Hightower Trail Council Chastises Cobb School Board

In the first move of its kind for a Cobb County school, the  Council sent a recommendation letter to the Cobb County Board of Education in late March, demanding that the board get training and learn how to work together.

The board has 60 days to respond to the two-page letter (attached to this article), making the deadline May 29.

The Hightower Trail council’s letter is the first known recommendation letter sent to the Cobb County Board of Education by one of the district’s 114 school councils, spokesman Jay Dillon said. In 2000, Gov. Roy Barnes mandated the formation of school councils in every Georgia public school through his A+ Education Reform Act.

The Hightower Trail letter joins a list of public inquiries into the operations of the Cobb County Board of Education this year, including the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement, which not to take action but to continue monitoring the school board and district; the Cobb County grand jury, which had all seven board members appear to ; and parents who have spoken at board meetings, complained to SACS, and filed open-records requests to delve into board members’ activities and email correspondence.

The 10-member Hightower Trail School Council, which includes the principal and two teachers, bluntly stated its concerns about the school board.

“There is a loss of faith in the ability of the Board of Education to act in a manner that is best for our students,” the letter reads.

The school board’s 4-3 vote in February to in favor of a more traditional schedule particularly upset the Hightower Trail council.

“The disharmony between the Board of Education members and the disconnect with its constituents ... became evident during the recent discussions regarding the school calendar for the 2011-12 school year,” the letter reads.

The school board’s inexperience was evident at the peak of the calendar brouhaha, Hightower Trail School Council Vice Chairwoman Deirdre Walsh said.

“The Hightower School Council wants the Cobb County Board of Education to receive adequate training so they are able to work as a cohesive group moving forward as they address such important issues as the hiring of the new school superintendent, dealing with an extremely tight budget, transportation issues and the evaluation of the math curriculum,” Walsh said. “The board needs to be able to work together as well as with the parents, students, faculty, staff and business owners throughout the county to ensure that the students of Cobb County are able to receive the best education possible.”

Cobb school board Chairwoman Alison Bartlett said the board has addressed some of the East Cobb school’s concerns through its recent training with Georgia School Boards Association consultant Tony Arasi.

“The board’s doing the training, and everything they asked, we’re planning on doing,” Bartlett said. “We’ll give them a written response.”

Fifth-year Hightower Trail Principal Hilda Wilkins said she supports her school council’s right to send a formal recommendation to the board.

“I look forward to the board’s response to them,” she said.

Georgia School Council Institute President Cathy Henson founded her nonprofit organization in 2000 to help school councils, as well as the public and school community, better understand the roles each plays in quality public education.

“I admire their efforts and appreciate the fact that they’re doing exactly what we ask of our parents, which is be involved,” said Henson, who was involved in the East Cobb Council of PTAs while she lived here.