Activities involving the Cobb Board of Education—in particular open conflicts in public meetings, members’ communications with the public and the elected body’s code of ethics—constitute a considerable portion of a special review report compiled by the Cobb County School District’s accrediting agency.
In its report delivered to the district this week, Alpharetta-based Cognia said it was continuing to maintain full accreditation status for the 107,000-student CCSD, the second largest public school district in Georgia.
But it cited several areas for progress over the next year for the district, and especially for the school board, to address.
The district released the report and accompanying documents late Thursday night, after the school board held a previously unannounced executive session.
You can read through them here, here and here.
Cognia, which announced it was doing an unusual “special review” in April at the behest of three Cobb school board members and after receiving nearly 50 complaints from the public, conducted more than 170 interviews during that week-long process in August.
Of the four areas of its focus, Cognia said the Cobb school district met the highest ranking on its 4-grade system on only one of them—educational equity, and that was with some conditions.
The other three—board policy-making, the board’s code of ethics and fiscal responsibility in the school district—were cited as needing improvement.
Cognia is giving the district until December 2022 to meet the requirements of what it calls a “Progress Monitoring Review.”
Among Cognia’s major findings, it concluded that the school board ethics code “is not adhered to with fidelity by most board members.”
The Cobb school district also was found to lack “a consistent and formal process for making resource allocation decisions raised questions about how the Board handles its fiduciary responsibility,” in particular its purchase of equipment related to its COVID-19 pandemic response, and the board’s appointment of a law firm to draw reapportionment maps.
The accrediting agency urged the district to “revise [its] strategic plan to “include measurable goals, initiatives, and budgetary allocations would better ensure the presence of a comprehensive plan to guide the system during its continuous improvement process.”
And fourthly, the report concluded that while standardized assessments show that academic “progress is being made in subgroup performance even though there is still a need for a continuous focus on closing the achievement gaps.”
In a statement accompanying the district’s release, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said that “as is the case with any feedback we receive, our educators will review Cognia’s process and recommendations closely and consider areas of recommended growth. I am committed to keeping our focus on high-quality teaching and learning and meeting Cobb County’s high expectations for all students.”
He did not specify those areas of improvement, nor did he mention issues regarding school board relations.
A Fractured School Board
Cognia’s report concluded that divisions and “the lack of trust among board members projects a negative light on the district and hinders the Board’s ability to lead the district toward its mission of ‘One Team, One Goal: Student Success.’ ”
The current school board is made up of four white Republicans and three black Democrats, and for the last two years sharp partisan divisions have deepened over issues involving race and equity and COVID-19 response, among others.
Those Democrats—including Charisse Davis, whose Post 6 includes the Walton and Wheeler clusters—first went to Cognia, complaining that they were being silenced by their GOP colleagues.
In late 2019, the Republican majority voted to change board policy to ban board member comments at the end of meetings.
That enflamed differences even more, even as the board tried to find consensus on an anti-racism resolution in 2020, but could not.
Late last year, Davis and Howard attempted to question Ragsdale over the district’s purchase of UV disinfecting lights, hand sanitizers and other safety equipment as part of its COVID-19 response.
After the 2020 elections—in which then-chairman Brad Wheeler and vice chairman David Banks—narrowly won re-election to maintain a Republican board majority—the GOP contingent pushed through a policy change to limit how board members can place items on meeting agendas.
While the chairman and superintendent can unilaterally add items, any other board members must now get a majority of his/her colleagues to agree.
For most of 2021, issues that Democratic members have wanted to discuss—including a possible name change for Wheeler High School—have not been aired in meetings, other than from citizens making remarks during public comment.
There also was no discussion on the board regarding a resolution to ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory, a measure that passed by another partisan 4-0 vote, with the Democrats abstaining.
In its report, Cognia said faulted board leadership for not fully communicating with colleagues about what’s on agendas, and not giving them adequate time to review them before a meeting:
“Debate related to the removal of Board Member Comments highlights the Board’s recent lack of transparency and trust and the change in Board dynamics. The discussion also shows that some board members may not be able to fully represent their constituents due to their lack of knowledge of what will be discussed and voted on before the board meeting and in time to study the issues fully.”
The Cognia review also outlined that the district is aware of 113 “potential Board policy violations” by Howard, 41 by Davis, 13 by Tre’ Hutchins (the other board Democrat) and two by Banks, all “through social media, traditional media, or other interactions with the public or the District.”
Wheeler, current chairman Randy Scamihorn and board member David Chastain—all Republicans—were found not to be in apparent violation of any board policies.
The review also found “some inappropriate comments by board members” that violated board policies encouraging them to make comments to the news media that “should be helpful to the District and not harmful.”
Cognia’s directives include having the board find an “external expert” to facilitate a self-assessment process “about best practices in school governance and develop a plan to use findings from the self-assessment to improve the Board’s effectiveness, collegiality, and trust among board members.”
Purchases in Question
Another area of concern were financial matters related to the Cobb school district’s COVID-response.
In December 2020, the board approved a request from Ragsdale to spend $12 million in general fund balance to purchase UV disinfecting lights and hand sanitizing stations that would first be installed at the elementary school level.
Ragsdale explained at the time he was confident the district would be reimbursed through additional federal CARES Act funding.
But after UV lights malfunctioned at a school, the district cancelled that portion of the contract in March.
While noting that the district has historically excelled in financial reporting, the Cognia report stated that “a review of board meeting work sessions and board meeting videos may demonstrate a lack of clarity about the collection and analysis of data used to assess the impact of resources on meeting identified goals and priorities.”
Among the recommendations are for the Cobb school district to “develop, implement, and monitor board actions regarding fiduciary matters to ensure adherence to adopted policies.”
In the Cobb school district release Thursday, Scamihorn issued a statement saying that the district still hasn’t been provided with all of the “specific allegations” that led to the special review.
The district said it spent $75,000 to prepare for the review. Cognia fully reaccredited Cobb in 2019, through 2024.
In its report, Cognia did not indicate what might happen if the Cobb school district doesn’t meet the directives of its improvement plan.
“It is disappointing the Special Review Team chose not to consider much of the context leading to various Board decisions, and their review of evidence requested from the District appears to be cursory and incomplete,” Scamihorn said. “While I am pleased this review is unlikely to have an immediately negative effect on the District’s students, it did serve as a significant distraction for the staff.”
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