Another year of deep divisions on the Cobb Board of Education included a rare special review by the Cobb County School District’s accrediting agency in 2021.
In November, Cognia found that board conflicts, board members’ communications with the public and the elected body’s code of ethics, among other matters, warranted a year-long “improvement plan” to be evaluated at the end of 2022.
For now, the district maintains full accreditation, but must make strides under Cognia’s recommendations as part of a “Progress Monitoring Review.”
That the review was conducted at all remains a source of division on the fractured school board, which has been roiling along partisan lines for three years.
Cognia was approached in March by Charisse Davis, Jaha Howard and Tre’ Hutchins—the Democratic minority members on the school board—complaining that they were being silenced by the four Republican members who make up the majority.
The accreditor also received around 50 complaints from community members, ranging from district finances, equity and diversity issues and demands to change the name of Wheeler High School in East Cobb.
Cognia conducted interviews in August, with Cobb school district officials complaining that they were never given specific allegations, including the complaints from community members.
In June, the Republicans passed a resolution banning the teaching of Critical Race Theory in Cobb schools. The Democrats all abstained, after Republican board chairman Randy Scamihorn tried to prevent a discussion on the matter, including providing a definition of CRT.
The ban also extends to the use of the 1619 Project, which The New York Times published in 2019 as a historical critique of slavery in America.
Hutchins, the newest board member who represents Post 3 in South Cobb, said that CRT has never been taught in Cobb schools and “is not a real thing” in the district.
During that meeting, Hutchins and Scamihorn engaged in a lengthy and heated argument, as they raised their voices to interrupt one another for several minutes.
The Cobb vote was one of many in 2021 banning the teaching of CRT in school districts with Republican board majorities.
In October, along a 4-2 partisan vote, the Cobb school board approved a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and racism.
The vote came after anti-Semitic graffiti was found at Pope and Lassiter high schools. But the resolution was put on the school board agenda at the last minute, with no public notice, and included an anti-racism provision that the board haggled over to no avail in 2020.
The Democratic members said they were surprised by the anti-racism provision being added.
Davis, whose Post 6 includes the Wheeler and Walton clusters, was absent and did not vote.
Another source of conflict was over a reapportionment map to recommend to the Cobb legislative delegation, which will redraw the seven Cobb school board posts in January.
The four board Republicans approved spending $200,000 to hire Taylor English, a Cumberland area law firm, to draw the maps.
The map recommended by Scamihorn and approved by his GOP colleagues would draw Davis and Howard into a revamped Post 6, which would lose its East Cobb schools.
Most of East Cobb would be included in Post 5, represented by Republican vice chairman David Banks. and the rest would be in Post 4, where current GOP member David Chastain has said he will be running for another term next year.
Davis has not indicated if she’s seeking re-election; Howard has declared an intent to run for state school superintendent, but qualifying isn’t until March 2022.
In November, the same school board GOP majority amended Superintendent Chris Ragsdale’s contract without much public discussion.
The details were revealed through open records requests and included additional leverage for Ragsdale, who has been superintendent since 2015, to negotiate the terms of his departure.
The amended contract would give him extended notice if he is to be terminated for cause. He would receive full pay for the remainder of his contract if he leaves in another circumstance.
That would be if a special review panel determines that he has been “harassed” or “embarrassed” by school board members.
The three Democrats voted against the revisions. Ragsdale’s contract, which pays him a base salary of $350,000, ends in February 2024.
Other Top East Cobb 2021 posts:
- Cobb’s COVID-19 response: Vaccines; school masks; more
- Sprayberry Crossing redevelopment gets green light
- East Cobb Church mixed-use rezoning case approved
- Revived East Cobb Cityhood campaign launched
- Education SPLOST passes; Senate runoffs; reapportionment
- Anti-Semitic incidents at Pope, Lassiter
- Major overhaul coming to The Avenue East Cobb
- Tokyo Valentino adult store closes
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