Several emotionally wrenching issues facing the Cobb County School District sparked parents, teachers and others into action, or at least to speak out, during an unconventional 2021-22 school year.
Many of those issues revolved around the district’s COVID-19 response—including the deaths of three educators—as well as continuing battles over racial and cultural matters.
However, for five women who didn’t know each other previously, the red flag that caught their attention was an emergency request last December to spend $12 million for UV disinfecting lights and handwashing stations.
That money was part of the district’s COVID response as cases were on the rise, and just before the tragic deaths of three of its educators.
It wasn’t just spending the money on such short notice that bothered them, said Heather Tolley-Bauer, whose son is a rising 7th grader at Hightower Trail Middle School.
After two school board members were restricted in asking questions about those purchases, the school board majority voted to limit how board members can place items on meeting agendas, even for discussion.
“We were outraged at how the school board works,” Tolley-Bauer said.
On social media, she found another East Cobb parent, Stacy Efrat Butler, who expressed similar concerns, and wanted to organize around monitoring school board activities.
Three other women signed on at the start, including East Cobb resident Kris Hale, who had recently retired as a teacher in Fulton County Schools.
They decided to focus on following the money—the Cobb school district budget is roughly $1.5 billion—and created a group they call “Watching the Funds—Cobb.”
Their main means of communication is a Facebook group with nearly 1,500 followers, and group members have spoken frequently during public comment sessions at school board meetings.
“We’re a rag-tag group of amazing women,” Tolley-Bauer said.
Butler stressed the broader appeal the group is trying to make, regardless of political views or where people live in Cobb County.
“Our issues should matter to everybody,” she said.
Tolley-Bauer said that while “the money is not always that exciting, it is something that unifies people who might not agree on other things.”
More importantly, Hale said, “by having somebody looking at the money, they can’t ignore the community.”
The UV lights malfunctioned at Argyle Elementary School in March. The district quickly canceled that portion of the contract that represented roughly $6 million of the purchase.
A month before, Watching the Funds—Cobb questioned the district’s purchase of AlertPoint, an emergency alert system, that was set off at all schools and prompted a brief lockdown.
The district said the incident was the result of a cyberattack that was being investigated by police.
Like the UV lights and handwashing stations, AlertPoint was purchased by the school board with little discussion from a sole vendor that had not sold that product previously.
“We did a deep dive and asked, ‘Why did we approve this?’ ” Tolley-Bauer said. “What was the vetting process. We got zero answers.”
The information they had assembled and their vocal comments at public meetings garnered media attention, especially when a former AlertPoint employee was indicted for alleged bid-rigging for a technology contract at a school district in Florida.
The $12 million COVID-related purchases are among the 50 complaints against the Cobb school district directed at Cognia, its accrediting agency, which is conducting a special review next month.
Tolley-Bauer and Butler said that no one from Watching the Funds—Cobb filed any of those complaints.
‘It’s not a functioning board’
They describe the group as non-partisan, although Tolley-Bauer was part of a fundraiser last fall for Democrat Julia Hurtado, who unsuccessfully challenged Republican incumbent board member David Banks of Post 5 in East Cobb.
“It’s all about sharing facts and not opinions,” said Butler, who also lives in Post 5 and who has children attending East Side Elementary School, Dodgen Middle School and Walton High School.
A risk manager in the financial industry, Butler expressed the same frustration as Tolley-Bauer, saying that “it doesn’t seem like anybody was doing anything to hold the school board accountable.”
She said in starting such a group, the original intent wasn’t financial, “but it seemed like everything kept coming back to the money.”
AlertPoint was installed in all Cobb schools starting in 2017, but Watching the Funds—Cobb began asking about the system’s effectiveness.
“It might not be a waste of money if it worked,” Butler said. “We are pushing for transparency and communication, but board members don’t respond much. It’s not a functioning board.”
Cobb school board chairman Randy Scamihorn acknowledged Watching the Funds—Cobb’s public comments, “and I don’t have a problem with what they’re saying. I’m a fiscal conservative, so I’m willing to work with them.”
But he defended the board’s $12 million emergency purchase, saying the district needed to act fast to address a strong surge of COVID-19 cases as the Cobb school district returned to in-person learning last fall.
“How do we keep our students, faculty and staff safe?” he said. “Hindsight is always 20/20, but there was nothing nefarious going on.”
Scamihorn said the UV lights “had to be failsafe,” and when they malfunctioned at just one school, “they violated the contract. I told the superintendent that there’s no way I can continue to support this.”
He also said the board majority’s decision to limit the placing of meeting agenda items was a good one, because “we have some board members who want to have endless conversation. We would be there forever.”
(Scamihorn has clashed openly several times at school board meetings with Jaha Howard, who along with Charisse Davis of Post 6 in East Cobb voted against the $12 million UV lights/handwashing contract.)
Continuing to ‘provide a watchful eye’
After retiring as a Fulton County teacher last fall, Hale wanted to get involved in her community, especially as COVID-related actions gained more scrutiny than usual.
“Not many people were paying attention to the school board until COVID,” she said. “COVID brought it all out.”
Watching the Funds—Cobb did a teacher survey, and got 213 responses from educators on such subjects as safety, resources, CARES ACT funding, technology, equity issues and support from the district (you can read the details here).
“One of the things that I know is that teachers have no voice,” said Hale, who taught in Fulton for nearly 30 years. “I wanted to be that voice.”
Last month Watching the Funds—Cobb took part in an event about equity in funding sponsored by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute and devoted to funds provided through the American Rescue Plan Act.
Hale said the differing backgrounds and perspectives within the group have been beneficial.
“We can use our strengths,” she said. “I know what’s going on in the classroom.”
Tolley-Bauer said Watching the Funds—Cobb is continuing to look over the finances in other areas of the school district’s finances, and most recently posted about its “Fueling Student Success” food program providing meal kits to families in need.
How the district might address American Rescue Plan funds also figures to be part of the group’s focus in the coming months.
At last month’s school board meeting, Tolley-Bauer said her group “will continue to provide a watchful eye” not only on the budget, but federal funding sources, SPLOST spending “and every single expense.
“Because no matter what, funds used to make purchases all come from the taxpayers, many of whom support our work.”
Scamihorn pointed out that the district’s entire budget is posted on its website, and that he’s willing to listen to anyone in the public.
“We are so transparent that some people can’t believe it,” he said. “All they have to do is call us. I’ll listen to anybody.”
He said he approached Tolley-Bauer after the June school board meeting to have a formal discussion, and she’s accepted.
The experience has been an illuminating one for Tolley-Bauer, who among her other activities is a stand-up comedian.
“I don’t make many jokes about what’s going on in our schools,” she said. “We love our schools at the local level. With leadership [at the district level], there’s room for improvement.”
Related stories:
- Cobb school board to hold tax digest public hearings
- On 2nd vote, Cobb school board adopts FY ’21 budget
- Special review of Cobb school district slated for August
- Cobb school budget, social media and comments policies approved
- New principal appointed at Simpson Middle School
- Cobb school board bans teaching on Critical Race Theory
- Timber Ridge Crystal Growing Competition winners announced
- Cobb schools to continue summer meal distribution service
- Masks optional in Cobb schools for summer, 2021-22 year
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