Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Additional changes have been proposed to the $894 million budget approved by a 4-3 vote Monday.
The Cobb County Board of Education has tentatively approved an $894 million fiscal year 2014 budget that includes additional revisions and is likely to be altered further before final passage next month. By a 4-3 vote, the school board on Monday adopted a budget plan that retains five furlough days for all Cobb County School District employees, including teachers, but further reduces the number of proposed teacher cuts through attrition. The tentative budget also calls for taking more out of reserve funds than originally recommended and makes a more generous assumption about the upcoming Cobb tax digest than the county tax assessor. Voting in favor of the tentative budget were board chairman Randy Scamihorn of North Cobb, vice chairman …
Friday, April 26, 2013
Opposition to Common Core curriculum standards resulted in 4-3 votes against new texts starting with the 2013-14 academic year.
The battle against Common Core curriculum standards came to Cobb County Thursday night. Opponents of the federally-embraced guidelines filled the Cobb Board of Education board room to strongly protest spending $7.5 million for new mathematics textbooks in the Cobb County School District. And after some heated debate, and by 4-3 votes in two separate votes, the board made those opponents happy in rejecting the measures. They were at their most vocal right before the votes, when board member Kathleen Angelucci pleaded for more time due to a "groundswell" of concern about the new standards in numerous states, including Georgia. "When Common Core was adopted, nobody knew what was in it," she said. "It's like Obamacare. You vote for it, then …
Monday, April 22, 2013
The Board of Education continues its discussions at a 2 p.m. special meeting.
After getting a newly revised set of options for balancing the fiscal year 2014 budget last week, the Cobb Board of Education will hold a special budget meeting on Monday. The meeting takes place at 2 p.m. in the board room of the Cobb County School District Central Office, 514 Glover Street, Marietta. Last Wednesday, the board received requested changes in the budget proposal that would restore some proposed teacher reductions through attrition, provide a mid-year cost-of-living increase for district employees and carry over $10 million in fiscal year 2013 leftover funding to reach an $838 million balance. The proposal still calls for five furlough days for all district employees and using $22 million in district reserves. The district's …
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Today's work session will include an update on ways to close a deficit of nearly $86.4 million.
Some Cobb Board of Education members aren't happy with proposed cuts to the projected fiscal year 2014 budget deficit of $86.4 million, and they've asked for other recommendations as they continue their deliberations. The budget update is on the agenda of today's school board work session, which begins at 8:30 a.m. in the board room at the Cobb County School District central office, 514 Glover Street, Marietta. The meeting also will be streamed live on the CCSD website. At an April 3 meeting, board members David Banks and Kathleen Angelucci were especially vocal about some of the proposed cuts that they believe would affect the quality of classroom instruction. They also were at odds with Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and Chief Financial…
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The district has created a portal with fiscal year 2014 budget information.
- GOVERNMENT
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Wednesday, April 10
The Cobb County School District has created a special web page with fiscal year 2014 budget information, including an eight-minute video and links to downloadable financial details, including the forecast and this year's budget calendar. Readers also may make comments about the budget on that page. The district faces an $86.4 million deficit for FY 2014, and after a work session last week, the Cobb Board of Education urged officials to come up with altenatives to proposed cuts that some board members declared would affect the educational mission. Also on the page is information about the proposed "Strawman" concept for online learning, which could shift as many as 25 percent of all teaching positions in the county from the classroom by …
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Details of suggested cuts to close an $86.4 million budget deficit weren't received well at a work session Wednesday.
Getting used to what's being called "the new normal" isn't going to be easy for the Cobb County Board of Education. After absorbing more details of a proposed fiscal year 2014 budget that recommends deep cuts in several key areas, school board members on Wednesday demanded more options as they try to solve a projected $86.4 million deficit. That's because many of the suggestions provided by Cobb County School District officials were hardly to their liking. During a long and at times heated work session, school board members told Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and the district's chief financial officer, Brad Johnson, that they weren't happy with a 13-point list of proposed cuts and changes to achieve a balanced budget. "This board needs to…
Monday, March 18, 2013
Details of proposed school maintenance and construction work subject to Tuesday's Cobb Education sales tax referendum.
On Tuesday Cobb voters will decide whether to extend the current Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) for school maintenance and construction projects in the Cobb County School District and Marietta City Schools. The Cobb Education SPLOST IV, if passed, would collect a penny on the dollar from Jan. 1, 2014 through Dec. 31, 2018. The Cobb County School District would receive $717.8 million and Marietta City Schools $55.4 million. The attached PDF files, compiled by the Cobb County School District, include descriptions of the work that would be done at all schools in the Campbell and Osborne high school districts. Among the major projects slated for Smyrna-area schools include $12.7 million for a new gym at Campbell High School, $29.9 million for…
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Tuesday's referendum is expected to be close as the sales tax extension gets a key endorsement.
With advance voting completed, all that remains for the Cobb Education SPLOST IV referendum is Tuesday's final day of voting. Voters will decide whether to continue to tax themselves one penny on the dollar for school construction and maintenance projects. The proposed collection period, which would begin Jan. 1, 2014 and conclude on Dec. 31, 2018, would generate $717.8 million for the Cobb County School District and $55.4 million for Marietta Public Schools. Supporters of the referendum say extending the SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) is the most affordable method to pay for needed capital projects. Opponents who held a rally on the Marietta Square last weekend believe the project list includes too many unnecessary …
Monday, March 11, 2013
Four additional locations will be open from Monday through Friday for the Cobb Education sales tax referendum.
Advance voting for the Cobb Education SPLOST IV referendum expands to four satellite locations this week. Satellite advance voting takes place Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the following locations: Advance voting also continues this week at the Cobb Elections Main Office, 736 Whitlock Ave. The hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The formal Cobb Education SPLOST referendum date is March 19. There will be no advance voting on Monday, March 18. Voters also may choose to vote by mail, and requested ballots also will be mailed starting today. Voters can apply for a ballot on the Cobb Elections website and have it mailed to them. A sample ballot also is available on the Cobb Elections website, but that feature has been …
Thursday, January 24, 2013
The appointment of a chief academic officer is scheduled to be taken up at Thursday night's meeting.
- GOVERNMENT
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Thursday, January 24
The Cobb Board of Education will hold its monthly business meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday in the board room of the Cobb County School District Central Office, located at 514 Glover Street in Marietta. A public comment period will take place at the start of the meeting. The board also is holding an executive session at 6 p.m. to discuss legal and personnel matters. Among the agenda items for the business meeting are the appointment of a chief academic officer. The school board named Amy Krause in an acting position upon the retirement of Judi Jones in November. Also before the board are several items pertaining to construction contracts at various schools, including the following: The board also will recognize Pope High School's state …
Brian
12:07 am on Thursday, March 28, 2013
We need a parking fix for Nickajack school. It's near impossible to park on parents' days. They added students but didn't add parking. more ›