East Cobb News

The chairman of the Cobb Board of Education said Thursday the body has no authority to act on a court settlement involving vice chairman John Cristadoro of East Cobb related to his private business affairs.

Cristadoro and his marketing company last month settled a lawsuit with a former client in Fulton County in which he was alleged to have misused $250,000 meant for the client’s advertising campaign.

The civil lawsuit alleged fraud, breach of contract and fiduciary duty, civil racketeering and gross negligence. There was no admission of guilt in the final consent judgment, but Cristadoro was ordered by a judge to repay all but $25,000 of that amount.

Reading from a prepared statement during a school board work session Thursday, Chastain said that state law prohibits any actions by school boards into members’ behavior outside of their official duties in elected office.

“This board of education does not exceed the authority that it has been given by exploring the personal lives of our board members in the same way we do not involve ourselves in the personal lives of our students, staff and parents,” said Chastain, a Republican from Post 4 in Northeast Cobb.

“If we extend our authority into the past and into board members’ personal lives, where does it stop?” he continued.

“Criminal charges filed years before a member ran for the board? Allegations made at divorces, adoption hearings? Comments on Facebook that a member is not fit or was a bad teacher? Defaulting on student loans or filing bankruptcy? Failing to make credit card payments on time?”

Board member Becky Sayler, a Democrat from Post 2 in Smyrna, had asked for a hearing to determine to determine if Cristadoro could have violated the school board’s code of ethics.

But Chastain—who never referenced Cristadoro by name in his statement—said that “I asked for input from my fellow board members. I was reminded the board had no authority on this, or any other personal matter, particularly personal matters occurring before the member was elected to the board.

“I will repeat this again: No board member has the authority to make any decisions. Anyone who suggests otherwise is simply wrong.”

During Chastain’s remarks, the three Democratic members tried to ask for points of order or clarification to see if the statement was being made on behalf of the whole board.

It was only after he had finished that Chastain allowed Democratic member Nichelle Davis of Post 6 in Smyrna to ask a question.

When she wanted to know if his remarks spoke for all seven board members, some applause broke out. “The statement stands,” Chastain said, and he immediately continued with the work session agenda.

He said the statement would be the board’s only word on the subject. The board’s three other Republican members, including Cristadoro, said nothing.

Chastain’s statement appears to be the first in an open meeting by a Cobb school board member since 2019, when he and the board’s Republican members voted to ban board member comments during public meetings. Two of their then-Democratic colleagues claimed the move was an act of censorship to silence them.

Chastain, who also was board chairman at that time, did not reference the ban in making his remarks Thursday.

On Friday morning, Sayler said on her board member’s Facebook page that her attempt to pursue a possible ethics violation inquiry “did not have the support of enough board members to move forward. You, the community, deserve board members who are informed, thoughtful, and guided by doing what is best for students. I’m sorry that not enough of my fellow board members saw this situation with the same urgency and morals that so many of us did.”

Democrat Laura Judge of East Cobb, who lost to Cristadoro in the 2024 general election, said during a public comment session at the work session Thursday that Cristadoro’s legal issues are “a blemish on this district’s reputation. This was not a minor error or personal dispute. It involved the admitted misuse of $250,000. And yet, some of our long-standing board members and leaders seem willing to look the other way. That should alarm all of us.”

She also objected to Chastain’s handling of the statement “before even discussing it in executive session with fellow board members” but that “it shows exactly how decisions are being made in this district—without all voices at the table.”

Judge added that the matter shouldn’t be a partisan issue (Republicans have a 4-3 school board majority). But Chastain, in his remarks, alleged that’s exactly what was happening with Cristadoro, a Republican in his first year on the board.

“During my 11 years on the board there have been numerous requests to consider actions by board members which allegedly affected their elected positions,” Chastain said.

“Virtually of these allegations were made by members who were not part of the majority’s political party. Without exception and regardless of the board member’s political party we have declined. The board of education will continue its unbroken practice and limit itself to actions occurring within a board member’s term of office and his or her elected service.”

In his only comment on the matter, Cristadoro, right after the settlement, accused his critics of creating “fake outrage” over matters that had nothing to with his public service.

“It’s a personal case from a personal business, both of which have nothing to do with serving students, other than being a target by those who are trying to tear down Cobb schools,” he said.

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• Results from the 1st Wheeler-Walton chess tournament

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