UPDATED, SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 1:40 P.M.
The school board voted Saturday to hire the Atlanta law firm of Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough to represent the Cobb County School District on an interim basis.
The vote was 6-1 with board member Jaha Howard against, saying he wanted more time to process the recommendation from Supertintendent Chris Ragsdale.
Howard made a motion to delay the decision, but it failed 1-6.
Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough provides legal services to the Atlanta and Fulton school systems and will start work with Cobb immediately.
ORIGINAL REPORT:
After voting to terminate its association with its longtime law firm, the Cobb Board of Education on Thursday announced it would hold a special called meeting on Saturday to consider recommendations for interim legal counsel.
By a 4-3 party line vote, the board voted to end its association with Gregory, Doyle, Calhoun & Rogers of Marietta, but did not explain why.
During its Thursday work session, board member Jaha Howard asked whether the matter could be discussed publicly, but was told it would be done in executive session.
After that executive session, the board held a voting session, with Howard, Charisse Davis and Tre’ Hutchins, the board’s Democratic minority, opposing the measure to seek new legal counsel.
There was no further discussion during that meeting.
A late addition to the board’s meeting agenda indicated only that “the Cobb County School District requires legal counsel with resources allowing it to consistently, reliably, and timely respond to the District’s complex legal needs. The increasingly complex legal environment requires solutions incorporating policy guidance, governance training, intergovernmental cooperation, and external accreditation services.”
On Saturday at 10 a.m., the board will hold a special called meeting, for which Superintendent Chris Ragsdale “is directed to identify law firms possessing the expertise, size, experience, and capacity to immediately and competently serve as interim general counsel for the Cobb County School District.”
That meeting can be seen by the public on the district’s website.
The agenda item also states that the board has a year to identify a permanent legal counsel, and that Gregory, Doyle, Calhoun & Rogers will provide assistance during the transition.
Partner Clem Doyle is present at board meetings and executive sessions, serving as a parliamentarian and conducting public comment sessions.
He also did not speak about the decision to change legal services on Thursday.
The decision comes as the Cobb school district is the subject of a preliminary investigation by the Cobb District Attorney’s office into school equipment and technology purchases, and as a citizens’ financial watchdog group has been scrutinizing and publicly critical of some of that spending, including for COVID-19-related safety supplies.
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