Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Lassiter, Pope, Walton and Wheeler high schools account for 39 of the 86 students from the Cobb County School District.
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Tuesday, March 26
Students from Lassiter, Pope, Walton and Wheeler high schools have been chosen for the Georgia Governor's Honors Program this summer. They are among the 86 students selected from the Cobb County School District. Three students from Marietta City Schools also were chosen as part of a group of 690 finalists statewide, out of more than 3,000 applicants. The Governor's Honors Program, which is administered by the Georgia Department of Education, is a summer residential instructional program designed to provide intellectually gifted and artistically talented high school students challenging and enriching educational opportunities not usually available during the regular school year. Activities are designed to provide each participant with …
Dickerson, Dodgen and Hightower Trail all had more than 90 percent of students meet or exceed state standards.
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Tuesday, March 26
Eighty-seven percent of students in the Cobb County School District met or surpassed standards in the winter 2013 state Eighth Grade Writing Test, according to a figures released by the district Monday. Cobb has the highest percentage of students of any school district in the metro Atlanta area reaching or surpassing the state benchmark, and it is one point above 2012 Cobb results. The metro figure is 86 percent, while across the state 82 percent of students reached or went beyond the standards. East Cobb-area middle schools topped the school-by-school results once again, with Dodgen Middle School having 98 percent of its students meet or go beyond the state standards; at Dickerson Middle School and Hightower Trail Middle School, it was 97…
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Georgia law requires that kindergarten students be five years old on or before Sept. 1.
With two months left in the 2012-13 school year, it's time for parents of new kindergarten students to register their children for the 2013-14 school year. Parents can go to any Cobb County elementary school from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. March 27 to complete the registration process. To find out what school your child will attend, check the Cobb County School District bus routes site. For more info about registration requirements, please visit the enrollment webpage.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Teacher layoffs have not been recommended as the projected budget deficit for FY 2014 has jumped to $86.4 million.
The chief financial officer for the Cobb County School District is proposing five furlough days, hundreds of school-level staff reductions, borrowing from reserve funds and cancelling an employee cost-of-living increase to help balance a fiscal year 2014 budget deficit that has grown to an estimated $86.4 million. The proposed cuts do not include a recommendation for teacher layoffs, but savings through attrition. In a special budget presentation to the Cobb Board of Education, chief financial officer Brad Johnson said his estimates were revised up from nearly $80 million earlier this year, largely due to rising insurance costs for district employees. He is projecting $894 million in expenses against $807.6 million in anticipated revenues…
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Cobb voters approved Tuesday's referendum to continue sales tax collections through 2018.
The Cobb Education SPLOST will continue through 2018. Cobb voters on Tuesday approved a referendum that would continue collecting the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for school construction and maintenance projects for another five-year period. With all 153 precincts reporting, a total of 23,248 votes were cast in favor of the SPLOST extension, or 57.3 percent. There were 17,317 votes against, or 42.7 percent, according to figures reported by the Georgia Secretary of State. The Cobb Ed SPLOST IV, as it has been called, would collect $717.8 million for the Cobb County School District and $55.4 for Marietta City Schools between Jan. 1, 2014 and Dec. 31, 2018. "Schools win, kids win, economic development wins, property values win. It's…
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Ed Thayer, who oversees operations in the Kell, Lassiter and Sprayberry districts, is stepping down in August.
The Cobb County School District's assistant superintendent for part of the East Cobb area is retiring right before the start of the 2013-14 school year. The Cobb Board of Education on Wednesday approved the retirement request of Ed Thayer, who coordinates school operations in Area 4, which includes the Kell, Lassiter and Sprayberry high school districts and 17 feeder schools. He will leave the district Aug. 1 after 37 years in education, including 21 in Cobb schools, according to The Marietta Daily Journal, which reported that his position may not be filled to save money. The CCSD currently has six area superintendents who report to Cheryl Hungerford, the deputy superintendent for leadership and learning. Area 4 includes Daniell, Mabry, …
Friday, March 15, 2013
The Cobb Board of Education was updated this week on a new measure designed to protect school bus riders.
More than 2,000 citations have been issued to Cobb motorists who ignore stop-arm warnings around school buses, Cobb Board of Education members were told this week. In a briefing at Wednesday's board work session, Chris Ragsdale, the Cobb County School District's deputy superintendent for operations, said a majority of the 2,200 citations issued thus far remain outstanding. He said 950 citations have been paid, resulting in an estimated income of $16,598 to the school district. Eighteen citations have gone to court and four have been thrown out, according to Ragsdale's figures, which were requested by Post 5 board member David Banks of Northeast Cobb. "We're not looking for revenue," Ragsdale said. "This project is about safety." The three-…
Friday, March 8, 2013
The district was among 25 recognized at the state capitol this week for its efforts getting more local food in schools.
From a press release sent by the Georgia Organics organization: The Cobb County School District was recognized Tuesday, March 5 at the state capitol for its participation in the 5 Million Meals campaign, a statewide effort to get more local food in schools. Cobb County’s nutrition director, Cynthia Downs, pledged to support her local economy and local farmers by increasing the amount of local food served to her students through farm to school programs, and for this Cobb County was one of 25 school districts awarded the Golden Radish award. State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge, Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black, and Georgia Organics Board President Rashid Nuri honored these Georgia school districts for taking the “5 Million Meals…
Thursday, March 7, 2013
The United 4 Kids Campaign also will produce commercials leading up to the March 19 education sales tax referendum.
Two Cobb County business owners are featured in a new video released this week in favor of the March 19 Cobb Education SPLOST IV referendum. The United 4 Kids Campaign is working on passing the sales tax extension, which would fund $772 million in construction and maintenance costs for the Cobb County School District and Marietta City Schools between 2014-2018. The speakers in the video are Jay Cunningham of Superior Plumbing and John Loud of Loud Security Systems, both based in Kennesaw. They repeat many of the points made by school district officials and others in support of the SPLOST referendum, especially the Cobb district's debt-free status and the county's property tax exemption for homeowners age 62 and over. "Vote yes for …
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
The Cobb Taxpayers Association is organizing Sunday's event at the Marietta Square.
Opponents of the upcoming Cobb Education SPLOST IV referendum announced today they will hold a rally this weekend. The Cobb Taxpayers Association said a "Rock the E-SPLOST" rally will take place from 12-1 p.m. Sunday at the Marietta Square. Among the speakers are former Cobb Commission Chairman Bill Byrne, who lost his bid to return to his old job in last year's elections and Kim Euston, the former chairwoman of the Cobb Board of Education's Facilities and Technology Committee, which conducts SPLOST oversight. Also fighting the Education SPLOST extension is the Cobb-based Georgia Tea Party. “This rally represents the culmination of a tremendous grassroots effort to defeat the E-SPLOST,” CTA president Lance Lamberton said in a statement. “…
Leo Smith
5:56 pm on Friday, March 22, 2013
Fund the Teachers 1st! Together we can create better legislation for local education funding. Fund the Educators 1st. LIKE the developing FACEBOOK effort at https://www.facebook.com/EducationFundingPetition -Decrease Teacher Furloughs -Fund Learning Objectives over Buildings -Engage Citizens with a November Ballot on SPLOST Votes -Prioritize Projects Based on Community Needs -Hold the System … more ›