plaintiffs are offered meaningful access to education—and the Court finds that they have been—Defendants have adequately accommodated Plaintiffs and their disabilities and thus, Plaintiffs cannot show a substantial likelihood of success on the merits.”
He concluded by saying that “because Plaintiffs cannot show a substantial likelihood of success of their disability discrimination claim, the Court need not consider the alleged irreparable injury from which they suffer, nor need it balance the equities or consider the public’s interest.”
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