Schools

Calendar Back on School Board Agenda

At Wednesday's work session, David Banks will propose moving up the start dates for the 2012-13 school year.

Scott Sweeney's first meeting as chairman of the Cobb Board of Education on Wedesday will feature an old subject. 

David Banks, Sweeney's fellow East Cobb representative on the school board, wants to move up the start of the 2012-13 school year two weeks to Aug. 1. 

His proposal is one of many items on the first regularly scheduled work session of the year, and it rehashes the familiar school calendar arguments that occupied much of the school board's activity last year. 

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But as The Marietta Daily Journal indicated on Tuesday, it's unlikely Banks' move will garner much support on the board, which has been split along 4-3 lines on the issue in the past.

The work session begins at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Cobb County School District main office, 514 Glover Street, Marietta. (Here's the full agenda for the meeting.)

Find out what's happening in South Cobbwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Sweeney, elected this year, is among the school board majority that voted to revert back to a traditional school calendar for the current academic year.

That vote set in motion from parents for the rest of 2011. Last month, balanced calendar proponents started a website and an online petition drive . 

Banks, whose term expires at the end of this year, told the MDJ that he receives "thousands of emails about the calendar, I think that’s what the public wants."

He also claims that his proposal would improve staff morale, reduce student absenteeism and save the school system an estimated $1 million in operating expenses. 

Other items on the work session include a contract approval for renovations and modifications at .


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