A student was hit by a school bus at Wheeler High School on Friday afternoon and has been hospitalized, the Cobb County School District said.
A district spokeswoman said the student was a pedestrian and was struck by a bus in “an unfortunate incident.”
The female student was crossing Holt Road when she was hit, but was conscious when first responders arrived.
Her condition has not been released and nobody else was injured.
“We are grateful for the quick actions of first responders,” the spokeswoman said. “Our thoughts are with the student, who we wish a speedy recovery.”
UPDATED, SUNDAY, AUG. 27:
The student’s mother, Brittany King, has begun a GoFundMe campaign to pay for her daughter’s “medical bills, hospital stays, and physical therapy regimens.”
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The Cobb County School District is investigating what it is calling an “inaccurate e-mail” that was sent out Thursday saying that the district will not be participating in a statewide reading contest.
An e-mail was posted Friday morning on at least two Facebook groups dedicated to discussions about Cobb schools that the district would not be taking part in the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl for the 2023-24 school year “due to an abundance of caution and in light of recent events.”
That’s a reference to the district’s decision earlier this week to pull two books from 20 middle school and high school libraries because of “sexually explicit” content that the district said violated district policy and a recent state law.
The e-mail, which was entitled “Cobb HRRB Announcement,” reportedly came from the Cobb HRRB co-chairs, Susan Buckert, a media specialist at McEachern High School, and Heather Kindschy, who has a similar position at Dickerson Middle School.
The Cobb HRRB is made up of school library staffers who serve on an all-volunteer basis. The Cobb County Association of Educators has said that the HRRB’s steering committee called off participation in the Reading Bowl, fearful of running afoul of content restrictions.
The message concluded with a quote from performing artist Taylor Swift saying that “Books train your imagination to think big.”
The Cobb school district called an e-mail attributed to the Cobb Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl steering committee “inaccurate.”
A district spokeswoman told East Cobb News that “the District is aware of an inaccurate email which indicated Cobb students would not be participating in the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl. The specifics of that email are currently being investigated.”
She didn’t say what was inaccurate but further stated that “there is currently no change to Cobb student eligibility” for the competition.
In addition, she said, “all District partners are expected to use books, videos, or other forms of digital content which are in accordance with District policy and the Law.”
East Cobb News has followed up to clarify those comments.
Nothing has been updated on the Cobb HRRB website or Facebook page since the 2023 Reading Bowl earlier this year.
The Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl was started in the late 1980s and is named after a former DeKalb County school librarian who wanted to foster a love for reading in her students.
Competing students from grades 4-12 are given booklists at the elementary, middle and high school levels that are from the Georgia Children’s Book Award Top 20 listings.
There are district, regional and state quiz-style competitions based on the contents of the books that take place from January-March.
The Cobb school district spokeswoman also did not respond to a question from East Cobb News if it is evaluating the books that have been selected for the Reading Bowl; the Cobb HRRB website has posted the corresponding reading lists for the 2023-24 competition.
A Libs of TikTok screen grab from Cobb school district official John Floresta about two books pulled from school libraries this week.
The books the district pulled from the school libraries earlier this week contained discussions about sex acts, including oral sex and masturbation, and have been removed from a number of other school districts around the country.
Some Cobb parents denounced the decision on social media, saying the district was unfairly censoring materials related to sexuality and gender identity.
That came after last week’s vote by the Cobb Board of Education to terminate a Due West Elementary School teacher for reading a book to her class about gender identity.
The district did not reveal who reported the books that were removed from the libraries, nor did it explain the process for doing so.
On Thursday, the “Libs of TikTok” a high-profile social media account popular with conservatives, claimed in its newsletter that it reached out to the Cobb school district last Saturday “to ask them for comment on why they were offering pornographic themed books to their students.”
The newsletter contained a screengrab of what it said was its message to the Cobb school district, with the offending passages and images.
On Monday, the newsletter entry said, it received a response from John Floresta, the Cobb school district’s Chief Strategy and Accountability Officer, expressing surprise.
“Frankly, we weren’t aware of the sexually explicit content in these books until your email,” he said. “Any book, video, or lesson which contains sexually-explicit content is entirely unacceptable and have no place in our schools, period. We have removed both books from our schools.”
Floresta thanked “David,” the Libs of TikTok writer, “for bringing this to our attention, you have made our schools better for our students.”
David concluded the newsletter post by saying that “students should not be offered porn in schools and we will keep fighting until we get the porn removed from every school in America.”
Libs of TIkTok did not indicate how it learned of the presence of the books in Cobb school libraries that were removed.
Libs of TikTok has several million followers on its social media accounts, which post unflattering stories, photos and videos of liberals in their own words and actions.
Started by Chaiya Raichick, a former real estate agent in New York, Libs of Tik Tok has been designated as a “hate” group by some liberal advocacy groups for what it claims are anti-LGBTQ+ views.
Raichick recently published her own children’s book, “No More Secrets: The Candy Cavern,” about “the dangers of keeping secrets from your parents,” according to a publisher’s blurb.
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Several schools in the Cobb County School District notified parents Monday that books with “highly inappropriate, sexually explicit content” have been removed from their libraries.
The book’s titles weren’t named, nor were the individual schools, but the messages—which were worded identically and distributed to a number of schools, mostly middle schools and high schools—said that “this is unacceptable, and an investigation is underway.”
In response to a message from East Cobb News, a district spokeswoman said that 20 school libraries contained “Flamer,” about a 14-year-old gay boy struggling with his sexual orientation, and/or “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” a novel about high school boys who befriend a female student who is dying of cancer.
“We removed the books immediately, are in an ongoing investigation, and are committed to ensuring our students are taught with content in line with Georgia standards, Board policy, and the Law,” she said without elaborating.
She did not explain how the books were discovered and did not describe the process for removing them from the shelves.
The district said that’s a violation of 2022 Georgia law banning the teaching of “divisive concepts” in education, although numerous parents and educators spoke in support of Rinderle.
Students were not in person at Cobb schools on Monday, which was an “asynchronous” learning day due to teacher training.
East Cobb News has seen messages regarding the book pulling that were sent out to the Kell High School and Sprayberry High School communities that contained identical language. They reportedly were sent out to Walton, Wheeler and Pope high school communities as well as to parents of students at Hightower Trail Middle School in East Cobb.
The messages, which were distributed around 5 p.m. Monday, called the incident an “oversight” and said that “with thousands of books purchased over the decades, we are making every effort to insure that our library only includes materials that are aligned to Georgia standards, supported by law and CCSD policy, and contain content that is age appropriate for our students.”
Parents are being asked to communicate with teachers, principals and “appropriate school staff whenever you have a concern about what your student is reading, hearing, or learning.”
In its policies regarding media library programs, the Cobb school district said that it “acknowledges the right of parents/guardians and other citizens to be involved in the library media programs of the schools and the use of supplementary materials and to raise questions through established procedures when materials appear inappropriate for public school use.”
Cobb schools limit complaints to parents or legal guardians of students who notify a school principal, with the book being reviewed by a school committee within 45 days.
A number of public school districts in the country have recently been pulling books following parental complaints, particularly along lines of sex and gender identity.
Both of the books pulled in Cobb are among those most frequently removed from school libraries.
“Flamer,” published in 2020 by Mike Curato, a gay author and illustrator, is intended for youths ages 14-18. In the book, the lead character is a boy who is the subject of taunting and verbal abuse from other students for appearing to be gay.
“I hate that word. Gay. It makes me feel . . . unsafe,” reads a passage from “Flamer.” PEN America, which advocates for the rights of authors and free expression, said it was the most-banned book in its 2022 index of school book bans.
There are also discussions in the book about sex acts and masturbation.
“Flamer” was included in a high-profile restriction of books in school libraries in Florida following the passage of a recent state law touted by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is vying for the Republican nomination for president.
“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” by Jesse Andrews, was published in 2012 and also has been pulled from school libraries in Florida and elsewhere because of complaints about frank discussions of sex and gender identity.
The book also includes passages about oral sex.
In a recent interview, Andrews said that “it’s important to point out that most of the targeted books are about what it is to be not white or straight or cisgender in America, and I want to be really clear that I worry a lot more about the smearing and censoring of those viewpoints than I do my own.”
(“Cisgender” is a term coined by transgender activists to refer to people whose gender identity matches their biological sex.)
Moms for Liberty, which has been pushing for book restrictions in school libraries across the country, said it is not in favor of banning books, but advocating for age-appropriate materials in schools.
The organization has four chapters in Georgia, in Fulton, Hall, Oconee and Chattooga counties.
Defenders of the book restrictions have said they’re also necessary to ensure parental rights.
Those were the arguments made by parents on Thursday before the school board regarding the Rinderle termination.
The book she read, “My Shadow is Purple,” is meant to encourage children to move “beyond the gender binary.”
Rinderle hasn’t said whether she will appeal her firing to the state board of education or sue the Cobb school district. But one of her attorneys from the Southern Poverty Law Center said “this is not the end of this case. This is the beginning.”
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An East Cobb resident who’s running for a seat on the Cobb Board of Education next year said Friday that the Cobb County School District could have employed “a policy for progressive punishment” to discipline a teacher for violating the state divisive concepts in education law instead of firing her.
Laura Judge, a Democrat who’s seeking the Post 5 seat held by current Republican vice chairman David Banks, said that she was “upset that a teacher was dismissed for introducing a book promoting understanding and inclusivity. Right now there is a student in a classroom who wants to be understood. I care about that child and every other child in our school system.”
She was appealing her firing in June for reading a book to her fifth-grade gifted class called “My Shadow Is Purple,” which discusses gender fluidity.
The Cobb school district said that’s not allowed under a 2022 law that prohibits public school teachers from discussing a number of topics, including claims that racism is “systematically” racist, that a group of people is inherently “oppressive” and some issues about sex and gender identity.
The district formally accused Rinderle of insubordination, willful neglect of duties and “other good and sufficient cause,” although a tribunal appointed by Ragsdale this week recommended that Rinderle be reinstated.
The school board discussed the matter in executive session and then voted without comment in a Thursday night public meeting.
Banks, a member of the Republican majority, hasn’t said whether he’ll be seeking a fifth term. He’s one of three GOP board members whose terms expire in 2024.
Judge, a parent in the Walton High School cluster, said in response to a request for comment from East Cobb News about the Rinderle decision that “in our district, we should value the diversity of thought and expression, recognizing that each family and individual comes from a unique background with personal experiences that shape their perspectives.
“While I fully respect and understand that every piece of educational material might not resonate with every member of our community, ensuring that all students feel seen and represented in their learning environment is essential. We must strike a balance between upholding our shared community values and ensuring that every student feels valued and understood.
“While many folks have differing viewpoints on whether or not they would like this book to be read around their children, there is a policy for progressive punishment that the district did not use.
“As they are in their position to hire and/or fire employees and at the tribunal stated the teacher was not ‘coachable,’ I must ask: ‘Where are the points in time when she was written up, suspended, or trained to correct such action?’ “
“It’s because of this, I am concerned about the extreme step to fire an educator and the costs to the taxpayers of this district to defend such an action. Board member constituents are more than just those in one party or who fund a campaign. They are current and former students, parents, administrators, staff, and teachers. Please let’s continue to be the best place to teach, lead, and learn for everyone. Let’s continue to try and work together to achieve the best educational environment for all our children.”
The only other announced candidate for the Post 5 seat, which covers the Walton, Wheeler and Pope clusters, is Republican John Cristadoro. East Cobb News has left a message with him seeking comment.
Judge’s comments are similar to the reaction from other Democrats. State Sen. Jason Esteves, whose District 6 includes part of East Cobb and who is a former chairman of the Atlanta Board of Education, said the firing of Rinderle was a “terrible decision that has implications beyond this case. There was no insubordination, and teachers shouldn’t work in fear.”
Former Democratic legislator and gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams said that “inclusion is not controversial – it’s essential. Reading is fundamental (and magical). Cobb school board members took an oath to guide children & four broke their promise. And shame on the politicos who gave them the power to do so.”
But in response to her social media posting, the Cobb Republican Party said in a brief post on X (formerly Twitter) that “Yes @staceyabrams It IS fundamental and shouldn’t be used to groom CHILDREN. Let children be children – not targets of your woke agenda!”
The message also tagged Rinderle’s X handle.
The Cobb County Republican Assembly, whose members spoke in favor of parental rights at school board public comment periods Thursday, posted that it was “grateful” to the school board for voting to “protect children from transgenderism!”
Audrey Neu, a member of the assembly, the Cobb GOP’s education liaison and Cristadoro’s campaign manager, said that “Our board members showed tremendous courage tonight. Both the state law and county policy are clear on this issue. Parental rights must be upheld and respected by the teachers and staff. I’m thankful we have a Superintendent and Board willing to stand up and protect the children of Cobb County.”
The 1776 Project PAC, which works to elect school board members opposed to teaching critical race theory and other cultural and social justice issues, said that all Rinderle “had to do to keep her job was not talk about gender ideology with 10-year-olds.”
Rinderle, who was a teacher in Cobb for 10 years, could still appeal her termination to the Georgia Board of Education.
She was represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which said in a statement Friday that “let it be known that this is not the end for this case.
“We knew this was a predetermined outcome dictated by Chris Ragsdale and the Cobb County Board of Education majority,” SPLC senior attorney Mike Tafelski said. “They continue to prioritize discrimination, bigotry and retaliation in Cobb County Schools. And we will continue to hold them accountable for their unlawful conduct. This is not the end of this case. This is the beginning.”
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Along partisan lines, the Cobb Board of Education voted on Thursday to uphold Superintendent Chris Ragsdale’s decision to fire an elementary school teacher for violating Georgia’s “divisive concepts” in education law.
By a 4-3 vote, the Republican majority approved a motion by GOP member David Chastain to reject a tribunal’s recommendation against terminating Katie Rinderle of Due West Elementary School, and support Ragsdale’s recommendation “effective immediately.”
The brief discussion did not identify Rinderle by name, but did reference the decision of the three-member tribunal, which earlier this week issued a report following a public hearing.
The school board took action at a Thursday night meeting following an executive session, and after hearing comments from the public.
The board’s three Democrats voted against the termination; one of them, Post 2 member Becky Sayler, made a substitute motion to table the vote for further discussion.
Her motion failed 3-4 along the same partisan lines.
Rinderle could appeal the decision to the Georgia Board of Education. Her supporters have begun a fundraising effort that has raised more than $10,000 of a targeted $50,000.
Rinderle was represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which issued a statement from her:
“I am disappointed in the district’s decision to terminate me for reading an inclusive and affirming book – one that is representative of diverse student identities,” she said. “The district is sending a harmful message that not all students are worthy of affirmation in being their unapologetic and authentic selves. This decision, based on intentionally vague policies, will result in more teachers self-censoring in fear of not knowing where the invisible line will be drawn. Censorship perpetuates harm and students deserve better.”
In a release issued right after the board meeting, the Cobb County School District didn’t reference Rinderle by name but said only that “the District is pleased that this difficult issue has concluded; we are very serious about keeping our classrooms focused on teaching, learning, and opportunities for success for students. The Board’s decision is reflective of that mission.”
Rinderle was appealing her termination in June for reading a book to her students about gender identity called “My Shadow Is Purple.”
Cobb school administrators determined that violated a a 2022 state law that prohibits public school teachers from discussing a number of topics, including claims that racism is “systematically” racist, that a group of people is inherently “oppressive” and some issues about sex and gender identity.
The district formally accused Rinderle of insubordination, willful neglect of duties and “other good and sufficient cause.”
The tribunal of retired teachers concluded that there wasn’t enough evidence to find her guilty of insubordination.
She’s believed to be the first teacher fired in Georgia under the divisive concepts law, and argued in her appeal that she wasn’t provided proper guidance on how to teach about issues relating to gender identity.
The tribunal determined that among the lessons stemming from her reading of the book was the introduction of they/them preferred pronouns.
The panel also said that Rinderle “was knowingly untruthful when she denied understanding that the topic of gender identity or gender fluidity was a sensitive or controversial topic in this community” and that she “exhibited poor judgment when she failed to recognize the book and her lesson on ‘My Shadow is Purple’ addressed the topic of gender identity.”
Citizens, parents and educators spoke on either side of the matter at a board work session and before the vote, but were not allowed to discuss the particulars of Rinderle’s appeal, since it was a personnel matter.
Instead, many of them talked about parental rights, inclusion issues and what to be able to teach in a classroom.
East Cobb resident Micheal Garza, who introduced himself with he/him pronouns, said that inclusion is “being kind to everyone” and that’s something he and his wife instill in their daughter every day.
He said that “history will remember this time, when the civil rights of students were under attack by a small minority, and what side you were on in that fight to protect them.”
Kim Carlton, a retired Cobb special education teacher, said her decision to retire last year was sparked in part by how “things changed” about what and how she could teach when the new law went into effect.
Even what constitutes controversial material wasn’t clearly defined, she said.
“I could not find out exactly what that meant. At that point, I realized I could not teach . . . I was not respected or valued.”
But others argued that cultural issues should not be the emphasis in a classroom, and thanked Ragsdale for reinforcing parental rights and family values.
Teachers should not be trained in gender ideology, said Bill Marchione, but “reading, writing and and arithmetic. They shouldn’t deviate.”
Rick Burgess, whose three daughters graduated from Cobb schools, told board members that “your constituents are the students and their parents. Teachers do a wonderful job, but they are not your constituents.”
He asked board members to examine “their heart of hearts and determine what is the best decision for the students, not the teachers, the students.”
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Dr. Elizabeth Goff with some of her students at Bells Ferry ES. Photo: Cobb County School District
Dr. Elizabeth Goff, who teaches English as a Second Language at Bells Ferry Elementary School, was surprised on Wednesday when she was named the Cobb County School District’s 2023 Teacher of the Year.
She was given the news by Superintendent Chris Ragsdale at an assembly at the school and will be honored at a later celebration that will include her handprints being cemented at the Marietta Square.
Goff has been an educator in the Cobb school district for more than two decades, starting out as an elementary school teacher at Hayes Elementary School.
She gravitated toward teaching students whose native language is not English. At Bells Ferry, she works with students who have 29 language backgrounds, and teaches them throughout their elementary school years.
“We have really long-term relationships with students and families and multiple siblings,” Goff said in a release issued by the Cobb school district.
“It’s the best job! Getting a chance to really focus on my instruction with children, developing those relationships over time, and getting a chance to watch them progress is incredible.”
She was inspired to take up teaching while riding a bus at Walt Disney World in Florida. Seated next to her was Mary Anderson, a retired Cobb principal, and her grandson, who also attended Hayes.
Goff is creative in helping students with their language problems.
She had a third grader in a new English Learner class who was struggling with the alphabet. The student was interested in art, so she designed a learning program around art to help the student recognize letters and begin reading in English.
“Build relationships, number one, with your students,” Goff said. “Take time to build relationship relationships with your colleagues, work to get to know one another, share your strengths, and collaborate. All those things are really important for success in your first year and going forward.
“When I think about what I’m trying to do for my students, I hope that the lessons that I teach, they take them and keep them forever.”
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Katie Rinderle said Cobb County School District policies on teaching about gender identity issues are “vague.”
A special tribunal appointed by the Cobb County School District to hear a fifth-grade teacher’s appeal of her termination under Georgia’s “divisive concepts” in education law has voted to reject Superintendent Chris Ragsdale’s recommendation to fire her.
The tribunal issued a decision Monday saying that Due West Elementary School teacher Katherine Rinderle should not lose her job for reading a book to her students about gender identity called “My Shadow Is Purple.”
The firing, which took place in June, formally accused Rinderle of insubordination, willful neglect of duties and “other good and sufficient cause.”
The tribunal’s recommendation is being forwarded to the Cobb Board of Education, which has the final say and is having its August meetings on Thursday.
While stating that Rinderle “disobeyed the instructions of her supervisor to avoid sensitive and controversial topics in the selection of supplemental resources,” the tribunal concluded that there wasn’t enough evidence to find her guilty of insubordination.
The tribunal—consisting of retired Cobb principals John Kelly, Cheryl Davis and Linda Kenney—found that there was sufficient evidence to find Rinderle guilty of the other two accusations.
Rinderle was fired for violating a 2022 state law that prohibits public school teachers from discussing a number of topics, including claims that racism is “systematically” racist, that a group of people is inherently “oppressive” and some issues about sex and gender identity.
and a two-day public hearing took place last week at Cobb school district headquarters, with news media and several dozen members of the public in attendance.
She’s believed to be the first teacher fired in Georgia under the divisive concepts law, and argued in her appeal that she wasn’t provided proper guidance on how to teach about issues relating to gender identity.
The tribunal determined that among the lessons stemming from her reading of the book was the introduction of they/them preferred pronouns.
The panel also said that Rinderle “was knowingly untruthful when she denied understanding that the topic of gender identity or gender fluidity was a sensitive or controversial topic in this community” and that she “exhibited poor judgment when she failed to recognize the book and her lesson on ‘My Shadow is Purple’ addressed the topic of gender identity.”
Another issue the tribunal was asked to decide was scratched out completely without a determination, that the content of the book “involves a purpose that should be left for parents to address with their children at home,” per Cobb school district policy.
The tribunal report amended another questions and hand-wrote that Rinderle should have known that reading the book “is not appropriate and [she] should have communicated with local school admin. for approval.”
Rinderle, who was represented by attorneys furnished by the Southern Poverty Law Center, said in a statement that while she appreciated the tribunal’s vote she denies violating any policies.
“That finding remains unjust and punitive,” she said. “The district has never provided adequate guidance on how I am supposed to know what is and what is not allowed in the classroom based on these vague policies. Prioritizing behaviors and attitudes rooted in bigotry and discrimination does not benefit students and undermines the quality of education and the duty of educators.”
The Cobb school board meets for a public work session at 3 p.m. Thursday, followed by an executive session at which personnel matters are to be discussed.
The board can approve, reject or modify the tribunal’s decision.
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The office of District 2 Cobb Commissioner and Kids Care, a local non-profit, are teaming up for a teacher supply drive that continues through the end of August.
Three library branches in the district, including the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road) and the East Cobb Library (4880 Lower Roswell Road) are serving as dropping-off points for the supplies, which Richardson’s office detailed as follows:
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Scoot Henderson, a former basketball standout at Kell High School who will soon begin his NBA career, is sponsoring a back-to-school event with his family in the East Cobb area this weekend.
The event is called O.D.D-CON, which stands for “Overly Determined to Dominate,” and includes sports, technology, entertainment and empowerment segments for youth.
It’s being held Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Next Play 360 basketball training facility (2910 Canton Road), which is run by his parents. The event will also provide school supplies for students in need.
There is no charge to attend O.D.D.-Con, which will feature speakers and panelists who will discuss entrepreneurship, wellness, STEM education, and personal development, along with friendly competition in basketball, volleyball and pickleball, as well as yoga and meditation sessions.
Also on tap are live musical and artistic performances, interactive art installations, workshops led by local artists and musicians and a curated fashion show with local designers and models.
“Overly Determined to Dominate, is a mindset coined by Scoot, a way of thinking, doing, living and attaching your path to the life you want to achieve,” according to a press release announcing the event.
Henderson led the Kell Longhorns to the 2021 Georgia High School Association Class 6A title game, where they lost to Wheeler.
For the last two years he played in the G-League, a developmental basketball circuit, and was recently the third pick in the NBA draft, chosen by the Portland Trail Blazers.
His sister, Crystal Henderson, led the Kell girls team to the 2023 GHSA Class 5A state title and is a freshman at Georgia State University.
There are five other Henderson siblings, all of whom played college basketball.
For information about O.D.D.-Con and to sign up for school supplies, click here.
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As he was planning another back-t0-school extravaganza earlier this summer, D.A. Layne lost his mother.
She was so much more than a parent, as he told friends and participants at his 5th annual In The Layne Backpack-N-Swag event Saturday in East Cobb.
She was his inspiration for so many things beyond the successful basketball career he enjoyed at Wheeler High School and the University of Georgia.
She taught him to give back to the community, and helped him start the event that provides free backpacks and school supplies for students in need at the start of the school year.
“What she wanted for me was what she wanted for all of us,” Layne said as a small group of friends and families honored her memory with a balloon release at the basketball courts at Grace Church Marietta on Holt Road.
Earlier in the afternoon, families turned out to enjoy food, live music, bouncy houses and the backpack giveaways.
While there was plenty of labor and goodies donated—including the box lunches from Zaxby’s—Layne said his foundation pays for the backpacks and school supplies.
Nearly 500 people signed up in advance, and Layne said they had to cut off registration after that.
“We want to reach everybody we can,” he said, adding that those turning out come from beyond the East Cobb community to include other parts of metro Atlanta. “Thousands even.”
He began In the Layne Hoops to help children through basketball, but his community work has gone beyond the court.
During the Christmas holiday season, he works with sponsors to hold a toy drive for children who otherwise wouldn’t get gifts.
It’s part of what he said his mother stressed to him from a very young age, and it’s an influence he hopes to continue spreading.
“We’re still grieving here,” he said. “But we have to keep it going.”
Layne and his family observe a moment of silence for his mother before a balloon release in her honor.
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95 percent of Mt. Bethel ES third-graders were reading above grade levels in the 2022-23 academic year.
For the second year in a row, students at some East Cobb schools turned in some of the best results in the Georgia Milestones testing for the 2022-23 school year.
And students at other schools in East Cobb continued to struggle, reflecting slightly changed results overall from 2022, according to Georgia Department of Education data released Friday.
Georgia Milestones test students in grades 3-8 in English Language Arts and math, in grades 5-8 in those subjects plus science, and those areas plus social studies in grade 8. High school students are tested in American Literature, algebra, biology and U.S. history.
Students are categorized in one of four levels, based on those test scores: Level 1 is Beginning Learner, Level 2 is a Developing Learner, Level 3 is a Proficient Learner and Level 4 is Distinguished Learner.
Educators across the state and in Cobb County have been emphasizing ways to address learning loss due to COVID-19 disruptions, especially in third-grade reading, a key benchmark of early literacy.
Across the state, ELA Milestones scores among third-graders in 2023 rose three percentage points and the percentage of third-graders reading at or above grade-level was up slightly, from 64 to 66 percent.
In ELA, 78.9 percent of Cobb students were rated as developing learners or above, and 78.7 percent met the same threshold in all subjects.
The Cobb County School District said in a release Friday that those scores were among those that led metro Atlanta.
Across the board, 73.8 percent of Cobb students were reading at or above grade level, trailing only Fulton County.
In several East Cobb schools, third-grade reading achievements were high, with Timber Ridge (96.7 percent), Mt. Bethel (95), Tritt (94.9), Shallowford Falls (93.1), Murdock (92.2), Mountain View (91.6) and Sope Creek (90.1) leading the way with students at or above grade-level.
In the ELA results, 50.7 percent of Tritt third-graders (138 students testing) were distinguished learners.
Conversely, students at other East Cobb elementary schools struggled, with those scores under 70 percent among third-graders at the following schools: Keheley (67.9), Powers Ferry (67.2), Bells Ferry (62.7) and Brumby (55.1).
More than half of the 158 third-grade students who tested at Brumby (51.3) were considered only beginning learners in ELA.
Four East Cobb elementary schools were among the Top 10 in Georgia fifth-graders reading at or above grade level: Timber Ridge (98.8 percent), Mt. Bethel (97,4) and Rocky Mount and Sope Creek (94.6).
Several East Cobb middle schools turned in high marks for percentage of proficient learners.
In ELA, those schools were Dickerson (82.6), Dodgen (76.5), Hightower Trail (76.0), Mabry (74,4) and Simpson (71.2). In eighth-grade math, Dickerson (87.8), Dodgen (80.7) and Hightower Trail (80.2) also led Cobb schools.
At the high school level, full-year End of Course test results were similar to 2022. The Cobb school district percentage of students at or above grade-level in reading was 77.3.
Grade-level or above reading status was tops at Lassiter (96.1), Pope (94.4), Walton (92.6), followed by Kell (81.9), Sprayberry (75.6) and Wheeler (73.8).
Walton students had the highest full-year EOC percentages of proficiency learners or above in Cobb in all four testing areas: American Literature (84,3), Algebra I (69.8), Biology (89.2) and U.S. History (83.2).
Lassiter and Pope students weren’t far behind in those categories, while Wheeler students had the lowest proficiency or above learners across the board, including 36.1 percent in Algebra I and 47.7 percent in U.S. History.
Here’s more of a breakdown on the Milestones assessments from the Georgia DOE, including state, school system and school level scores from both last winter semester and the past spring semester.
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Cobb Board of Education candidate John Cristadoro said Friday that a number of prominent business, community, educational and political leaders have endorsed his campaign for the East Cobb-based Post 5 seat.
They include former Cobb commissioner and Georgia Public Service commissioner Stan Wise, Superior Plumbing CEO Jay Cunningham and former Cobb Republican Party chairs Scott Johnson and Rose Wing.
Cristadoro is a Republican with two children in the Walton attendance zone who is seeking the seat currently held by GOP school board vice chairman David Banks, who has not said said if he will be seeking a fifth term next year.
The Post 5 seat includes the Walton, Wheeler and Pope attendance zones. Democrat Laura Judge, also a parent in the Walton zone, has announced her candidacy.
Cristadoro is a first-time candidate but has compiled a lengthy list of influential supporters he’s calling his “campaign leadership team.”
They include John Loud, CEO of Loud Security Systems and a former chairman of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce and Scott Sweeney, a former school board member from East Cobb who’s the current chairman of the Georgia Board of Education.
Cunningham is one of four current members of the Cobb County School District’s Finance and Technology Committee that conducts oversight of the education SPLOST to endorse Cristadoro.
The others are Shane Spink, a community leader in the Sprayberry High School area and Wayne Brown, an engineer, both appointed by Post 4 Republican school board member David Chastain.
Lesley Litt, business executive, was appointed by Republican Brad Wheeler and Cunningham by Republican Randy Scamihorn.
The seats held by Banks, Wheeler, Scamihorn and Democrat Tre’ Hutchins will be up for election in 2024.
As East Cobb News first reported earlier this month, Cristadoro has raised nearly $30,000—loaning his campaign $10,000—for what’s expected to be an expensive campaign. Judge has raised nearly $9,000.
In his release Friday, Cristadoro said of his new supporters that “I am very honored these known leaders have chosen to join our campaign team. They will be very beneficial in assisting our campaign goal to keep the Cobb County School District strong and a recognized leader in academics.”
Stan Wise—Former Ga. Public Commissioner, Cobb County Commissioner
Jay Cunningham—CEO of Superior Plumbing, CCSD F & T Committee
Scott Johnson—Served on Georgia Board of Education; previous Chairman of Cobb GOP
Shane Spink—F & T Committee Member for CCSD and businessman
Alice Stouder—Former Cobb school district assistant superintendent
Wayne Brown—Member of CCSD F & T Committee
Lawson Kirkland—Senior V.P. in the banking industry
Peter Heinzleman—Former CEO of Cobb EMC and current business owner
Lesley Litt—Immediate Past Chair of CCSD F & T Committee and CEO of CrystalFlex
Hilda Wilkins—Retired Cobb school principal and Director of Accreditation for Cobb Schools
Dan Joy—Principal with Rule Joy Tramell & Rule Architecture Design
Dan Payrow—President of R.S. Andrews
Rose Wing—Attorney and former Cobb assistant district attorney and previous Cobb GOP Chair
Tracy Cullo—Chair of East Cobb Republican Women’s Club
Simone Thomas—East Cobb Community resident and community activist
Irey Sanders—Regional V.P of Brasfield & Gorrie
Pam & Tom Reardon—Cobb Republican activists
Bob Kilinski—Regional Operating Partner Keller Williams International
Jeff Chassner—Chief Sales Officer at New Realm
Lewis Lampley—Senior Clinical Research at Boston Scientific
Stephanie Joseph—East Cobb Resident and community activist.
Ryan Casey—Owner of Paper Connexion
Michael Trent—CEO of Trent Consulting and youth baseball coach
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Suzette Spinelli of Lassiter talks to the media after being told she was the Cobb school district’s 2023 high school teacher of the year. ECN photo and video
For Suzette Spinelli, Tuesday started out the same as it had for the last 47 years, the first day back to school for teachers.
The veteran Lassiter High School art teacher wore a light, sleeveless dress on a hot day as she attended a teachers’ assembly at the school’s concert hall, where Cobb County School District Chris Ragsdale was a special visitor.
He had come there not just to thank teachers—”what you do every day makes a difference”—but to acknowledge a certain teacher in particular.
It was Suzette Spinelli, whom he announced had been named the Cobb school district’s high school teacher of the year for 2023.
She was in a total state of surprise as she was greeted by family members bearing flowers and hugs.
“You thought when you got up you were just going to work today,” Ragsdale told her as her colleagues, administrators from Lassiter and Cobb school district and two board members rose to congratulate her.
Now in her 48st year as an educator, Spinelli has been with the Cobb school district for 41 years, and has spent much of her career at East Cobb schools. She’s been at Lassiter since 2001, and previously taught at Daniell and Simpson middle schools.
She said teaching isn’t something she does for recognition.
“This was the last thing I expected,” Spinelli told the media after her honor.
She said for a few years now, she’s been asked how long she might want to continue to teach, but retiring isn’t something that’s crossed her mind.
“Every day, every year is a new beginning,” she said, noting that her first students are now in their early 60s.
“The students haven’t changed in all these years,” Spinelli said. “I see them grow and develop and and I still stay in touch with some of them.”
Spinelli said her passion for teaching stems from her desire to instill creativity in their students, even though most of them won’t have professional arts careers.
Spinelli’s previous teaching stops include Daniell and Simpson middle schools in East Cobb.
She said she’s learned as much from them as she teaches them, and “they have made my art better. . . . Being an art teacher is the best job ever.”
What drives her, she said, is her “hands-on” approach to teaching. “I’m still old school,” Spinelli said, admitting the difficulties of teaching art virtually at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I survived,” she said. “I wasn’t the best at it, but I survived. I just love what I do.”
Her work goes far beyond the classroom, as she has been an advisor and instructor for students entering art competitions, as well as a judge for art shows. She’s also had her own work exhibited at the Marietta-Cobb Museum of Art, the Fine Arts Gallery at Kennesaw State University and The Gallery at Johnson Ferry.
Spinelli’s daughter, Cara Smith, was named Chalker Elementary School’s teacher of the year in 2022.
Spinelli was named Lassiter’s teacher of the year in April and is a finalist for the Cobb school district’s overall teacher of the year, which will be announced later in the fall semester.
Ragsdale said that after the individual school teachers of the year are named by their peers, a special committee at the Cobb school district begins the process for choosing the grade-level recipients.
Before his stop at Lassiter, he visited teachers at Awtrey Middle School and Bells Ferry Elementary School, who are the other finalists for overall teacher of the year.
They are Annelisa Bellack at Awtrey, who teaches social studies. Dr. Elizabeth Goff is an English as a Second Language teacher at Bells Ferry.
“It’s an awesome event to go to all three schools,” he said. “It’s one of my favorite things to do.”
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Carly Lyon reads to the school board from “My Shadow is Purple,” the book at the heart of the firing of a Cobb school teacher over Georgia’s divisive concepts in education law.
Although they weren’t permitted to directly address the firing of a Cobb County School District teacher over Georgia’s “divisive concepts” in education law, parents, teachers and other citizens found a creative way to get their point across on Thursday.
During a public comment session at a Cobb Board of Education meeting, a speaker read from the book that got fifth-grade teacher Katie Rinderle fired from her position at Due West Elementary School.
The book in question, “My Shadow is Purple,” by Australian author Scott Stuart, is a picture book about a child of elementary school age who doesn’t identify as a boy or a girl, but falls into what has been called by some as “non-binary.”
Among the charges against Rinderle is that she told students to use “they/them” pronouns to refer to the main character of the book instead of a gender-specific identifier.
Speakers at the school board meetings were told by Suzann Wilcox, the school board attorney, they couldn’t comment about a pending personnel matter. Rinderle is appealing her termination and a hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 10.
Michael Garza
The Cobb school district concluded the subject matter taught by Rinderle violates the 2022 divisive concepts law, which bars educators from teaching that racism is “systematically” racist, that a group of people is inherently “oppressive” and covers some issues about sex and gender identity.
The law that prompted an outcry from teachers and education organizations across the state as being draconian and lawsuits have been filed.
Rinderle’s termination, which came after the school district investigated complaints by Due West parents, is the first in Georgia since the law was passed.
For some parents, who came to the school board meeting wearing purple shirts saying “Ban Bias Not Books,” the action smacks of what they claim is the district’s lack of an embrace of a diversity and inclusion agenda.
Jeff Hubbard, president of the Cobb County Association of Educators, asked that the district reinstitute “No Place for Hate,” a curriculum program developed by the Anti-Defamation League.
Anna Clay, who said she is a Cobb teacher, was wearing a purple shirt.
She said the schools “should be welcoming of all students. Some are boys. Some are girls. Some are neither. Some are trans. Some are still figuring it out. They all deserve to be treated with respect. They all deserve to be represented in classroom literature.
“Our students are human beings, not divisive concepts.”
Michael Garza of East Cobb adapted a portion of the book’s text to explain his some of his educational experiences, and to comment on the Cobb school district’s actions.
Caryn Sonderman
“What I am left wondering is why is hate speech always free, yet your administration is quick to dismiss speech that validates me,” he said. “Being gay, being brown, being Jewish, being different is not a sin. When we all band together, your bigoted policies will not win.”
At a Thursday afternoon work session, Caryn Sonderman of East Cobb thanked the district for not allowing the teaching of those issues.
She said that the “truth is found in only one source God’s word. . . Are you building the kingdom of Satan or are you building the kingdom of God?”
“Children are being confused and deceived when God clearly made a man and a woman, a boy and girl, and you influence children to get them to think they can be other than what God made them to be.”
Board members did not comment, but later in the meeting approved a request by Superintendent Chris Ragsdale to give him authority to establish procedures and create a list of qualified candidates to serve on tribunals that conduct personnel hearings that are submitted to the school board.
“Tribunal members must possess academic expertise and must be impartial,” according to the agenda item, which was passed on the consent agenda.
During a brief discussion at the work session, the matter involving Rinderle was not mentioned.
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“I don’t want to get into a situation where we tax people out of their homes or can’t pay the rent,” Cobb school board member David Banks said in supporting a 0.5 millage rate cut.
As he did during the adoption of the Cobb County School District’s fiscal year 2024 budget in May, school board member David Banks didn’t cast a vote Thursday when it came time for setting a new millage rate.
As he did previously, Banks, the board’s vice chairman from East Cobb-based Post 5, voted present as his colleagues voted 6-0 to set the millage rate at 18.7 mills.
The millage rate is set separately from budget adoption since the Cobb tax digest isn’t formalized until July, when the Cobb school district budget goes into effect.
That’s 0.2 mills less than the millage rate that’s been set annually since 2007, but not as much as Banks wanted.
At a work session and voting session Thursday, he reiterated his desire for cut of 0.5 percent, due to rising property tax assessments that have prompted an outcry from citizens across the county.
He repeated claims that even with a 0.2 cut, the FY 2024 budget includes the largest tax increase in the history of the Cobb school district.
But during the work session, Brad Johnson the district’s chief financial officer, said he researched that issue and found that in 1972, the Cobb school budget had a tax increase of more than 30 percent.
That was a few years before the Georgia legislature approved a senior tax exemption for homeowners 62 and over from paying school taxes.
“I’m not for a wholesale reduction,” said Banks, a fourth-term Republican, saying that a 0.5-mill cut would suffice “until we get to a level that is appropriate.
“I don’t want to get into a situation where we tax people out of their homes or can’t pay the rent.”
It’s a similar concern expressed at a town hall meeting held Wednesday by JoAnn Birrell of the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which is scheduled to adopt a budget and millage rate on Tuesday.
The new $1.4 billion school district budget based on an 18.7 millage rate includes substantial pay increases for teachers and full-time employees, who have received strong pay and benefits raises for after several lean years.
Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said those initiatives have been necessary to make Cobb schools competitive for hiring and retaining teachers, issuing a common refrain of “so goes the district, so goes the county.”
But Banks persisted with a line of questioning that irritated board chairman Brad Wheeler, a fellow Republican, who wanted to “move along” with the discussion.
“Please don’t interrupt me,” Banks shot back, as the two went back and forth like that for a few moments.
At the evening voting session, the board’s three Democrats also said they liked the idea of a bigger reduction, but only one of them, Tre’ Hutchins of Post 3 in South Cobb, voted with Banks on the latter’s amendment to reduce the rate to 18.4 mills.
First-term Democrat Nichelle Davis of Post 3 in Smyrna said the 18.4 millage rate is “a step in the right direction.”
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A federal judge has said a group of plaintiffs suing over redistricting of Cobb Board of Education seats doesn’t have a legal claim against the Cobb County School District.
Cobb Board of Education maps passed by the legislature were first recommended by the school board’s Republican majority.
That doesn’t end the lawsuit, filed on behalf of several plaintiffs by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the ACLU and other attorneys.
Judge Eleanor Ross also ruled against the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration, the defendant, to have the suit dismissed entirely.
Plaintiffs claimed that the Georgia legislature, which passed the new maps last year, violated the U.S. Voting Rights Act and used race as a guiding factor in redrawing the seven school board posts.
Those actions included Post 2 and 3 in South Cobb and Post 6, which had covered most of the Walton and Wheeler high school attendance zones, and which was moved out of East Cobb, and mostly into the Cumberland-Smyrna-Vinings area.
Among the claims made by the plaintiffs was that the Cobb Board of Education’s four-member white Republican majority “voted on racial lines and without substantive debate to hire—at great expense to the county—a consulting firm to draw a proposed map” and that the process “both the hiring of a third party to draw the redistricting maps and the Board’s decision to forego bids from multiple firms— strayed from the Board’s past practices.”
That map was adopted by the legislature and was signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp and went into effect for the 2022 elections.
The lawsuit seeks to declare the drawing of posts 2, 3 and 6 unconstitutional based and to order the legislature to draw a new map.
But in a ruling issued Tuesday, Ross, of the U.S. District Court in Atlanta said that “the Court finds that the above allegations are insufficient to establish a ‘longstanding and widespread practice’ by the District of recommending a racially gerrymandered map for the Board of Education elections in Cobb County.”
Ross, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, issued the ruling nearly a month after a hearing in her courtroom.
The Cobb school district hired an outside law firm as it sought a judgment that it shouldn’t be held liable for a redistricting map approved by the state legislature.
In a release issued late Thursday afternoon, the Cobb school district said the following:
“The suit is an unfortunate extension of efforts by political activists and organizations to exert influence in Cobb County’s schools. . . .
“While the Court’s opinion frees the District and its Board members from baseless accusations of racial discrimination, the District continues to be concerned that Cobb County Board of Elections, a politically appointed body, chose not to join the District in asking Judge Ross to rule in its favor and conclude the lawsuit.”
The SPLC issued the following statement from Poy Winichakul, one of its attorneys for voting rights:
“Despite the district’s mischaracterizations of the court’s order and the case itself,we are pleased that the plaintiffs’ case against the Board of Elections is moving forward. Judge Ross declined to rule on any of the district’s arguments related to the map. What this means is that our case is proceeding exactly as plaintiffs originally pled it last summerand the district will no longer spend the county’s resources litigating the case, but instead will return to its important job of educating the students of Cobb County. We look forward to proving our case on the merits.”
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David Chastain, a third-term member of the Cobb Board of Education, has been fined $250 and ordered to pay back a portion of two campaign contributions from last year that were deemed to be a violation of state campaign finance limits.
The Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission ruled last month that two donations Chastain’s campaign received exceeded state limits and that his campaign didn’t file the proper paperwork to separate them between the primary and general election.
A Republican, Chastain was re-elected last year to serve Post 4, which includes the Kell and Sprayberry high school clusters, after a bitter general election campaign against Democrat Catherine Pozniak.
Neither of them had a primary opponent last March. Pozniak, a Sprayberry High School graduate who took an early fundraising lead over Chastain, accused him of violating state laws limiting the amounts of individual contributors three weeks before the general electdion.
One of them was a total of $5,000 from State Rep. Ginny Erhart, a West Cobb Republican who filed reapportionment maps for the Cobb school board and Cobb Board of Commissioners that were passed by the legislature.
Another was $4,000 from Jonathan Crumly, an attorney with Taylor English Duma who drew the school board maps. Erhart’s husband, former State Rep. Earl Erhart, was the CEO of Taylor English Decisions LLC, the lobbying arm of the law firm, last year.
The individual limit under Georgia campaign finance law is $3,000, and Chastain later filed amended reports that split the contributions in two.
He said his campaign mistakenly forgot to separate the contributions from Ginny Erhart and Crumly. But the state campaign finance commission, in a June 26 consent order, concluded that Chastain didn’t file the necessary paperwork to bundle the donations.
At the time, Chastain said Pozniak’s complaint was “baseless and politics at its worst,” and showed “a deliberate attempt by Catherine Pozniak and her small platoon of Democratic socialists [that] is on full display by Cobb County.”
A few days after the Pozniak complaint was filed, Ginny Erhart issued a press release claiming Pozniak fraudulently filed a senior school tax exemption for her late father’s home.
Pozniak denied the charge and said that “for Mr. Chastain and his political cronies to retaliate with a smear campaign launched on a family tragedy is beyond reprehensible.”
Chastain defeated Pozniak with 54 percent of the vote as Republicans kept a 4-3 majority on the Cobb school board.
The school board map sponsored by Ginny Erhart is the subject of a federal lawsuit that the Cobb County School District has joined.
Earl Erhart is now the managing director of Freeman Mathis Decisions, the lobbying group for Freeman Matbis and Gary, which the Cobb school district has hired to represent it in the lawsuit.
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“I’m very disappointed that you all are not trying to save us money instead of costing us money,” East Cobb resident John Frank Sanders Jr. told commissioners Tuesday.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners and Cobb Board of Education got an earful this week from Cobb citizens who say their property tax bills will be crippling them and others.
Public hearings are underway as both bodies get ready to set their millage rates for 2023, which has a record tax digest of $58 billion, up 15 percent from last year.
That’s due to tax assessments that across the board are an average of 18 percent higher than last year.
Because neither commissioners nor the school board are “rolling back” to match last year’s revenue collections, the state considers that a tax increase and governing bodies must advertise that and hold hearings.
The proposed fiscal year 2024 Cobb government budget of $1.2 billion includes retaining a general fund tax rate of 8.46 mills. The fiscal year 2024 Cobb County School District budget of $1.4 billion that began July 1 is based on a property tax reduction of 0.2 mills, from 18.9 to 18.7.
But public commenters at those hearings this week said that’s not going to help them that much, and that government should look for ways to tighten its belt when citizens are having to do so.
“I’m very concerned about the most vulnerable members of our community, and that’s the renters,” said Daniel Larkin, a resident of the Meadowbrook neighborhood of East Cobb, at a commission public hearing on Tuesday.
Since rental property owners cannot claim homestead exemptions like homeowners, “they’re going to have to pass the increases on” to their tenants.
“It’s ironic that people talking about affordable housing are driving rising rents” that will hurt tenants more.
The proposed FY Cobb budget is $43 million higher than the current budget, and reflects what county officials say are growing needs for many county services, including fire and emergency services.
Some departments would be getting double-digit percentage increases in their budgets, including public safety.
East Cobb resident Hill Wright likened the county’s appetite for spending to the plight of addicts.
“When they come and bug you to moderate your drug habit, your answer to them is ‘What would you have Cobb County sacrifice? How dare you have Cobb County sacrifice.’ ”
He said when the budget is adopted and the millage rate is set by commissioners on July 25, “you will decide to snort or not to snort.”
John Frank Sanders Jr., who has lived in his East Cobb home since 1982, said Cobb has been a “wonderful place” to live and raise a family.
East Cobb resident Daniel Larkin said commissioners and the school board “are playing a shell game, and there’s no pea under any of the shells.”
“But I can’t believe in the current economic climate we’re debating raising our taxes and not lowering them,” he said, referencing higher costs for groceries, gasoline, housing and interest rates.
“My property value is up but I don’t get the benefit for that. I’m going to live in that house until they drag me out. Yet I have to pay more for that house in addition to all the other expenses that are going up. I’m very disappointed that you all are not trying to save us money instead of costing us money.”
During a budget presentation, Cobb Chief Financial Officer Bill Volckmann said that taking out homestead exemptions, the tax digest growth is closer to 10 percent.
Those exemptions, he said, are 38 percent of residential tax digest, compared to 25 percent less than a decade ago.
“Even if your assessment goes up, you don’t pay any more into the general fund,” he said.
Volckmann also showed a sample tax bill for a resident who saved more than $600 due to the floating homestead exemption.
The Cobb fire fund millage rate, however, doesn’t have that exemption, and that same homeowner would pay $145 more for taxes in that category under the proposed budget.
He also referenced in that bill a rise of nearly $800 in school taxes, even though the Cobb school board lowered the millage rate for the first time in 15 years. But Post 5 board member David Banks of East Cobb wanted a bigger increase, and at budget adoption in May voted present instead.
The school board held two public hearings Thursday for the millage rate, and the small handful of speakers—some who also addressed commissioners—asked them to lower it even more.
Larkin was among them, and he repeated his claims that the commissioners and school board are engaging in “a shell game.
“You’ve made it abundantly clear you’re going to ram this through,” Larkin said, adding that the cutback is “a token percent.”
“I want you to think about the wreckage you’re going to instill on families,” he said. “The rents are very high in this county, and the mortgages are very high. It’s a de facto tax increase. It’s a shell game, but there’s no pea under any of the shells.”
The school board adopted a budget with pay raises for full-time employees between 7.5 percent and 12.1 percent, and the hiring of 11 new officer positions for its police department, which currently has 70 officers.
Laura Judge, an East Cobb resident who is seeking the Post 5 board seat, suggested a tax rate rollback of 0.5 mills, the same as Banks.
“I would like this board and the superintendent and staff to please listen to the folks that come here to ask for some relief on the millage rate,” she said during comments that she later sent out in a press release. “Maybe even listen to the current vice-chair who asked for a rollback of .5 mills.
“I know the budget revolves around what we expected the millage rate to be and rolling back the millage rate means tightening up within our budget. Please listen to the community members who are asking for relief.”
Commissioners will hold another public hearing on the proposed millage rate increase Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. and on July 25 at 7 p.m., when they’re scheduled to adopt the hearing and set the millage rate (more info here).
Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell will have an open house on the budget next Wednesday from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Tim D. Lee Senior Center (3322 Sandy Plains Road).
The Cobb school board will have a final millage rate hearing next Thursday at 7 p.m. during its voting session, at which the millage rate is to be formally adopted.
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As we’ve been reporting this spring, several public schools in East Cobb will be getting new principals for the 2023-24 academic year that begins on Aug. 1.
Bradley Blackman, Dickerson MS principal
There will be five new principals to be exact, and they and other members of the Cobb County School District’s leadership team are meeting at Harrison High School this week for the district’s leadership kickoff event.
They include key central office staff as well as principals and assistant principals.
A total of 13 new principals will be starting their jobs, including the following at schools in East Cobb. They were profiled recently by the Cobb school district about their new appointments and their expectations:
“Student success looks different for every student. It is important to see value in the growth of students. Individual growth is the best way to measure success for all students! “
“Under my leadership, you will see a school that focuses on teaching and learning. I believe that building positive relationships between stakeholders is imperative for a school to be successful. You’ll find our teachers using highly effective teaching strategies to engage students and create academic growth.”
“To me, student success begins with building trusted relationships and is grounded in the belief that all children are capable of growing, learning, and accomplishing amazing things. Our students thrive when their learning is facilitated and supported by teachers and staff that believe in their ability to impact the future.”
“Students are most successful when they are provided with the opportunity, engaged by highly trained and loving staff members, live in safe and supportive homes, and when they are taught to be advocates for themselves!”
“As the school leader, I will focus on creating an environment where staff and students feel safe, valued, and motivated to be the best version of themselves. I want students and staff to feel proud of their school and excited to walk through the doors each day.”
At the leadership kickoff, staff were greeted by Harrison leaders as well as Cobb school district superintendent Chris Ragsdale and Cobb Board of Education chairman Brad Wheeler.
The priorities emphasized, according to a Cobb school district release, include the following:
• Ensure that Cobb is the best place to teach, lead, and learn. • Simplify our foundation for teaching and learning in order to prepare for innovation. • Use data to make decisions.
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Therefore, state law considers that a tax increase and requires the school board to hold three public hearings on the millage rate.
Two of those will take place at 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday in the board room of the Cobb school district’s central office (514 Glover St., Marietta).
Members of the public are invited to speak on the millage rate at those hearings, and at the final hearing on July 20 at 7 p.m. in the same location.
That’s when the school board also is scheduled to vote on adopting the millage rate.
The county’s tax digest comes out in July, and this year in Cobb it’s another record—$58.1 billion, which is up 15.7 percent from last year.
The Cobb school board voted in May to pass a budget and lower the millage rate for school taxes from 18.9 mills to 18.7 mills in the wake of rising property tax assessments.
It was the first time in 15 years the school board has unofficially lowered the property tax rate, which in Georgia is capped at 20 mills.
But board vice chairman David Banks of Post 5 in East Cobb wanted the tax cut to be larger, and voted present at budget adoption.
He called it “the largest tax increase the school district has ever had” and suggested a cut of 0.5 mills.
In its official notice of a tax increase that is required to be publicly advertised, the Cobb school district said that because of those increased revenues, the 18.7 mills still represents an effective increase of 2.612 mills.
“Without this tentative tax increase, the millage rate will be no more than 16.088 mills,” the notice said. “The proposed tax increase for a home with a fair market value of $400,000 is approximately $391.80 and the proposed tax increase for non-homestead property with a fair market value of $550,000 is approximately $574.64.”
The FY 2024 budget includes salary increases between 7.5 percent and 12.1 percent for full-time employees, and the Cobb school district will hire an additional 11 officers for its police department, which currently has 70 officers.
