Not long after the Cobb County School District announced Tuesday postponements of all classes and other activities, Cobb County government did the same early Monday evening, as all government offices, courts and libraries will be closed Tuesday, due to ” the potential for hazardous travel conditions.”
Among those activities being postponed is a Cobb Board of Commissioners public hearing on the Cobb Comprehensive Plan.
The winter weather advisory begins at 4 a.m. Tuesday and continues until noon, but icy road conditions may be in effect all day. High temperatures aren’t expected to get out of the 20s.
Cobb government said in a statement Monday evening that “Cobb DOT crews will monitor road conditions early in the morning and treat bridges, overpasses, and known trouble spots.”
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The chance of rain overnight Tuesday in Cobb County has prompted the Cobb County School district to call off classes and all after-school and extracurricular activities on Tuesday.
The district said in a statement late Monday afternoon that the closures were”due to the possibility of dangerous winter weather, including freezing rain, ice accumulations, and travel conditions that could impact buses and student drivers.”
It’s the first weather closure of the 2023-24 academic year in Cobb County.
“We understand unscheduled changes to school days impact families differently and do not make this decision lightly,” the district statement said. “Nothing is more important than the safety of our 107,000 students, their families, and our 19,000 team members.”
The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for Cobb and much of north Georgia from 4 a.m. Tuesday until noon Tuesday, with conditions expected to affect morning commutes.
There’s a 35-45 percent chance of rain forecast between 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. Tuesday, with high temperatures expected to reach only 30.
That’s the only wet weather in the forecast for the rest of the week, but highs will hover around freezing Wednesday, with lows dipping into the teens.
But wind chills on Wednesday could make the temperature feel between -5 and -10 degrees.
Temperatures will reach highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s on Thursday and Friday, but the weekend is expected to be frigid.
Saturday’s highs are forecast to be in the high 20s and lows in the low teens. Siunday’s high is expected to be in the high 40s with lows in the mid teens.
Warmer weather is expected next week, with highs in the 50s next Tuesday and Wednesday.
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A one-car crash in Woodstock this week that took the life of a Pope High School soccer player and another teen also caused serious injuries to three other passengers.
One of them is Chris Peixoto, a soccer player at Lassiter High School, who has been hospitalized, the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office said.
Friends of Peixoto, 17, have begun a fundraiser to help pay for his medical expenses, and have received pledges of more than $55,000.
Organizer Emiliano Gonzalez, also a Lassiter soccer player, said that Peixoto “was fortunate to survive, but is going to need multiple medical procedures, surgeries and therapy.”
Peixoto is a senior who has been a member of Lassiter’s state championship soccer teams in 2022 and 2023.
Others involved in organizing the fundraiser are Aiden McConnie, a Lassiter soccer player, and Sprayberry soccer player Gavin Crowe.
Peixoto was a passenger in a Mazda 6 that crashed into a tree on Towne Lake Parkway Tuesday night. Gabriel Escandon, 17, a senior at Pope, was pronounced dead on the scene of the crash.
The Cherokee Sheriff’s Office said that Esteban Cortez-Rendon of Woodstock, who turned 18 on Tuesday, also died after being rushed to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital.
The sheriff’s office said that the driver of the car was an 18-year-old from Smyrna who also is hospitalized, along with an 18-year-old from Tulsa, Okla.
Authorities said speed may be a factor but are still investigating the crash.
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Boy Scout Troop 1011 of East Cobb is taking orders in for its 37th Annual Pine Straw Sale.
Online orders can be made at the troop’s website through Feb. 22, with delivery scheduled for March 1-2.
The troop is based at Mt. Bethel Church and is sponsored by the Rotary Club of East Cobb, and the pine straw is the long-needle variety collected in south Georgia.
Customers can order a classic bale ($6.50) or a roll, about 2.5 bales, for $15.50.
Those who order 10 bales or 5 rolls can get free delivery if they live within a 5-mile radius of Mt. Bethel Church.
For those paying by check, they should be made payable to BSA Troop 1011 and mailed or delivered with an order form to Mt. Bethel Church, 4385 Lower Roswell Road Marietta, GA 30068 by Feb. 22.
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A 12-year-old boy was seriously injured Wednesday when he was hit by a car crossing Sewell Mill Road, according to Cobb Police.
Officer Aaron Wilson, a spokesman for Cobb Police, said the boy was crossing Sewell Mill Road near Danforth Drive at 4:20 p.m. Wednesday when he was struck by a a 2017 Mazda CX-5 driven by Maria Murray, 61, of Marietta, in the westbound lane.
That’s just west of Bill Murdock Road near Dodgen Middle School.
Wilson said the boy was crossing outside the marked crosswalk, and Murray stopped her car in the road.
The boy was taken to Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital of Atlanta by ground ambulance with serious injuries, Wilson said.
In an email to the Dodgen school community, Principal Patricia Alford said the boy is a student there and was walking home when the crash occurred.
Cobb Police closed down Sewell Mill Road for a while and Wilson said anyone with information is asked to call the Cobb Police STEP Unit at 770-499-3987.
A Pope High School student and another teen were killed Tuesday night in a single-car crash in Woodstock, according to the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office.
Gabriel Escandon, 17, a senior at Pope, was pronounced dead on the scene of the crash, which took place after 8 p.m. Tuesday on Towne Lake Parkway near Towne Lake Hills East, the sheriff’s office said.
Authorities said a Mazda 6 with five people—all of them teenagers—left the road and crashed into a tree in the median. The Cherokee Sheriff’s Office said that Esteban Cortez-Rendon of Woodstock, who turned 18 on Tuesday, also died after being rushed to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital.
The three other occupants of the vehicle were not identified. They included a 17-year-old from Marietta and the driver, 18, from Smyrna, and an 18-year-old from Oklahoma, who were seriously injured and are hospitalized.
Escandon was a member of the boys varsity soccer team at Pope.
Pope principal Matthew Bradford sent out a note to the school community about Escandon’s death:
“It is with great sadness that I share with you the passing of Senior Gabriel Escandon who attended our school. This young man was very involved in the Pope High School community through sports and academics. This will be a great loss to all who knew him. Please keep this Pope High School family and our community in your thoughts in the upcoming weeks.”
He also provided ideas for parents to help their children with grief, including contacting the Pope counseling office, as well as community crisis resources.
A Cobb County School District spokeswoman issued the following statement Wednesday afternoon:
“Our hearts are broken today following the news that Cobb students were involved in a tragic car accident. Our thoughts are with the families, friends, and entire school community of the student who passed away and the students who are being cared for in the hospital. Additional school counselors are on site to support students and staff. The families ask that the media give them, and our schools, time to grieve. No further details are currently available, please continue to direct questions to the Communications Department.”
The Cherokee Sheriff’s Office said speed may be a factor in the crash, which remains under investigation.
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The management of the Chick-Fil-A location at Woodlawn Square Shopping Center said the restaurant will be closing temporarily at the end of next week for a remodeling of its drive-thru.
The store announced Tuesday that the restaurant will close at the end of business on Saturday, Jan. 20, for an estimated three weeks, with an anticipated opening in mid-February before Valentine’s Day.
The popular Chick-Fil-A location on Johnson Ferry Road was closed for several months in late 2018 and into early 2019 for a c0mplete rebuilding of the standalone building.
It featured a double drive-thru, as many Chick-Fil-A locations have undergone.
Last year, the Chick-Fil-A Lassiter on Shallowford Road near Sandy Plains Road was closed for a few weeks for a similar drive-thru upgrade.
Retail Planning Corp., which manages Woodlawn Square, got approval from Cobb County last year for a drive-thru expansion that required relocating a Delta Community Credit Union ATM.
The Chick-Fil-A across from Sprayberry High School has reopened after being closed for several months due to a complete facility rebuilding.
Chick-Fil-A Woodlawn Square updates are being provided at the restaurant’s Instagram page: @cfaonjf.
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Cobb Commissioner Jerica Richardson said Tuesday she will remain a candidate for the 6th Congressional District of Georgia, although it’s been vastly redrawn from when she announced her run last year.
The first-term Democrat, who lives in East Cobb and represents District 2 on the Cobb Board of Commissioners, said in a video-taped message that she’s staying in the 6th District.
During a special session in December, it was redrawn by the Georgia legislature in a special session in December to include South Cobb, parts of Atlanta and the south metro area.
Most of East Cobb will be in the 11th District, represented by Republican Barry Loudermilk.
The 6th District currently includes parts of East Cobb, North Fulton and Forsyth and Dawson counties, a strongly conservative area designed for a Republican, although Richardson had been making appearances in some of those places.
That’s represented by Republican Rich McCormick, and most of that area is now included in the redrawn 7th District.
When a federal judge ordered new maps due to violations of the U.S. Voting Rights Act, Richardson said she would not run against an incumbent Democrat.
But the new maps were approved, and former 6th District Congresswoman Lucy McBath, who switched to the Gwinnett-based 7th District in 2022, announced she would be switching back to the 6th.
That’s because much of Gwinnett was carved up by the GOP-dominated legislature into four Congressional districts,, most of them designed for Republicans.
Richardson didn’t mention that in her message (video below), but said her candidacy represents an “opportunity for sustainable and transformational change that will move the entire state forward.
Richardson, who lives in East Cobb, called the new 6th District “my community.” For a larger view click here.
“It’s because this race has always been about us. About our community, and the hopes and dreams that we bring to the table.”
Richardson was drawn out of her District 2 seat during reapportionment, and she and her fellow Democratic commissioners tried to invoke home rule to draw commission district boundaries.
But in a ruling on Monday, Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris ruled that action violated the Georgia Constitution. She has not ruled on a lawsuit asking that the legislative-approved boundaries—which would place East Cobb in District 3—be reinstated.
The county has filed a notice to appeal that ruling.
The area of the new 6th District includes much of the 13th District, which has been represented by Democrat David Scott since 2003.
Congressional candidates do not have to live in the districts they’re running in. Richardson moved to her East Cobb home in 2022 after living in the Delk Road area.
“From Mableton to Austell to Powder Springs to Smyrna and Vinings and Sandy Springs and the Perimeter area and South Fulton and College Park and Douglasville and Fayetteville, I love my community,” Richardson said.
“And the Sixth District is my community. I’m deciding and running for you, and I hope you will run with me.”
According to her latest campaign disclosure reports—from April 1 through Sept. 30 of last year—Richardson reported more than $52,000 in contributions and reporting spending roughly half that amount.
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Cobb commission maps passed by the Georgia legislature include most of East Cobb in District 3 (gold).
A Cobb Superior Court judge has ruled that Cobb County Government’s invocation of home rule over Board of Commissioners reapportionment violates the Georgia Constitution.
Judge Ann Harris issued a motion for summary judgment on Monday on behalf of plaintiffs David and Catherine Floam, North Cobb residents who along with Commissioner Keli Gambrill filed suit in 2023.
They were contesting a 3-2 vote by the commission in October 2022 along party lines—the board has three Democrats and two Republicans—to challenge electoral maps drawn by the Georgia legislature earlier in 2022.
Those maps, approved as HB 1154 (see map at right), drew Democratic District 2 commissioner Jerica Richardson out of her East Cobb home and placed most of East Cobb in District 3.
The Georgia Constitution stipulates that redistricting of county commission and school board maps is a function of the legislature.
The Republican-led legislature bypassed maps drawn by the Democratic-led Cobb delegation that would have kept District 2 lines largely unchanged (see map at left).
The county’s legal challenge focused on a number of home rule exemptions, passed in 1965 legislation designed to give local governments more control.
But in her ruling (you can read it here), Harris said that law, the Municipal Home Rule Act, and a Constitutional Amendment passed by Georgia voters the next year, does not allow counties to invoke home rule to affect elective county office, including procedures for electing and appointing a county governing authority.
“Cobb County argues that the map is not a procedure,” Harris wrote in her ruling. “Read in the most natural and reasonable way, and giving words their ordinary meaning within the text and context, the Court finds that redistricting is part and parcel of the procedures for an election.”
Maps approved by the Cobb commission’s Democrats would keep Jerica Richardson of East Cobb in the District 2 (in pink) that she currently represents.
At the end of her ruling, Harris concluded that “the Court concludes that Cobb County’s Amendment to Act 562 [the home rule law] was an unconstitutional exercise of authority under its Constitutional Home Rule powers, inasmuch as this Court has found it was an action affecting an elective county office and affecting the procedure for election of the county governing authority.”
A separate lawsuit asking that the state-approved maps be implemented is still pending.
Through a county spokesman, Cobb County Attorney Bill Rowling said Monday that his office will be appealing Monday’s ruling.
“We respect the ruling by Judge Harris issued this morning,” Rowling said. “The county has already filed its notice of appeal and looks forward to making our case during the process ahead.”
That filing states that the appeal should be heard by the Georgia Supreme Court.
Qualifying for the 2024 May primaries is in the first week of March; in addition to District 2, the District 4 seat and Cobb Commission Chair—all held by Democrats—will be on the ballot.
The county statement didn’t include a reference to Richardson’s current tenure on the board.
Her term expires at the end of 2024, but it’s uncertain whether she would have to vacate her office immediately.
For Which It Stance, a non-profit advocacy group created by Richardson, issued a statement Monday afternoon denouncing the ruling.
“This ruling casts a spotlight on the Dist 2 Seat, triggering the possibility of an immediate vacancy due to the reinstatement of the state’s HB1154 map,” For Which It Stance Executive Director Mindy Seger said in the statement.
“The unprecedented mid-term vacancy arising from redistricting history in Georgia raises legitimate questions about the potential violation of O.C.G.A 1.3.11, a critical statute addressing the alteration of terms of office.”
Cobb Republican Party Chairwoman Salleigh Grubbs hailed the ruling, saying Harris is “an astute jurist for standing up for the Georgia Constitution. We are happy this case is resolved not only for Cobb County but for every sovereign county in the State of Georgia. Most importantly this is a big win for the voters of Cobb County who were being disenfranchised by this gross overreach and who were left in limbo until this case was resolved.”
Harris held two hearings last year on the lawsuit. Initially filed by East Cobb resident and former Cobb Commission Chairman Larry Savage, the lawsuit later was joined by Gambrill.
But she was later dismissed as a plaintiff after Harris ruled she didn’t have standing.
Gambrill and JoAnn Birrell, the board’s two Republican commissioners, have argued publicly that only the legislature can conduct reapportionment of county elected bodies.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr also issued a statement last year saying the same thing, but his office did not get involved in the lawsuit.
The Floams are residents whose home previously had been in Gambrill’s District 1, then was placed in Birrell’s District 3.
Gambrill and Birrell were re-elected in 2022 with the legislative-approved maps, and voiced their objections each public meeting of 2023 as the commission operated with the Cobb delegation maps.
The commission’s first meeting of 2024 is Tuesday morning, at which a discussion about the case and the ruling may take place.
East Cobb News also asked the county spokesman how commission business will proceed in the wake of the ruling, but he did not respond.
Kevin Redmon, a Democrat from East Cobb who has announced for the District 2 seat but lives in the legislative-approved District 3, issued a statement Monday.
“Redrawing district lines in the middle of a term opens the path to renegade politics where districts can be pulled into question at any point and for any reason,” he said. “We eagerly anticipate an appeal that will further this discussion, which is critical to Cobb County’s political future.”
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The following East Cobb residential real estate sales were compiled from agency reports. They include the subdivision name and high school attendance zone in parenthesis:
Dec. 18
2781 Burtz Drive, 30068 (East Valley Estates, Wheeler): $520,000
889 Fawn Way, 30068 (Fawn Ridge at Indian Hills, Walton): $545,500
2892 Octavia Circle, 30062 (Vestavia Estates, Walton): $1.495 million
2412 Crooked Tree Court, 30062 (Post Oak, Pope): $630,000
2820 Foothill Trail, 30066 (Caribou Hills, Sprayberry): $452,000
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After saying for several months he had not decided on whether to seek a fifth term to the Cobb Board of Education, Post 5 member David Banks made his retirement from that position official Sunday.
Banks sent via his newsletter a letter he wrote to Cobb Republican Party chairwoman Salleigh Grubbs that he won’t be candidate for the East Cobb post he has served since 2009.
He didn’t give a reason in the letter, although he has cited in previous interviews with East Cobb News (here and here) and other media outlets his age.
Two candidates in the Walton High School cluster—Republican John Cristadoro and Democrat Laura Judge—announced last year they will be seeking the Post 5 office.
A former technology executive, Banks, who is in his early 80s, said in the letter to Grubbs that “my goal has always been to provide the best and complete education opportunities for our students that is expected by the Cobb County community. That I have supported the teachers and staff faithfully during my years as a School Board member and encouraged every school to adopt and implement S.T.E.M. programs in all schools.”
Banks, who narrowly won re-election in 2020, has been a controversial figure for much of his previous 15 years on the board.
A strong Republican conservative partisan, he has clashed with former Democratic board members Charisse Davis and Jaha Howard on racial and cultural matters, and has used his newsletter to decry COVID-19 vaccines and to referr to the illness as the “China virus.”
He said in the letter announcing his retirement that his time in office “has been rewarding for me by giving me the opportunity to meet and know many Cobb County families and Cobb School District employees (who are the best). To support a stable school environment, for an excellent education program, and to encourage the Robotics programs in our schools.
“Hopefully my efforts has made Cobb County a better place to live and grow.”
He closed the letter to Grubbs by saying that as he ends his time in public office, “I will continue to support Republican conservative values and support the Cobb County Republican Party.”
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If you’re a Sprayberry High School graduate, you’re invited back to your alma mater next week for a final “walk-through” of the main classroom building that will soon be giving way to a new facility.
School officials have scheduled what they’re calling an “Alumni Walk” next Friday from 4-6 p.m., before the Yellow Jackets’ varsity basketball games.
In addition to the final “SWARM” there will be refreshments for the attendees.
The Sprayberry campus at Sandy Plains Road and East Piedmont Road opened in 1973, just as suburban growth in East Cobb was on the rise.
That was a year before Walton High School opened, and in recent years Walton and Wheeler have had replacement classroom buildings constructed.
That new six-year extension of the one-percent sales tax began collections on Jan. 1, and the Cobb County School District will soon take out a $100 million loan against that tax for 2024 to begin major construction projects.
Sprayberry has been a top priority on that list, and the estimated project cost is $67 million, and will follow ongoing construction of a new Career, Technology and Agricultural Education building and a new gymnasium.
The new classroom building will have 99 classrooms, administrative and guidance offices and a learning commons.
In a recent note to the Sprayberry community, principal Sarah Fetterman aid that 39 classrooms will be moved to modular units in the school’s main parking lot, and that entrance will be closed starting in the spring semester.
Other details of rebuild logistics and a contract for the construction project are still being formalized.
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East Cobb resident Kevin Redmon, who announced in October his candidacy for District 2 on the Cobb Board of Commissioners, has filed his first financial disclosure report.
Redmon’s report with the Cobb Board of Elections shows more than $30,000 in fundraising (including in-kind contributions) for the period ending Dec. 31.
Roughly half of that is via a loan he made to his campaign. In addition, Redmon reported $11,540 in monetary contributions from others and $3,833 in in-kind contributions.
Monday is the deadline for local candidates in Cobb to file 2023 financial reports with Cobb Elections.
Redmon, a Democrat and an IT sales and account manager, is seeking the District 2 seat being vacated by first-term Democrat Jerica Richardson, who is running for Congress.
Redmon’s report (you can read it here) indicates he’s spent $11,000, mostly for campaign staff and consulting, and has $15,539 cash on hand.
Redmon’s individual contributions range from $20 to $3,300 from East Cobb resident Justin Smith, whose employer is listed in the report as Goldman Sachs.
The expenses include $6,375 for campaign staff services to Christopher-Robin Millican, a member of the Cobb state committee to the Democratic Party of Georgia; $1,200 to Blake Judkins, a political consultant based in Gwinnett; and $870 to Mindy Seger, the head of Richardson’s non-profit For Which It Stance and a leader of the anti-cityhood East Cobb Alliance.
Redmon has been a member of Richardson’s “community cabinet” but resigned that volunteer post when he announced his candidacy.
“This is an incredible vote of confidence in the message we are communicating to the community as we continue to build the Kevin for Cobb campaign,” Redmon said in a statement issued Friday by his campaign. “We look forward to building on this momentum and continuing to assemble a strong team to educate the community on the importance of the right kind of leadership at this time in Cobb’s history.”
No other candidates have announced for the District 2 seat, whose boundaries for the 2024 elections are unclear.
A partisan dispute between current Cobb commissioners about the commission’s electoral map that began at the end of 2022 continues into 2024.
District 2 was redrawn by the Georgia legislature in 2022 to put Richardson out of her seat and to place most of East Cobb in District 3, represented by Republican JoAnn Birrell, who was re-elected that year with those new lines.
In the current map, Redmon also lives in District 3, but Cobb Democrats are trying to invoke home rule over redistricting, a claim Republicans say violates the state constitution.
Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris held hearings last year on a lawsuit filed by GOP commissioner Keli Gambrill (since dismissed as a plaintiff) challenging the home rule action, but has yet to make a ruling.
The District 2 seat is one of three on the 2024 ballot, including District 4 in South Cobb, held by first-term Democrat Monique Sheffield, and Cobb Commission Chair.
Incumbent Democrat Lisa Cupid and Republican challenger Kay Morgan, a real estate agent from West Cobb, have announced for the latter, but have not filed financial disclosures.
Also on the 2024 ballot is Post 5 on the Cobb Board of Education. Incumbent Republican David Banks has not announced if he is seeking a fifth term but has filed a 2023 disclosure form indicating no contributions or expenses.
Republican John Cristadoro and Democrat Laura Judge, who announced their Post 5 candidacies last year, have not filed financial reports.
Qualifying for the 2024 May primaries is in early March.
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Body20, a national fitness franchise specializing in electrical muscular therapy workouts, will have a grand opening celebration for its new studio in East Cobb on Jan. 11.
The studio is located at 1100 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 270 (Woodlawn Point Shopping Center) and the grand opening party will be from 5-8 p.m.
The event will include free workout demos, food and on open bar, music, fun raffles, and presentations from other health and wellness businesses in the community, and will be followed by a final weekend of special membership pricing and other promotions.
The East Cobb studio (website link here) is the first of several planned in metro Atlanta by franchisee Gene Chayevsky, a veteran entrepreneur and business investor.
Body20 specializes in 20-minute one-on-one personalized workouts with certified coaches. The EMS technique was first developed by sports coaches in the former Soviet Union to assist athlete recovery, and in recent years has been developed for fitness studio businesses in Europe.
Body20 has nearly 70 locations in the U.S., including Brookhaven, Buckhead, Decatur and Roswell in metro Atlanta.
“I saw BODY20 as a future dominant brand in the nascent US market of technology-enhanced personalized fitness. Using the amazing power and efficiency of Electro-Muscle Stimulation-based workouts to achieve impressive strength and cardio results for anyone in only 20-40 minutes per week, regardless of age or fitness level, I immediately realized that BODY20 has the potential to disrupt the legacy personal training market with its more impactful and time and cost-effective workouts,” Chayevsky said in a release announcing the East Cobb studio grand opening.
“By making personalized training and much higher levels of fitness accessible and affordable to a much wider audience who often struggles with fitting in a consistent exercise routine with family and career obligations, BODY20 provides a uniquely valuable service to all communities in which it operates.”
Another EMT specialty studio, Strongvibe Fitness, recently opened in East Cobb at Paper Mill Village as an independent business.
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Teachers and staff in the Cobb County School District will be getting a one-time bonus in their next paychecks in January.
That’s due to a $1,000 bonus for teachers and non-temporary workers that was pledged in December by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and funded through state coffers.
In addition, non-temporary part-time Cobb school district personnel will get a one-time bonus of $500 funded through local reserves.
Cobb Superintendent Chris Ragsdale asked for the Cobb Board of Education to approve the bonuses during a special-called organizational meeting on Wednesday.
The board approved the measure with a unanimous 7-0 vote.
Ragsdale explained that the bonuses will be included in employees’ paychecks by Jan. 19 or Jan. 24, and that they couldn’t have been done in December because of the holiday break.
Each teacher and non-temporary employee working more than half-time hours will get the $1,000 bonuses, while those working half-time or less will get the $500 bonuses.
The specific dollar-figure amounts for the locally-paid bonuses—from the Cobb school district’s general fund reserve—weren’t specified at the Wednesday meeting.
East Cobb News has left a message with the district seeking more information.
Kemp announced the statewide teacher and staff bonuses before the holidays as a means of aiding local school district’s retention efforts.
It’s part of a larger $300 million bonus program for all state employees. In includes $104 million in safety improvements at schools, with an estimated $45,000 going to each district for such things as security guards and technology upgrades.
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David Banks has not announced whether he’ll seek re-election to a fifth term on the Cobb Board of Education in 2024.
For the fourth consecutive year, Cobb Board of Education member David Banks has been voted vice chairman.
The four-term Republican from Post 5 in East Cobb was one of four votes during the board’s annual organizational meeting Wednesday.
Randy Scamihorn, a Republican from Post 1 in North Cobb, was voted chairman, getting his vote and those of the other three GOP members who make up the board’s majority.
Banks and Scamihorn are among the three Republicans whose current terms expire in 2024, along with outgoing GOP chairman Brad Wheeler.
Banks was nominated by Democratic member Tre’ Hutchins, but he cast the only vote in favor and his motion failed.
Banks, who is in the final year of his fourth term, has said he has not decided on whether he will seek re-election, due to age and other issues.
Two parents from the Walton High School cluster—Republican John Cristadoro and Democrat Laura Judge—announced their candidacies for the Post 5 seat last year.
Qualifying for local and state races is in early March, and the Cobb school board elections figure to garner serious attention.
The board has had a 4-3 Republican majority for the last three election cycles. But Banks and Wheeler had close races in 2020.
And the Georgia legislature will be called when it convenes next week to redraw Cobb school board electoral maps that a federal judge threw out in December.
That followed a federal voting rights lawsuit, alleging dilution of minority voting strength.
In 2021, the legislature reapportioned the Cobb school board maps to push Post 6 out of East Cobb and into the Cumberland-Vinings-Smyrna area.
Post 5 was redrawn to include the Walton, Wheeler and Pope clusters, while Post 4 includes Kell, Lassiter and Sprayberry.
The legislature has until Jan. 10 to draw new maps for the 2024 elections.
The Cobb school board also approved its 2024 meeting calendar, with its first regular meetings on Jan. 18.
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Amy Hurewitz, mother of Wheeler High School junior Ian Hurewitz, sends along new that her son has earned the rank of Eagle Scout.
He’s a member of Troop 1818, of the Georgia Scouts BSA, and consists of Jewish members from the North Atlanta, Roswell, Johns Creek, Alpharetta, East Cobb, Sandy Springs, Decatur and Dunwoody areas.
His Eagle Scout project, she reports, consisted of building a shed in the back of his synagogue, Bongregation B’nai Torah of Sandy Springs, creating a rubber mulch path and planting gardenia bushes to beautify the area.
In his scouting career, Ian has earned 55 merit badges (only 21 are required), and enjoys helping other Scouts reach their rank requiremens.
In his non-scouting time, he leads youth religious services at his synagogue, plays the bassoon in a wind ensemble and creates 3D animations on his computer.
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Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The following East Cobb residential real estate sales were compiled from agency reports. They include the subdivision name and high school attendance zone in parenthesis:
Dec. 11
805 Exposition Pointe, 30067 (The Townes at Marietta, Wheeler): $447,310
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The first-term Democrat, who lives in East Cobb and represents District 2 on the Cobb Board of Commissioners, said in a video-taped message that she’s staying in the 6th District.
That’s due to a $1,000 bonus for teachers and non-temporary workers that was pledged in December by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and funded through state coffers.
