After the Cobb County Board of Education voted 4-3 at their March 9 work session to postpone the school board calendar issue indefinitely, School Board Member David Banks, whose Post 5 covers Pope, Lassiter and Sprayberry high schools, is trying to bring it back again.

South Cobb Patch asked local mothers what they think of the school board issue that just won't die.

What are your thoughts on the balanced calendar issue? Is it dead for good?

Janis Stevenson, mother of two, one at Mableton Elementary: I think it was ridiculous and poor judgment for the school board to even revisit the subject (when they changed it recently.)  The calendar should have been a closed subject until the three years of the balanced calendar ran its course. Additionally, I think it is shameful that the board sent out a survey and then summarily rejected the results.  I have heard that the new board members were honoring campaign promises. Well, did those people not even vote in the survey? The folks that felt so strongly that their elected official would vote to reject the balanced calendar chose not to provide input on the survey.  Or perhaps, some of the very same folks who were against the balanced calendar changed their minds once they actually lived it. Folks cant get used to a calendar if they change it up every year!

That all being said, I am not 100 percent a fan of the balanced calendar, although that is all my children have known. I can only compare to when I went to school up North. I am in favor of starting later in the year but finishing later in the year.  I do not think we need a week at Thanksgiving, and for those that celebrate Christmas, having the two weeks off AFTER Christmas is the silliest thing I have ever heard.   I personally need time BEFORE Christmas to shop, bake, cook, wrap, decorate, etc.  The busy time is all over by 10 a.m. on Christmas day!

Lisa Herold, South Cobb area mother: While I liked, and the kids liked, the balanced calendar this past year I didn't have a preference either way since I also have a full-time job outside of the home.  The balanced calendar made it more difficult to find child care during those times.  What I totally opposed or disliked was the way the Cobb County board (of education) members handled this whole issue.  The issue had been voted on last year to try the balanced calendar out for three years. Just because they were new to the board shouldn't mean they disregard the previous board’s intentions, especially since the previous board’s intentions had been made with the majority of the students’, parents’ and staffs’ feedback.  The new board totally disregarded this and basically railroaded, no bulldozed, their power over their own constituents that voted them into the position. 

Kiddada Grey, South Cobb area mother: I am disappointed that the few board members did not take into consideration the "promise" that the calendar was a three-year calendar. At this point, the bigger issue is the perception of board and how they will relate to the public. The relationship is now at a standstill and the trust has deteriorated. The school board members and the public need to realize that one important aspect about leadership is that a leader has the ability to gain new insight and make adjustments to their prior views. This was the perfect opportunity to illustrate that. Now the board not only has to work on the relationships they have with each other, but the relationship they have with the public. Unfortunately, I don't think this issue will go away until parents feel like they have been heard and respected. Respect for the parents’ opinions is what was lacking from the decision-making process.