Friday, May 18, 2012
Board Vice Chairman David Morgan, who represents South Cobb, said he preferred a budget alternative that saved most of the district's reserves with five furlough days and increased class sizes.
The Cobb County School District has to go back to the chalkboard after the Board of Education failed to approve the fiscal 2013 budget Thursday night. The school board has until June 30 to pass a budget for the year that starts July 1, but after the extensive, often passionate debate Thursday, the path forward is unclear. A special meeting will be scheduled to search for an answer. The seven board members staked out at least four distinct positions on the proposed $841.9 million budget—none of them matching the administration's recommendation. Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and Chief Financial Officer Mike Addison entered the meeting recommending the same budget that the school board passed April 26 on a preliminary basis. It features 350…
The Cobb Board of Education voted 4-3 to allow CCSD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa to begin fundraising efforts for Teach for America for the 2013-2014 school year.
In a 4-3 vote at Thursday night's nearly four-hour meeting, the Cobb Board of Education authorized Hinojosa's fundraising efforts for up to 25 TFA teachers, who will likely work in South Cobb during the 2013-2014 school year. Board members Kathleen Angelucci, Alison Bartlett and Tim Stultz voted against the measure. In order for the TFA teachers to be hired, the board established four stipulations at its May 9 worksession: a maximum of 25 TFA teachers can be hired, principals have final say on teachers hired at their schools, no Cobb teachers can be displaced by TFA teachers and TFA teachers must be evaluated. Possible Fee Increase for TFA Training Hinojosa said the training fee for each TFA teacher's five-week summer training program and …
Friday, May 11, 2012
After a discussion at its recent work session, Cobb schools superintendent Dr. Michael Hinojosa agreed to submit a recommendation about Teach for America for a vote at the next Cobb Board of Education meeting.
After the Cobb County Board of Education’s discussion about Teach for America, Cobb Schools Superintendent Michael Hinojosa committed to presenting a recommendation to the board next week. The board agreed that TFA can be allowed in South Cobb schools if four stipulations are met: Cobb BOE Vice Chairman David Morgan, who represents South Cobb schools, said, “I was happy that Teach for America was back on the agenda. It would give us the opportunity to have some of the best and brightest standing in front of them (South Cobb students) to add to some of the great teachers we already have in that area.” Hinojosa will submit his recommendation to the board, including the four stipulations, for a vote at its next meeting. If the item passes, …
Thursday, May 10, 2012
The county Board of Education is keeping both options on the table leading up to the passage of the final budget next week.
We won’t know how many furlough days and how many school days will be part of the next Cobb County school year until the Cobb Board of Education passes the final fiscal 2013 budget May 17. The school board delved into the Cobb County School District’s fiscal woes during Wednesday’s work session. Most of the talk was long-term, big-picture stuff: the state’s role in putting Cobb in a budget hole; the likelihood of next year’s budget being much tougher; the effects of state charter schools; the declining educational opportunities in the county; and the need for a dramatically different educational model. “We are not providing the education that Cobb County expects, and we’ve got to find another way,” Post 7 board member Alison Bartlett said…
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Citizens can give their input up until May 17, when the Board of Education will vote on the fiscal 2013 budget of $841.9 million.
The $841.9 million tentative budget for fiscal 2013, which runs from July 1 to June 30, 2013, is based on a projected enrollment of 106,591 students. The Board of Education approved the budget 6-1 on Thursday. It closes a projected $62.5 million deficit by increasing class sizes by an average of two students, reducing the number of teachers by 350, furloughing employees for five days, cutting the school year to 175 days from 180, making media center paraprofessionals part-timers, delaying step raises by half a year, and spending $21 million of reserve funds, among other actions. The school board will hold a public forum on the budget at 7 p.m. on May 7 at the Central Office. Members will discuss changes at their 8:30 a.m. work session May …
Friday, April 13, 2012
The Cobb Board of Education is awaiting the governor's signature on new districts.
The Cobb County Board of Education will seek public feedback on the new map of the board's seven districts at its next meeting. Board Chairman Scott Sweeney on Wednesday added the school board's reapportionment to the agenda for the board's April 26 meeting. Gov. Nathan Deal had not signed H.B. 1208, the legislation redrawing the election districts in Cobb, as of Thursday morning, but he is expected to do so. Board Vice Chairman David Morgan, whose Post 3 serves South Cobb, said he is not too concerned about the map since it largely keeps his district the same. The legislation uses a map that's different from what the school board itself proposed, so board members are anxious about what the map shows. David Banks of Post 5 in East and …
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
The former East Cobb area superintendent recently had her contract renewed.
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Wednesday, April 11
Alice Stouder, the deputy superintendent for leadership and learning for the Cobb County School District, is retiring at the end of June. The Marietta Daily Journal reported Wednesday that Stouder, 56, is uncertain about her immediate plans, other than to look after her mother, an Alzheimer's patient. The Cobb Board of Education renewed Stouder's contract for another year last month on a 6-1 vote, but she told the newspaper that the lone dissenting vote, from Kathleen Angelucci, did not influence her decision to retire. Stouder, who began her teaching career at East Cobb's Murdock Elementary School, was a principal for 17 years. She was the East Cobb area superintendent for six years, overseeing operations in the Pope, Walton and …
Monday, April 9, 2012
Check out your child's zoned school and pre-enrollment forms.
Remember, Friday is your last chance to return your child's Cobb County Schools pre-enrollment form. Review the form and make any necessary changes to it. The top left corner of the form contains the name of the Cobb County school that your student is scheduled to attend next year. With the recent redistricting changes, pay close attention to the zoned school listed for your child or children. If all information is correct, then write “No Changes” on the form and sign it. All forms, regardless if there are changes, are due by Friday, April 13.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Apply by Monday to help set the 2013-14 Cobb school schedule.
The chance to stop arguing about the Cobb County School District calendar and start doing something about it has arrived. The school system is forming the calendar advisory committee proposed last fall by Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and, after much discussion, approved by the Board of Education. Each of the county’s four PTA councils—South Cobb, East Cobb, Jessye Coleman and Tom Mathis Sr.—gets two members on the committee, which also will include teachers, administrators and community representatives. The plan is for the committee to meet three to five times, starting in August, and recommend a 2013-14 calendar to Hinojosa in September. The hope, perhaps futile, is that the committee can come up with a calendar that bridges the bitter…
Thursday, March 15, 2012
The vice chairman of the Cobb County Board of Education said during Wednesday's work session that he didn't know how much his fellow board members knew about the proposed school and that a Board of Directors was never established.
Cobb County Board of Education Vice Chairman David Morgan said during the board's work session on Wednesday that he didn't know how much his fellow board members did or didn't know about the proposed STEM charter school. The STEM Inventors Academy received a $50,000 planning grant using Race to the Top funds in January. However, when CCSD backed out as the lead partner for the charter, the school was forced to return the funds. Other partners, Southern Polytechnic State University and Kennesaw State University, also refused being named as leading partner for the school. Morgan said the idea for the school came from Nate Riley, a constituent and MIT graduate. "He knew there were Race to the Top dollars and thought it would be a good idea in…
Valerie Testman
1:29 pm on Friday, May 18, 2012
Thank you to Dr. Hinojosa and Board Members Sweeny, Morgan, Banks and Crowder-Eagle. TFA is not the only solution but it certainly is a step in the right direction. I will take the 2 years of a highly effective teacher over 15 years of a so called "highly qualified" one any day. South Cobb can not continue to have struggling schools with low expectations. This is not about the teachers' jobs, … more ›