Schools

Cobb County Schools Wants Your Help to Choose its Future

The "Vision 2026" program needs public input before administrators can choose a future operating system.

The Cobb County School District is soliciting input from the community to help it decide how to proceed on improvements that will allow the Class of 2026 (children currently in Kindergarten) to reach their full potential.

The first of four sessions to discuss the Vision 2026 initiative will be held at Smyrna's Campbell High School on Monday, Nov. 18. At each session, school district staff will have a meeting at 4:30 p.m., followed by a general public meeting at 6:30 p.m.

Sessions will also be held at South Cobb High School on Thursday, Nov. 21, at Kennesaw Mountain High School on Tuesday, Dec. 3, and at Lassiter High School on Thursday, Dec. 5.

According to the school district's website, the district must elect to operate as either a Investing in Educational Excellence School System (IE²), a Charter System, or a Status Quo System by June 30, 2015. Each of these systems has its own unique advantages and drawbacks.

The IE² System will bind the school board, the state Board of Education, and the Governor's Office of Student Achievement to a student performance-based contract. Although schools in this system will be given leeway to implement innovations, the schools will have to be held to a higher standard of academic achievement. Schools that fail to meet the new goals may lose local control of their operations.

The Charter System will maintain the performance-based contract, but the only parties involved will be the school board and the state board. Schools in the charter system get increased flexibility but must be held to higher performance goals. Each school will be encouraged to act independently and in the best interests of its students, shying away from a one size fits all approach. However, this power comes with increased scrutiny and accountability for individual school policy.

The Status Quo System rejects all flexibility options, and there are no performance-based contracts. School districts in this system must adhere to all federal and state guidelines and have no discretion as to what standards to adopt or reject.

Before choosing one of the three systems, the Cobb County School District wants to get input from its constituents and major stakeholders through the previously mentioned public meetings. Following public input, the district will determine its performance goals and flexibility options, and then hold at least two public hearings before choosing a system for adoption. 

Once the system is chosen, schools will be grouped in to "cohorts" and a training plan and timeline for implementing the new procedures will be established.

A draft proposal of the new system will be sent to the state Board of Education in April, 2014. The official petition should be submitted to the state before Nov. 1, 2014, with approval anticipated by February, 2015. The first cohorts will be implemented to start the 2015-16 school year.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Smyrna-Vinings