School Blog

The Cobb County School District Financial Services department provides monthly budget updates to the Board of Education.

The February 2012 edition includes a budget comparison with other metro Atlanta school systems and outlines the impact of budget reductions since FY2008.

Click here to read the February 2012 Budget Update (PDF)

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Detailed information about the District’s budget is available on the District Web site.

For the second time in a week, Cobb School Board member Kathleen Angelucci has requested that two hot-button issues, Teach For America and STEM Inventors Academy, be placed on the agenda so that the board can publicly talk about the district’s partnership and application for Race to the Top funds.

The Teach For America plan for 50 supplemental teachers in south Cobb schools was taken off the agenda for a vote last week when, apparently, it was learned that Superintendent Dr. Michael Hinojosa did not have to the necessary four votes to pass the measure. Hinojosa also drew criticism for pursuing Race to the Top funds to create a STEM charter school without informing the board members.

Because of a change in policy as a result of the school board’s Jan. 26 vote on Administrative Rule BE regarding board meetings and procedures, a request to place items on the school board agenda by two school board members for Wednesday’s work session were denied.

Two other major issues on Wednesday agenda involved a 75-minute conversation between the board and three Cobb high school principals about traditional and block scheduling and a brief presentation by Chief Academic Office Dr. Judith Jones on what the board wants to do with its current 28-page Strategic Plan that is supposed to be in effect through 2014. No action was taken on either matter.

As far as Angelucci’s request, she asked during board remarks session that the charter school and TFA partnership be placed on the agenda in hopes that it will be discussed during the March work session.

“When (Board Chair Scott Sweeney) called us about what we want on the agenda … I said that it was imperative that we have this discussion publicly,” she said following the work session. “I insisted.”

Sweeney acknowledged that Angelucci made the request and agreed that it should be discussed in public, but he said that without the support of any other board it could not be placed on the agenda.

Policy states that the superintendent, board chair or any two board members can get an item placed on the agenda.

Angelucci said she learned about the district’s application for both Race to the Top grants after she received an Open Records Request from the Journal in an email from Hinojosa on Jan. 25.

After looking back at her notes, she said realized the board never discussed the issue but were told about the partnership and grant application in a board update newsletter in late September 2011.

“Other than that, there was no other discussion, there was no other conversations, no phone calls, nothing, absolutely nothing,” she said.

Northwest Cobb Board Member Lynnda Eagle actually sent an email to Hinojosa around that same time advising the superintendent that she would have liked more information.

“I didn’t have adequate information,” she advised.

Angelucci said she was shocked to learn of the grant application and partnership.

“I felt that we had made it very clear for us all to be on the same page and it was important … that everything would be shared with regards to board members.

“I called the board chair and I told him how I felt about it and that I was upset and disappointed because as far as I knew, I had been left out of the link and I didn’t realize that everybody else had been.”

After expressing her concerns to Sweeney, he advised her to meet with Hinojosa and find out how the grant and partnership “transpired.”

“I made it clear to the superintendent that I felt it was imperative that we discuss it in public. I listened to what he had to say and I expressed my disappointment and I expressed my concerns and I told him that I had other questions and that it wouldn’t be fair for me to hurl him at him but that I’d be happy to submit those and I’m going to but I just haven’t yet. I just wanted to see if anything was going to be said (Wednesday). I thought it was fair for me to listen to see what was said. I will formalize my questions and will submit them to the superintendent and to the board so that they can get the answers as well.”

Following the work session, Angelucci said she did not know if any other board member would support her desire to place the item on the agenda but she was “hoping” someone would.

And although no board members responded to her remarks Wednesday, Banks did make a statement that if anyone had an item they would want on the agenda in the future, he would support it.

“Let me just say publicly regarding Policy BE that any board member who submits a request, I will automatically support it whether I need to do it in writing or not,” he said. “I feel that any board member who has an issue they need to bring to the board or want to bring to the board to represent their constituency, they should have that right and I will not put myself in a position where that is denied.”

Banks too had items, including revisiting the school calendar and vacation accrual, that he wanted on the work session agenda but he was denied submission.

Hinojosa also made a brief statement addressing the recent issues before the closure of the work session meeting.

“Over the last couple of weeks, there have been a couple of issues that have garnered a lot of attention in the media and on the staff and I wanted to say that my effort to move the priority goals forward were sincere and genuine. I do accept responsibility for not communicating complete with all the board members as I should have,” he said.

“There were also some technical items that were overlooked and I accept responsibility for that but I do want to assure you that I’m focused, I’m energized and I’m proud of where we’re going in this district and I just want to put that on the record.”

On the issue of where STEM Inventors Academy stands and who can be the lead partner with the school Hinojosa said it is in the hands of Kennesaw State University since the district can’t legally partner with a start-up charter and Southern Polytechnic State University has declined taking the lead.

“KSU is still considering on taking the lead on that charter, they haven’t made any final decisions,” he said.

This statement was made only after Hinojosa initially said during the work session that he thought the university was hesitant to partner with the charter school.

In an email from the vice president of external affairs, Arlethia Perry-Johnson, she said the idea of partnering with the charter school is still under review.

“Once the KSU administrators and faculty who were involved in the planning project conclude their deliberations and make their decision, they will communicate their decision directly to CCSD officials. After that, it will be incumbent upon and most appropriate for CCSD officials to communicate the next steps regarding their project,” she said.

In the meantime, Hinojosa also said the board is awaiting a formal resolution from the Governor’s Office stating that the district is no longer considered a partner with the school but added that he feels they are “definitely out of it.”

Hinojosa also said that if no one took the lead on the charter school, STEM Inventors Academy could create a 501(c)3 to open school but calls to the state department were not returned by press time to confirm that or what would happen to the Race to the Top funds if no one was allotted as a partner to accept the grant when it is formally awarded.

In other business, the board spoke to high school principals Rick Beaulieu from Pope, Dr. Phillip Page from North Cobb, and Regina Montgomery from McEachern, Deputy Superintendent Alice Stouder and District Budget Director Mandy Wissing for nearly an hour and a half about which high schools have block or traditional schedules, which schedule is preferred and possible costs savings.

Each principal spoke passionately about why the schedule their school uses was working for them and their student population, Stouder gave a presentation about the differences between the two schedules and Wissing reported that there was no cost difference between the two.

Pope High, which has previously scored the district’s second highest scores on the SAT, is on a traditional schedule, North Cobb is on a block schedule and McEachern, which experiences an influx of transient students is on something called an A/B block schedule.

A traditional schedules allots for seven, 55-minute classes each day, a block schedule includes four, 90-minute periods per day for students and A/B block is similar to block but allows for eight academic classes annually.

Despite the lengthy conversation, which was prompted by a request from Alison Bartlett who represents middle Cobb, none of the board members asked to change schedules district wide or take a stand on a specific schedule, nor did anyone say anything about making it policy except when Eagle said she did not want to dictate which schedule a school should use.

“I think that would be very presumptuous and I don’t know your students or your communities,” she said. “We want the same thing for all (students and communities) and of course it’s opportunities to be successful.”

Bartlett had originally asked that the item be placed on the agenda because she wanted the entire district on the same schedule to help transient students but after hearing from the principals and seeing Stouder’s report, her mind changed.

“Unless I get different facts and I’m going to keep exploring this but I have changed my attitude,” she said. “I think the principals need to have choice.”

When asked how different schedules within the district affected transfer students, all three principals said it did not seem to be a major issue. Additionally, they all concurred that the bigger problem was children transferring from out of state because of how Georgia’s curriculum is set up.

Another agenda item the board talked about was revamping the district’s Strategic Plan. It was created to run through 2014 and set up to help the district measure and assess targets by collecting test-score data.

Hinojosa wanted to “start the conversation” about the plan because he does not believe the central staff nor the school board have taken much “ownership” to it.

“We have too many specific things that people don’t have much ownership in,” he said earlier in the week. “I want to get that input and guidance from our board members on how we do that.”

Jones presented a one-slide PowerPoint that simply asked the board, “How do we prepare all Cobb students with the skills and knowledge necessary for success in their future?”

During the 10-minute discussion, Eagle said she’d like for the Strategic Plan to include less assessments for students.

“What changes can we make to get away from so many tests?” she asked. “What can we cut?”

Angelucci said, “We have to remember that this is a broad map for us to follow,” and Bartlett said she was worried about the district using the state department as guidance and wanted the plan to measure what will make Cobb move forward.

“We should set up our own matrix,” she said. “We need to put our kids online nationally and internationally.”

Lastly, Sweeney posed a question that he said board member Tim Stultz had asked before, “We need to be asking ourselves, is this the best that we can do?”

And while the conversation was short, Hinojosa said he thought the statements and questions brought up by the board would move them in the right direction for a new Strategic Plan.

“That’s the direction we wanted from them. Now we can go off and start putting some things down for them to consider,” he said.

The agenda item will be a “standing” item on the agenda for the next few months, Hinojosa added.

“I want a formal document or plan like the one we have in place now,” he said. “There’s some urgency, we need to get it done here in the next six months.”

In other news, Hinojosa announced that he received a letter from AdvancED that stated, “The status of Accredited on Advisement has been removed and the district is now Accredited.”

The board also heard a brief budget update from Chief Financial Officer Mike Addison who said the $62.4 million deficit the district is facing in 2013 remains unchanged.

(Reprinted from the MDJ, February 9, 2012. Written by Lindsay Field.) 

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The Cobb County School District is looking ahead to the 2012-2013 school year, as the budget for Fiscal Year 2013 comes into focus. Based on initial enrollment and revenue projections, the school system faces the challenge of addressing a potential $62.3 million deficit. Georgia’s slow economic recovery has not yielded an increase in the District’s two primary revenue streams – state funding and local property tax collections.

In anticipation of the shortfall, Superintendent Dr. Michael HInojosa has identified some preliminary budget reduction solutions that include:

• A 175-day school year (three fewer than in 2011-2012)
• Slight increase in class sizes district-wide
• Five furlough days for all school district staff
• Delayed salary step increase for eligible employees

Increasing class sizes will result in the elimination of some teaching positions. Based on employee attrition rates in recent years, the District is optimistic that most or all of these positions can be addressed through normal attrition, but until that attrition actually occurs it is not possible to say for certain. Despite the challenging budget forecast, Cobb County residents will see no increase in property taxes.

Click here to review the detailed January 2012 budget update presented to the Board of Education (PDF).

Chief Financial Officer Mike Addison will present an updated budget outlook during the next Board of Education work session on Wednesday, Feb. 9. A complete schedule of budget development meetings is available at www.cobbk12.org.

The District will provide ongoing updates as development of the FY2013 budget continues.