After the end of state education austerity cuts, a new Cobb schools budget proposal for fiscal year 2019 includes across-the-board employee pay raises that were not part of the initial plan.
The Cobb County School District will get $10.2 million in state revenue under the Quality Basic Education Act after Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal announced in March that he was ending years-long austerity cuts for public schools.
Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said at a Cobb Board of Education work session Thursday afternoon that he is proposing spending the “lion’s share” of that money on 1.1 percent raises for all county employees. The rest would be used to increase the instructional reserve allotment from six to 19 positions, teaching slots that are added when schools surpass enrollment projections.
He’s still recommending a 1.1 percent bonus for “238-day” employees, who include teachers, police officers and high school secretaries. So-called “non-238-day” employees, who work year-round, would get additional days off in the summer.
Those bonuses would be paid with $7.8 million in reserve funding. The raises for nearly 15,000 district employees would cost around $9 million. Step increases for teachers based on experience would come to another $12 million.
The new budget proposal of nearly $1.2 billion, like the original, does not include a tax millage rate increase.
“This is no small change,” Cobb schools chief financial officer Brad Johnson said about the extra $10.2 million. He estimated that the district, which is the second-largest in Georgia with more than 112,000 students, has lost more than $600 million in state education austerity cuts since 2003.
Still, the revised budget, which the school board tentatively approved Thursday night, is a tight one. Formal approval comes next month.
Johnson called it a “middle ground” budget with moderate risk, with around a month’s worth of fund balance.
He is factoring in a net Cobb tax digest growth of 6 percent, following a recent estimate by the Cobb Tax Assessors office of 7.5 percent gross growth.
Another major budget challenge that keeps growing is the exemption from school taxes for homeowners 62 and over. Johnson estimates that this year, the cost of that exemption will come to $90 million. Last year, the figure was $78 million, and he thinks the number will exceed $100 million next year.
Before the budget presentation, Connie Jackson of the Cobb County Association of Educators pleaded for a 2.5 percent raise for employees, and suggested raising the millage rate from the current 18.9 that has not changed in 10 years to the maximum 20 mills.
The $10.2 million in new revenue, she said, “is not enough. . . We need a raise. It’s time, the money is there and frankly many people out there support it.”
School board member David Morgan of South Cobb agreed, saying even with the recommended raises Cobb is 9th out of 12 public school districts in metro Atlanta in terms of starting pay scale.
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Old yearbooks were on display at Saturday’s 65th anniversary celebration for Sprayberry High School (East Cobb News photos and slideshow by Wendy Parker).
Several dozen graduates, local dignitaries and present students turned out for the Sprayberry High School 65th anniversary celebration on Saturday, and not just for old time’s sake.
Artifacts from the school’s rich history were certainly on display, including a video compilation and yearbooks that told the story of the first high school in East Cobb, long before it became the busy suburb it is today.
The festivities also allowed current school leaders to tout Sprayberry’s evolution into a diverse, high-achieving school in an East Cobb community noted for public education.
Frank Wigington, Sprayberry Class of 1970.
When it opened on what is now Cobb Parkway in 1952, in a facility now occupied by The Walker School, Sprayberry had only 20 teachers. When it moved to its present campus on Sandy Plains Road at Piedmont Road in 1973, the building was the largest for a school in the Southeast and the second-largest structure of any kind in Cobb County.
“Boy, have things changed,” said Principal Joe Sharp, who recounted all 13 of his predecessors and their accomplishments.
The connections between tradition and innovation were noted frequently at Saturday’s event, held in the gym and that included a performance by the Sprayberry orchestra.
“Sprayberry and I are the same age,” said Frank Wigington, a landscaping company owner, Northeast Cobb civic leader and a 1970 Sprayberry graduate who’s also the public address voice of Yellow Jackets sports teams.
“It has aged a lot better than I have.”
The Sprayberry graduates who have enjoyed nationwide success include Mike Greene, who had his own band in high school and later became president of the Grammy Awards, and John Bridges, is now the chief marketing officer for Chick-fil-A.
Perhaps Sprayberry’s most famous graduate is another entertainment industry figure, country music star Travis Tritt.
Regardless of their school popularity or claim to fame as adults, Wigington said, they came “from this little school, this little community. . . . Their foundation was Sprayberry.”
Maddie Wonders, the 2018 senior class president, said she chose Sprayberry for its mix of academic programs and social atmosphere. Like many of Saturday’s speakers, she was proud of the school’s diverse student body and academic programs that reflect it.
“It has unlocked opportunities I never knew existed,” she said. “It’s my home away from home.”
Maddie Wonders, Sprayberry 2018 senior class president.
Among them are the Sprayberry International Spanish Language Academy, a dual-language immersion program for native and non-native speakers, and other Scholars Academies for STEM and leadership, law and public service.
On another video presentation, current Sprayberry students and teachers emphasized how their school is “a microcosm of America.”
Sprayberry’s enrollment of around 1,700 students is the second-lowest for a high school in the Cobb County School District. Its sense of family and community is something that “you can’t script,” superintendent Chris Ragsdale said. “You can tell what people feel about Sprayberry. It’s awesome.”
Cobb Board of Education member David Chastain represents the Sprayberry district, and as a graduate of Wheeler High School, appreciates his old rival’s sense of tradition, and how its student body today “really represents America.”
That sense of community spreads to civic and cultural institutions that support from organizations the Piedmont Church and the Northeast Cobb Business Association.
The Sprayberry community, Chastain said, “is built around that school. It’s unlike any other in the county.”
After the speakers, guests were treated to refreshments and visited classrooms devoted to specific decades to revive old memories, and renew longstanding friendships. The Sprayberry Foundation was holding a gala fundraiser Saturday night at Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church.
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The original Walton High School building has been torn down, and new gymnasium and performing arts space will go in its place. According to an early look at next week’s Cobb Board of Education meeting, a low-bid contract for $31.7 million is being recommended for approval.
The school board will hold a work session at 1 p.m. Thursday and a business meeting at 7 p.m., also on Thursday. Both meetings take place in the board chambers at the CCSD Central Office (514 Glover St., Marietta). Here’s the full agenda packet for the meetings.
Before the evening session, a public budget forum will take place in the same place starting at 6:30 p.m. Citizens can comment on a proposed $1.2 billion fiscal year 2019 budget. That figure has grown from an initial figure of $1.059 billion in March.
Board members also are scheduled to tentatively approve that budget, and future public hearings will be held before formal adoption in May.
Walton students moved into a new $48 million classroom building in August, and demolition of the original 42-year-old building has taken place over the winter.
The new 151,000-square-foot project will include main and auxiliary gymnasiums, a wrestling room, a weight room, locker rooms, a main theater, a black box theater and band, orchestra and choral suites.
Cobb-based Evergreen Construction is the low bidder, and its proposal comes in at nearly $3 million less than the estimated cost of $34.69 million. The funding is earmarked in the current Cobb Education Cobb SPLOST IV, and the projected completion date is November 2019.
The new Walton project isn’t the only major rebuilding contract on the school board’s agenda Thursday. A rebuilding contract totaling $47.4 million will be considered for Osborne High School, as will a new gym and theater project at Harrison High School for $22.3 million.
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On Saturday, East Cobb’s oldest high school will mark its 65th anniversary.
Sprayberry High School (2525 Sandy Plains Road) will hold a special assembly in the gym at 2 p.m. Saturday, and tours of the school from 3-5, followed by a fundraising gala.
Attendance to the assembly, which includes comments from Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale and leading figures from Sprayberry’s past, is free, and the dress is casual.
The event also includes special displays from each decade of the school’s history, including its early years on what is now Cobb Parkway and the current location of The Walker School.
The Sprayberry Hall of Fame Hall of Fame Gala, a fundraising event for the school’s foundation, starts at 6:30 p.m. at Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Catholic Church (3431 Trickum Road).
The cost is $100 and there will be raffle prizes, food, music and other entertainment.
Sprayberry opened its doors in the fall of 1952 and moved to its present location in 1973. It’s named after Paul Sprayberry, a Cobb school superintendent in the 1950s.
Sprayberry was the only public high school in East Cobb for more than a decade, until the area began transforming from rural to suburban. Wheeler opened in 1965, followed by Walton (1974), Lassiter (1981), Pope (1987) and Kell (2002).
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Thanks to Lisa Hatch, executive director of East Cobb Robotics, for sending along the photo and great news about the latest accomplishments for the FRC 4910 team. She said the students on the team attend Pope, Sprayberry, Walton and Wheeler high schools, and some are home-schooled:
East Cobb Robotics, FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC) team 4910 is excited to announce that for the 3rd year in a row, its students have again earned a spot at the FIRST Robotics World Championship in Houston, Texas. East Cobb Robotics (ECR) is a community-based, not for profit organization providing STEM education to high-school aged students through its participation in the FIRSTRobotics Competition. Each year, over 3600 teams from around the world are provided a ‘game,’ challenging them to design, build, and program a robot in order to compete. ey have just six weeks to accomplish this goal, followed by tournaments where their team strives to outperform the robots of other teams. At the end of these tournaments, the top 400 teams earn an invitation to the championship event.
This year, the students of ECR won their two qualification tournaments in the Peachtree District as first place winners, and nished third overall in Georgia after a challenging District Championship event in Athens. We are very proud of their accomplishments and can’t wait to see what the future has in store for them. Over the years of our existence, ECR has won numerous awards including Engineering Inspiration, Safety, Quality, Team Spirit, Excellence in Engineering, and Gracious Professionalism as well as nishing as part of the third highest ranked alliance at the 2017 World Competition.
East Cobb Robotics is a 501(c)3 not-for-pro t organization based in Marietta, GA. Tax deductible contributions can be made via PayPal to eastcobbrobotics@gmail.com.
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Students from Shallowford Falls Elementary School took first place in the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl in Athens on March 24.
Students read 18 Georgia Children’s Book Award nominees (this year’s booklist can be found here) and memorized details of the books, then answered questions in a bowl-type format. It’s the first time Shallowford Falls has won the Reading Bowl.
The competition is named after Helen Ruffin, school librarian in DeKalb County, and was begun in 1986.
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The Cobb County School District expects more than 2,000 educators to attend two upcoming job fairs open to anyone interested in certified teaching positions. The job fairs put teachers face-to-face with school administrators in a relaxed and personal setting and gives them the opportunity to talk directly about teaching and learning in a diverse and dynamic school district.
Elementary Schools Job Fair
March 27, 2018 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Wheeler High School
375 Holt Rd NE
Marietta, GA 30068
Middle and High Schools Job Fair
March 29, 2018 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Kennesaw Mountain High School
1898 Kennesaw Due West Rd NW
Kennesaw, GA 30152
Cobb County is the second largest school district in Georgia and is recognized as a premier system in which to teach, lead and learn.
“The Cobb County School District was, once again, the first district in Georgia to issue contracts for the upcoming school year,” says Kevin Kiger, Executive Director of Human Resources, “Doing so enables us to recruit and hire the best educators before anyone else. We are always seeking the finest educators who are ready to join the Cobb Family and support our vision: One Team, One Goal: Student Success.”
For more information and to start an application, interested persons can visit www.teachcobb.org.
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Parents, friends and family members of Walton students offered support during the March 14 walkout. (East Cobb News photo)
Cobb County School District high schools are beginning to issue suspensions for students who participated in National Walkout Day last week. Some East Cobb students say they’re still waitng to hear what there punishment will be.
Kara Litwin, organizer of the walkout at Pope High School, told East Cobb News Wednesday that she and others who walked out are receiving a day of in-school suspension on Monday.
Walton walkout leaders said the estimated 260 students at their school who walked out will receive a day of ISS on Tuesday.
Cobb schools did not support the walkout and said students who left their classes in a gun-control protest would be subject to disciplinary action under the district’s student code of conduct. Those actions would be left up to individual school principals.
Hannah Andress, the Lassiter leader, told us Wednesday night her administration hasn’t announced any punishment. She thinks it’s also going to be a day of what’s referred to as ISS. Instead of attending classes, students will gather in what’s essentially a day-long study hall. She also told us this:
“I want something like assigned community service for the younger participants so, when the apply to college, they don’t have to explain ISS on their record. But I’m willing to take any punishment if it means getting my message across.”
We also heard from Josh Spear, a student at Harrison High School in West Cobb, who said his school also has issued one day of ISS that he will be serving on Friday. “However,” he added, “I will fight to ensure that the school district pays for the violation of students’ first amendment rights.”
We’ll update this story as we get more information about forthcoming punishments.
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We’ve posted here earlier about fundraisers conducted by Lassiter parents for the band’s 2019 trip to the Tournament of Roses Parade. One of those parents, Tim Pattison, has been in touch with us to say they’re holding a 5K race next month to help three band members who need financial assistance for the trip. The cost estimate is about $3,000 a student.
He says they’re holding the For the Love of Music 5K, a virtual race being held anytime between April 29 and May 12. There are full details posted on a website and Facebook page, but here’s what Tim told us about what they need to make this work for each of the three students.
“We need 500 runners to meet our goal, anything past that we are donating to help any of the other band kids whose parents might need financial help. Feel free to share this with anyone else or with other running groups, we can use all the help we can get!”
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Walton parents held up signs in support of their children who walked out Wednesday (East Cobb News file photo).
The day after they ignored threatened punishments by Cobb schools and walked out of classes, students at Walton, Pope and Lassiter high schools denounced the district’s position on opposing the nationwide event and asked for leniency.
In a public comment session at the Cobb Board of Education meeting Thursday, several students decried what they described as efforts to “silence us,” and vowed that their demands for greater school safety, including “commonsense” gun control laws, would continue.
“This will not deter us,” said Kara Litwin, who led the walkout at Pope High School.
She was among the 1,000 students estimated by the Cobb County School District who left their classes for 17 minutes Wednesday as part of the National School Walkout.
The walkout took place exactly a month after 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., were shot to death on campus. A former student was charged with their killings.
The Cobb district said it did not support the walkouts because it was concerned about school safety and not disrupting the school day, and said that students who walked out would face consequences for their actions.
The punishments were not specified, and the district said disciplinary action is up to individual schools. Those actions have not been announced, but judging by students’ comments, some could be facing a three-day out-of-school suspension.
“I walked out for 17 minutes,” Litwin said. “Seventeen minutes, compared to the lives of 17 people.”
She said Cobb schools “taught us to stand up for what we believe in. Why are you going back on your word?”
Natalie Carlomagno, a Walton High School sophomore who organized her school’s walkout, echoed similar thoughts.
“Why do you want to punish us for using the excellent education you’ve given us? We just want to be safe.”
She said three days of an out-of-school suspension “is much more disruptive than 17 minutes.”
Only 260 Walton students walked out, a much smaller number than the more than 2,000 organizers said had signed up. Walton freshman Divya Vismani, another walkout leader, said that was “because of the threats” students received from school officials not to join the protest.
Lassiter High School senior Hannah Andress, who led her school’s walkout, was the most critical, saying she felt like she had to march because “I am tired of fearing for my life.”
She also referenced a possible three-day suspension, and asked the board members “shouldn’t you be supporting me? Listen to me. I am begging you.
“I am advocating for myself, because you didn’t.”
East Cobb resident Pamela Riordan, who lives near Walton, commended Cobb schools for opposing the walkout, and said that “students are being used by factions in society,” especially on gun issues.
“The problem is not guns,” she said, but that the suspect in the Florida shootings had not been previously detained, despite numerous calls to law enforcement about his behavior.
“That is the breakdown, that is what we should be talking about,” she said.
At the end of the meeting, most board members did not respond to the walkout students’ comments, and they have said little publicly about the issue in general.
Susan Thayer of Smyrna thanked the students for their remarks and said she respected their opinions but said only that “it’s been a frustrating week.”
Scott Sweeney, who represents the Walton district, wished everyone a happy spring break. David Banks, who represents Pope and Lassiter, said he enjoyed a recent visit reading to students at Eastvalley Elementary School. David Chastain commended Kell High School culinary students for the Mexican meal prepared for the board before the meeting.
Randy Scamihorn of north and west Cobb mentioned four police officers nationwide who have recently been killed in the line of duty, something he does regularly. He urged everyone associated with Cobb schools to support the work of the district’s public safety officials to keep students, teachers and staff safe.
Cobb schools superintendent Chris Ragsdale also did not comment on the students’ remarks.
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A summary of a proposed $1.059 billion fiscal year 2019 Cobb schools budget was presented to the Cobb Board of Education on Thursday, and it reflects a slight increase from the present fiscal year 2018 budget of $1.023 billion.
David Banks
The FY 2019 proposal includes a 1.1-percent bonus for annual employees, district police officers and high school secretaries, also known as “238-day” employees. There are no pay raises included for any Cobb County School District employees.
At a board work session Thursday, district officials laid out a budget plan that doesn’t raise property taxes, but uses $7.8 million in reserve funding to pay for the bonuses.
On a more long-term level, the budget forecast for the 112,000-student district, the second-largest in Georgia, is a bit grim.
Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said that “revenue has not changed,” and that “while we always try to guard against crying wolf,” the district’s tight fiscal situation does not appear to be changing any time soon.
“We have cut until we are at the bone,” Ragsdale said. “We have nothing left to cut.”
The one-page budget presentation (below, or click for PDF version here) also includes $12 million in salary step increases for eligible employees and an increase in the employer contribution to the state teacher retirement system from 16.81 percent to 20.9 percent, or a total of $25 million more.
Of that amount, the state is contributing $16 million, according to Cobb schools chief financial officer Brad Johnson.
He added that state austerity cuts for FY 2019 will take another $10 million in funding away from Cobb. The district also will have to contribute $155 million in state “fair share” funding that is spread around other school districts in Georgia, up from the present $145 million.
Johnson also said that flat student enrollment growth figures in Cobb also figure to reduce the funding the district receives from the state.
This is all in spite of Cobb coming off a record tax digest in 2017, and a net estimated digest growth of six percent for this year that would yield an additional $24 million in school revenues.
The current Cobb school millage rate is 18.9 mills, and is capped at 20 mills. Residential property owners in Cobb age 62 and over are eligible to apply for an exemption from paying school taxes, which the district estimates costs around $100 million annually.
“We have very little additional state revenue coming in next year,” Johnson told the board members. “We have a revenue problem. We have a problem with state revenue.”
The current FY 2018 budget includes the use of $18 million in reserve funds to purchase property adjoining the school district’s Marietta headquarters ($4.2 million) and $5.6 million for school building additions and modifications in the south Cobb area.
Ragsdale said the district is still down around 900 teaching positions. Estimating that the average teacher cost is $90,000 a year, he said there’s “no way we can even attempt to think about” how to close that gap.
The proposed budget includes a total of six new instructional positions across the district, at a cost of $542,000.
Saying that revenue sources aren’t just “tapped out,” but that “we are taking on water,” Ragsdale said that “it’s really a shame that we cannot do anything more with our budget as it is now. It is what it is.”
Board member David Banks of East Cobb, who represents the Pope and Lassiter districts, admitted during the presentation that “we’re in a danger zone.”
Later on Thursday, Connie Jackson of the Cobb County Association of Educators said the budget “isn’t pretty, it’s not what we were hoping for” and urged board members to include pay raises.
“We need a raise, and we need it this year,” she said, referring to information provided by school officials that Cobb is ninth out of 12 metro Atlanta school districts in recruiting new teachers.
She said “we are slipping” and fears Cobb will slide in other indicators for paying and retaining teachers and school administrators.
There hasn’t been a millage rate increase for Cobb schools in 10 years, Jackson said, and while no one wants a tax increase, boosting the millage rate to the full 20 mills would cost homeowners an additional $80 a year on a home valued at $200,000 and would yield a 2.5 pay raise.
“That’s not much to ask for . . . for a living wage,” she said.
Johnson said more detailed budget information will be available soon, and will be posted on the district’s website as well.
The school board will hold a public hearing on the budget on April 19 at 6:30 p.m., shortly before tentative approval.
Formal adoption is scheduled for May 17, following a second public hearing at 12:30 p.m. The Cobb schools budget goes into effect on July 1, and the final tax digest figures are determined later in July.
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As a television news helicopter buzzed overhead, several dozen parents, family members and friends of Walton High School walkout students gathered Wednesday morning to show their support on National School Walkout day.
The group of about 30-40 people huddled in brisk temperatures at the back entrance to Walton, near the football field where walkout students were planning their protest, holding signs and talking quietly among themselves.
At 10 a.m., they grew quiet as the names of the 17 victims of the Feb. 14 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Fla., were pronounced. A moment of silence followed, and the group waved to students walking to and from the main school building, and to those who remained inside.
A solemn reading of the names of the 17 victims of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting a month ago today.
Walkout activity was not visible from their gathering spot on Bill Murdock Road and Pine Road. Motorists were stopped by officers patrolling the entrance to the back parking lot.
Initial reports were that only a few hundred Walton students walked out, far fewer than the more than 2,000 students protest organizers said had signed up online. Around 100 or so students each at Lassiter and Pope reportedly participated in walkouts.
UPDATE: Around 12:30 p.m. today, John Adams, the deputy superintendent of Cobb schools, posted this message on the Cobb County School Unofficial Community Page on Facebook:
In short, only a small fraction of our students engaged in protests, mainly at a relatively small number of schools. Over 99% of the students in CCSD behaved appropriately and did not violate school rules in any way. Over 90% of our schools did not experience any significant disruption. Less than 1% of our students engaged in some sort of protest.
In total, less than 1,000 students engaged in a brief protest out of approximately 112,000. Walton, for example, only had about 250 students walk out, which was far less than the 2,300 number that had been recently forecast for that location.
In general, nearly all of our students complied with the school rules and worked successfully with our principals to find non-disruptive ways to express any concerns. Congratulations to both our local school administrators and to our students for handling this situation so well.
The gates to the front entrance of Walton were locked, and no visitors were allowed earlier in the morning for a memorial event approved by the school administration.
No vehicles were allowed near the main Walton High School entrance after the school day began.
At nearby Pope High School, several Cobb Police vehicles blocked the lone entrance to the school on Hembree Road, and uniformed officers approached motorists seeking to enter.
Pope High School was off-limits to outsiders Wednesday.
The National School Walkout was observed across the country on the first-month anniversary of the Parkland, Fla., shootings, and students at Walton, Lassiter, Pope and other East Cobb high schools have been vocal and visible in expressing their desire to do something about school safety.
Officially, however, the Cobb County School District did not support the walkout, and threatened students who did with unspecified disciplinary action. School officials cited safety and a desire not to disrupt classes for their decision.
Various news outlets and social media posts were reporting that students at some schools in East Cobb and elsewhere were being strongly encouraged and possibly even physically forced to remain in their school buildings.
In response, a message posted at the Sprayberry Athletics Facebook page said 150 students gathered in the school cafeteria at 10 a.m. and staged a 17-minute peaceful observation in honor of the Parkland victims, “but at no time did students attempt to leave the building, nor were they locked in their classrooms and prevented from exiting.”
Jane Mathers, the grandmother of Walton senior Madeleine Deisen, one of the walkout leaders, said she doesn’t believe the safety explanation given by Cobb schools.
“I don’t believe that at all,” said Mathers, who was part of the supporters group, adding that the school district’s threat of student discipline “is a very big disappointment.
“What I support is action that will cause change and that will protect students,” said Mathers, who lives here and part of the year in her hometown of Haddonfield, N.J., where she said a school-endorsed observation was scheduled Wednesday at 10 a.m., the designated walkout time, at a school football field.
The National School Walkout also was planned as a demonstration in favor of gun control. Few of the signs at the Walton parent gathering specifically referred to that issue, but many had signs and wore buttons saying “Not One More.” Most expressed their disappointment with the Cobb schools decision and encouraged students to get involved in what they believe in.
Mathers acknowledged that gun-control alone isn’t the solution to the problem of school shootings. “There is no one answer to the problem,” she said, but added that it’s a shame “this particular school district and this particular school” has taken the stance it has.
Before the school day Wednesday, Walton administrators, teachers, students and invited guests gathered for a commemoration of the school shootings.
The event wasn’t open to the public, and East Cobb News was denied a coverage request. But we were allowed to have a program from the service. It indicated that the names of the Parkland victims were read aloud, and participants had an opportunity to lay flowers and visit a letter-writing table to leave their tributes.
At the end of the event, trumpeters Daniel Hudadoff and Duncan Farquahar played “Taps.”
The event was organized by the Walton Principal’s Leadership Committee, Student Government Association and other student groups. On the back of the program, it read “Thank you for supporting the students and keeping us safe,” listing Principal Judy McNeill and the Walton administration, Cobb schools superintendent Chris Ragsdale and Cobb school board member Scott Sweeney.
“We are pleased to let you know we had a beautiful day today,” the Walton administration said in a message to parents Wednesday afternoon, detailing the morning service that was “followed by a very calm day and classes proceeded as usual.”
The message concluded that “a large police presence” accompanied the students walking out, “and as typical of Walton students they thanked the officers for keeping them safe.”
One of the Walton students who walked out is sophomore Ema Barber. She told East Cobb News she left her biology class at 9:55 and signed a sign-out sheet, then walked to the stadium area.
“I was a little bit anxious because I didn’t know how many people would show up,” she said. But she the walkout was rather uneventful. There were some police and security blocking doors, but Barber said she was not stopped.
She said the Cobb schools estimate of around 250 students walking out sounded right to her, and figured the lower turnout than expected was because students weren’t sure what the consequences might be for their actions.
At 10 a.m. the names of the Parkland victims were read aloud as the students huddled on the football field. There also was contact information posted about elected representatives, including U.S. Rep. Karen Handel, and Barber said some of the students were going to call her office about gun control and school safety issues.
She said students were allowed to return to the classroom without any incidents that she knew about. Cobb schools had an early release day Wednesday, and Walton and other high schools wrapped up their school day at 11:30 a.m.
Barber said while she supports some gun control measures, the importance of the walkout was to begin to raise awareness that she hopes will continue. She also said she’s not sure what kind of suspension or punishment she may receive, but “I’m not too worried about it.”
The message from the Walton administration sent out Wednesday made no reference to any possible disciplinary action.
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Walton High School Principal Judy McNeill sent out this message to parents this afternoon:
We have received many reports of a threat made against the school for tomorrow, March 14, 2018. The administration along with school police have thoroughly investigated all reported information and have found nothing credible to substantiate a threat to our school. We are very thankful students and parents have come forward with various information as we must all work together to keep us all safe. If you ever receive any concerning information in the overnight hours, please call our local police at Precinct 4.
ORIGINAL POST, 3:41 P.M.
The day before students are staging gun-control “walkout” protests, Cobb schools issued a reminder that all campuses will be closed to “visitors” on Wednesday.
This doesn’t include parents dropping off or picking up their children. Cobb schools are on an early release schedule Wednesday, with high schools letting out at 11:30 a.m., followed by elementary schools at 12:30 p.m. and middle schools at 1:30 p.m. The rest of the afternoon is a professional learning day for teachers.
The Cobb County School District is not endorsing the walkouts and is threatening to subject those students who do to its code of conduct.
Walkouts are planned nationwide for 17 minutes at 10 a.m. as part of what’s being called National School Walkout, to honor the 17 victims of the Feb. 14 high school shootings in Parkland, Fla., and to advocate for gun control.
Students at Walton, Lassiter, Pope and other East Cobb high schools have said hundreds of students have signed an online petition to take part.
Individual schools have been given latitude to conduct their own observances as an alternative. Cobb schools cited safety reasons and conducting an undisrupted school day for its decision.
J.J. Daniel Middle School will conduct a 17-minute period of “observation and reflection” and a school-wide moment of silence. Students also will participate in a 17-day student “walk-up challenge,” in which they will be asked to get acquainted with 17 students they don’t already know.
Walton High School is holding a memorial service before classes as part of a #WhatsYour17 effort for students to engage in acts of kindness.
A visitor invited to attend the Walton event is Cobb commissioner Bob Ott, who said in his remarks at Tuesday’s commissioners’ meeting that such an alternative to a walkout “is making it into a teaching moment.”
The Cobb schools statement issued today didn’t indicate whether media wishing to cover Wednesday events would be considered “visitors” or not. East Cobb News was initially denied a request to cover the Walton service at the school level; we’ve got a call into the CCSD for clarification.
The Cobb office of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was holding a press conference later this afternoon at Pope High School to support the right of students to walk out and “to make sure that any consequences which result are fair and not excessive or disparate.”
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Since we posted this, Judy McNeill has sent out a letter to the Walton community, indicating that a pre-school memorial observation on March 14 will begin at 7:50 a.m. and will include the following:
A moment of silence and reflection for the victims and their families.
A reading of the names of the victims.
Tables set up to receive letters written by students to local representatives and officials expressing student concerns and ideas for change.
At this event, she wrote, “All students are invited to participate to express their condolences for the lives lost and express any concerns and ideas for change.”
The alternate event is being organized by the Walton Principal’s Leadership Committee.
McNeill also wrote that for students who walk out at 10 a.m., “this is an unexcused absence and will count against incentive.”
ORIGINAL POST: Wednesday, March 7, 3:06 p.m.:
After we posted earlier this week about planned student gun-control walkouts March 14 at Walton High School, Principal Judy McNeill is telling us that another group of students will be holding a separate event before school on that day.
Walton High School Principal Judy McNeill
She also said she’s asking for additional police support on what’s being called National Student Walkout Day.
In an interview with East Cobb News, McNeill said several of the students who met with her last week, including some in Walton’s current senior class, will be commemorating the 17 victims of the Parkland, Fla., high school shooting before the school day next Wednesday, as she had suggested.
Other students have said they want to “walk out ” of their classes for 17 minutes, starting at 10 a.m., in accordance with the national protest, which the Cobb County School District does not support.
“We need to have an activity that will be endorsed by the whole school,” McNeill said.
She said the students who are meeting before school next Wednesday will be holding up individual signs and conducting other observances in the memory of the Florida victims.
Those students favoring the walkout say they have gotten RSVPs from 2,300 of the nearly 2,700 students at Walton, but McNeill said it’s her understanding the number of students who have signed up online is about 1,000 students.
They had been tentatively planning to walk to the Walton football stadium, a move school officials have discouraged. McNeill said the stadium area, known as Raider Valley, is usually unlocked during the school day.
Students who would enter the stadium area would be doing so “not with any school support,” McNeill said, although they may have to show their IDs to get in. “I’m very, very worried about their safety.”
“They could do something that would be so much more meaningful than to get up and walk,” she said, adding that outsiders will not be allowed on campus.
The district has said previously that students who walk out would be violating the student code of conduct pertaining to disruption of the school day. The CCSD cited safety reasons for its decision.
All 16 Cobb high school principals were meeting with district staff today in a regular, previously scheduled meeting on a number of topics. The possibility of deciding punitive action was expected to be raised, but McNeill said she had no indication what those actions might be.
Walton students are in 4th period classes at the 10 o’clock hour. McNeill said she’s had discussions with teachers about “class-appropriate” activities for students who stay in their classrooms, and there also could be a school-wide message relayed on the intercom during that time as well.
“We have lots of ideas floating around,” she said.
Walton had two code-red drills last week, and she said they were both successful. Getting used to the new four-story classroom building that opened in August has taken some time. After a fire drill last fall, she admitted that “we had to learn some things.”
McNeill said “we spend a lot of time” preparing the school community on safety measures, including teachers having to watch videos on active shooter situations.
Principals at other Cobb schools also are beginning to communicate with their students and parents about alternate walkout day activities.
On Monday, Sprayberry High School Principal Joseph Sharp sent a letter to parents saying he’s working with students “to identify an appropriate way” and with parental groups “to create non-disruptive activities and opportunities” to honor the Florida victims.
“I cannot support or endorse allowing our students, your children, to participate in walking out of school which could place them into a potentially dangerous situation,” Sharp wrote.
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The organizers of a Walton High School walkout in favor of gun control say nearly 2,300 students have signed up for a planned protest on March 14.
That’s an overwhelming majority of the students at Walton, the second-largest high school in the Cobb County School District by enrollment, with nearly 2,700 students.
Natalie Carlomagno, a Walton sophomore, said in an interview with East Cobb News that an online petition to gauge possible student participation in the event got many more signatures after Cobb school officials announced last week they would not support the demonstrations.
“After that statement, our RSVPs skyrocketed,” Carlomagno said. “I think people will go through with it.”
The students are planning to walk out of their classes for 17 minutes, starting at 10 a.m., on March 14, in the memory of the 17 students and staff gunned down at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. last month.
Cobb school officials have cited safety reasons and disruptions of the school day for opposing this action, and said students could be subject to disciplinary action for violations of the student code of conduct.
Carlomagno said she and the other Walton organizers initially wanted the protest to take place in front of the school, under the flagpole, but there isn’t enough room.
She also said the logistics of the protest are also up in the air after she and other organizers met last week with Walton Principal Judy McNeill, who told them she was disappointed that they wanted to walk out.
Carlomagno said McNeill suggested the demonstration take place before school on the walkout day.
“That’s unacceptable,” Carlomagno said, insisting that the scheduled 10 a.m. walkout was the best way to show solidarity with the national protests.
Another suggestion was to allow the walkout to take place at the Walton football stadium, but Carlomagno said school officials didn’t want that.
(We’ve left a message with Walton officials and will update with a response.)
On Wednesday Cobb high school superintendents are getting together with high school-level district staff. Cobb school district spokesman John Stafford said it’s a regularly scheduled meeting to discuss a number of issues and topics.
“Will [the protests] be a topic of conversation? It will be hard to think it won’t be,” he said.
The district has not commented further on the walkouts except to reiterate the need to prioritize safety. Stafford said limiting the presence on high school campuses to students and staff is paramount.
While parents can come and pick up their children at any time, he said, others who may want to come to a school, especially individuals and organizations with an interest in the protest, will not be permitted.
“That’s part of our safety concern” about the walkouts, he said. “We’re not going to open up the campus to anyone who wants to come to campus.”
Stafford said there have been some suggestions from those in support of the walkouts that they would be no different than fire drills.
But having thousands of students walk out at the same time “most certainly is different,” he said.
“It’s not the same thing at all, from a security and safety standpoint.”
Carlomagno, who’s 15, said the Walton protest is to include a moment of silence for the Parkland victims, as well as a voter registration drive, and to let students know who their elected officials are. Although she and most Walton students are too young to vote, she said it’s important to let them know “what they can do to become more politically active.”
The shootings also hit home for Carlomagno, who grew up in Broward County, Fla., where Parkland is located. She said the similarities of Walton to the Parkland school, both with large suburban student bodies, have been mentioned by her friends.
“I keep hearing the conversations,” Carlomagno said, adding that she was reassured about safety measures at Walton after two “code red” drills were conducted last week.
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Wheeler High School student Gareth Thompson was one of six students from the Cobb County School District and 48 in all to take part in a Model Atlanta Regional Commission project.
Gareth, a student in Wheeler’s STEM magnet program, is pictured above with ARC chairman Kerry Armstrong (L) and ARC executive director Doug Hooker. Here’s more about what Gareth and the other students did, via an ARC press release:
Last week, metro area high school students presented resolutions to the Atlanta Regional Commission Board outlining their innovative ideas for making metro Atlanta a more dynamic place to live and work.
The students represented the 48 participants of the 2017-2018 Model Atlanta Regional Commission (MARC) youth leadership program. The class was comprised of students from the 10-county region, including six from Cobb County. The student leaders participated in six months of study, debate and hands-on activities regarding regional issues and challenges.
“I am so impressed with the hard work and thoughtful resolutions put forth by these young leaders,” said Kerry Armstrong, ARC board chair. “It’s evident that these students have a passion for finding new and creative ways to improve our region. The ARC Board committees will now review each resolution, looking for ways to advance their ideas.”
Students served on MARC committees that submitted the following resolutions to the ARC board for consideration:
‘Adopt a Grandparent’ program – Encourage strong, multi-generational communities through the pairing of an older adult and high school students, promoting improved emotional and physical health for both parties
‘Blue Light Systems’ – To increase the level of safety and comfort in metro Atlanta by implementing a “Blue Light System” in and around major activity centers, especially near college campuses and areas that might have a history or perception of high crime
Promote “learning-gardens” in school – Improve environmental education in local elementary schools by creating gardens at schools that promote awareness of water pollution, air pollution, the use of pesticides, habitat destruction, and other issues
‘The GreenLife Transit App’ – Improve mobility millennials and younger generations by partnering with MARTA leaders to develop a cell phone application with incentives that will promote the use of public transit, walking, and biking.
Now in its 21st year, the MARC program is accepting applications for next school year’s class through March 16. Learn more at http://www.atlantaregional.org/marc.
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Earlier this month the Cobb County School District announced that Jacqueline Fross, who serves several East Cobb schools as part of its crisis response team, has been named the system’s social worker of the year.
Fross supports students at Lassiter High School, Mabry Middle School and Davis, Garrison Mill and Rocky Mount elementary schools. In that role, she organizes community service projects, sponsors student clubs that promote volunteerism and service, and helped start the Lassiter community pantry.
Here’s more about Fross from a CCSD release:
In addition to having served on the boards of the National Association of Social Work and the state School Social Work Association, Fross is also a member of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress and is certified in crisis response and critical incident debriefing.
Contributing to the professional growth of her colleagues, Cobb’s Social Worker of the Year has supervised and mentored other service professionals in preparation of professional licensure.
“I have had the privilege of a very diverse and rich work history to include many years as a school social worker, medical social worker, mental health professional, supervisor, crisis response counselor, consultant, and advocate,” says Fross. “Active involvement in my community and professional organizations is important to me.”
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Students at Walton High School, along with others at Lassiter, Pope and Wheeler, are planning to walk out of classes for 17 minutes on March 14.
Shortly before 3 p.m. today the Cobb County School District issued the following statement about planned walkouts on March 14 that include those organized by students at four East Cobb high schools to protest gun violence:
The safety of our students and employees is the top priority of the Cobb County School District, and the success of our students is our one goal.
We are aware of the desire of some students to participate in a demonstration of empathy for the lives lost at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018. The Cobb County School District leadership will work with students to identify the best methods to accomplish this demonstration of empathy without interruption of normal school operation, which is a policy violation and potentially jeopardizes student and staff safety.
The Cobb County School District does not support or endorse walkouts/protests that cause interruption to normal school operations.
Students who choose to disrupt the normal operation of a school may be subject to consequences in accordance with the Student Code of Conduct.
Cobb schools superintendent Chris Ragsdale, who received an open letter from the East Cobb student organizers earlier this week, met with high school principals earlier today in a scheduled school district leadership meeting that included a discussion about about how to handle the protests.
Cobb schools spokesman John Stafford told East Cobb News that while the district is “not trying to stop the students from doing something positive” to honor the Florida shooting victims and protest gun violence, “what they don’t have the right to do is disrupt the normal school day.”
He said the decision was made by senior school district leadership and that the issue of school safety was a paramount factor.
At least 500 Walton students have signed up for what’s being called the National School Walkout, and a total of several hundred more have done likewise at Lassiter, Pope and Wheeler.
The protests are scheduled from 10 a.m. to 10:17 on March 14, the one-month anniversary of the Florida shootings, and could include students leaving school buildings and gathering outside. The 17-minute duration is for the 17 students and staff at the Florida school who were killed by a gunman. A former student has been arrested for their deaths.
“There is a proper way to do it, and it’s not to disrupt the school day,” Stafford said.
At a Cobb school board work session the day after the shootings, Ragsdale explained the challenges of security at high schools, and said the district would conduct unannounced “code red” drills to assess preparations for the possibility of an active shooter situation.
Stafford said that a number of alternatives were suggested at today’s meeting, including a candlelight vigil and other commemorations before the school day, and that discussions about those and other possibilities will continue.
The Cobb decision was announced on Wednesday shortly after students at Dalton High School were locked down, and then evacuated, after gunfire was heard inside a classroom building. News reports indicate a teacher has been taken into custody peacefully, and that the teacher barricaded himself in a classroom and fired his gun through a window.
The AJC also reported Wednesday a student at South Cobb High School has been arrested for threatening violence at that school.
Stafford would not specify what type of disciplinary action might be taken if Cobb students walk out as they have indicated, since the district handles student discipline cases on a case-by-case basis.
Although Marietta City Schools and DeKalb schools have said they would allow student protests, Stafford said Cobb “is not alone in what we are doing.”
Hannah Andress, an organizer of the Lassiter protest, told East Cobb News that she and her fellow students are going ahead with the protest as planned, and that she was told by Principal Chris Richie today that they will be given a “safe space” to conduct their walkout.
She said they will be having their protest on the home side of the Lassiter football stadium that will be accessible only by one entrance and exit point. Andress said students and staff will have to show their ID card. The school’s resource officer will be there “and we are looking into the feasibility of getting more security.
“We are working in close contact with administration and student council to ensure student safety and participation,” Andress told us.
She also forwarded to us the message she sent Ragsdale after the Cobb schools decision was announced:
“Thank you for providing me with teachers and resources for my education. However, your statement will not deter us. We will stand as a united front to protest the inaction of our government. We will not be a statistic and our voices will be heard so that 100 years down the line students will not have to dry their tears wondering where in history they lost their voice.”
Walton organizer Lily Lefter said the protests at her school also will go on, and she and her walkout co-hosts will be meeting with Principal Judy McNeill Thursday morning. Here’s what else she told us:
“We are of course a bit frustrated with the Cobb County statement because their primary ‘concern’ with endorsing/supporting the walkouts was the issue of safety. However, we are participating in the walk to stand up for gun law reform for our safety. If anything, we’re even more determined now. We aren’t going to be stopped by the threat of potential disciplinary actions because we are peacefully walking out to show respect to those affected as well as walk out because the 17 people who died cannot.”
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A student-led effort to honor the victims of the Feb. 14 school shootings in Florida and demand gun control legislation is being embraced by students at four East Cobb high schools for what’s being called the National School Walkout on March 14.
Students at Lassiter, Pope, Walton and Wheeler high schools have sent a letter to Cobb County School Superintendent Chris Ragsdale and his executive cabinet stating their intention to walk out of their classes for 17 minutes on that day.
That’s in honor of the 17 students and staff killed by a gunman at Marjory Stoneham Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. A former student at the school has been arrested for the shootings.
The protests will begin at 10 a.m. and continue to 10:17 a.m. on March 14, which is a Wednesday. The walkout grew out of the Women’s March Network, and invites students nationwide to organize their own protests.
Lily Lefter, a junior at Walton, said in an e-mail to East Cobb News that she and seven other Walton students organized a protest for their school. A member of that group later participated in a groupchat with the Pope, Lassiter and Wheeler students to prepare a joint message.
In their letter to Ragsdale, which was signed by organizers at each of the four schools, they wrote that:
“The students at our high school will not be a statistic. Because this directly affects our education, our friends, our teachers, our brothers, our sisters, our mothers, our fathers, and our entire community we will not sit idly by waiting for lawmakers to decide policy change.
“As a collective group, we, the students of Lassiter, Pope, Walton, and Wheeler, have formed an alliance across the county to inform you of our decision to stand united and walk out of class for 17 minutes. We have passionately embraced the call for smart and nonpartisan gun control laws to be enacted which has consequently begun the organization of the walkout across Cobb County.”
Cobb schools have not announced a policy decision for the protest. Over the weekend Marietta City Schools said it would not discipline students who took part in protests, along with others in metro Atlanta.
Lefter said the students have not heard back from officials at Cobb schools, which resumed this week after last week’s winter break. She said Walton students e-mailed Principal Judy McNeill last week and they would like to set up a meeting if they don’t hear back by Wednesday.
Lefter said more than 500 Walton students have signed up on the protest page in the five days since it was created.
She also said the Lassiter administration “has endorsed the walkout,” and she understands that Pope administration is in the process of setting up a meeting with students.
Lefter said she got involved because she’s always been vocal about politics, “and, particularly for something as significant and relevant as gun control:”
“I feel it is my duty as a citizen to not only send my condolences and respects to the victims and families of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, but also to take action to push for policy change. In addition to walking out, my fellow hosts and I are planning to have people make calls to their legislators in order to take it to the next level to show that we are voters, and if we’re not 18 now, we will be come this next election, and we will not support nor let stand the complacency to the lack of comprehensive gun regulation in America.”
The day after the Florida shootings, Ragsdale announced at a Cobb Board of Education meeting that the district would be conducting unannounced “code red” drills at selected high schools to assess readiness for active shooter situations.
Every school in the Cobb district is required to have a code red drill each semester.
The National School Walkout group also was planning a similar protest for April 20, the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado.
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At the end of winter break week, Sprayberry High School is once again sponsoring a Dr. Seuss Storytimes session Saturday at the Gritters Library (880 Shaw Park Road).
It’s part of the Read Across America program sponsored by the National Education Association, and the Sprayberry community has been taking part for 20 years. Here’s more about the program from the Cobb County Public Library System:
The high school students visit local elementary schools-this year adding our local library branch–and read their favorite children’s literature with the children. Families will then enjoy a special craft activity to do with the children that connects to the book they shared. The SHS students remember when they were read to on Read Across America Day when they were little, and they love passing that experience on!
Saturday’s events at Gritters are grade-specific for pre=schoolers through fifth graders according to the following schedule:
1:20-1:45 p.m.: Toddlers and Pre-K;
2-2:30 p.m.: Grades K-1;
2:45 p.m.-3:15 p.m.: Grades 2-3;
3:30-4 p.m.: Grades 4-5.
You’ll need to register by calling the Gritters Library at 770-528-2524.
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