Daily PatchCast

Mabry Declared No Place for Hate; Senate Majority Leader Draws Challenger

Here is a roundup of news from Marietta and the surrounding area on Friday, May 11.

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Captain Planet Helps Marietta Students in the Garden

Birney Elementary students learn summer garden planting, how to make wildflower seed bombs and how to release ladybugs.

Captain Planet made a visit to Birney Elementary on Thursday along with garden consultants and representatives from SCANA Energy to celebrate Earth Day. The day of activities in the school’s garden included several hands-on stations set up where students learned summer garden planting, how to make wildflower seed bombs and how to release ladybugs.    Don’t miss any of the local news you care about. Subscribe to Marietta Patch’s free newsletter, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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Hinojosa Prefers Layoff Alternatives

The Cobb school superintendent wants to avoid cutting teachers to balance the budget.

Superintendent Michael Hinojosa would rather dip deeper into reserves than resort to layoffs if attrition doesn’t meet the Cobb County School District’s plan to cut 350 teaching positions. The school system is 200 teachers short of that 350 goal, Hinojosa said during Wednesday’s Cobb Board of Education work session. But even though that’s behind the predicted pace, he said he expects attrition to do the fiscal dirty work. Last year Cobb schools lost 320 teachers from this point until the end of the school year, Hinojosa said. “I think it’s unfortunate, the bit of news that you bring up—the people leaving aren’t matching up to expectations—because the last thing we want to be in position to do is to lay off teachers,” said board member Tim …

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On the Agenda

Speak Out on Cobb School Board Map

The Cobb County Board of Education wants to hear public comments on the new district lines.

The Cobb County Board of Education will seek public feedback on the new map of the board's seven districts at its next meeting. Board Chairman Scott Sweeney on Wednesday added the school board's reapportionment to the agenda for the board's April 26 meeting. Gov. Nathan Deal had not signed H.B. 1208, the legislation redrawing the election districts in Cobb, as of Thursday morning, but he is expected to do so. The legislation uses a map that's different from what the school board itself proposed, so board members are anxious about what the map shows. David Banks of Post 5 in East and Northeast Cobb this week distributed a link to a map from the Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office, which is attached to this article as a PDF …

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Fire Lane Changes at Schools

The ordinance will allows a vehicle to be located in a fire lane for 30 minutes prior to the afternoon school end time and 30 minutes after the school end time.

Cobb County's fire lane ordinance was recently amended to include a provision for student pick-up at schools. Enforcement of this new provision begins Monday, April 9. The ordinance will allows a vehicle to be located in a fire lane for 30 minutes prior to the afternoon school end time and 30 minutes after the school end time, as long as a driver is behind the wheel. School end times are available on the Cobb County School District Web site. The ordinance change applies to private schools as well. Stopping or parking a vehicle in a fire lane at any other time is prohibited, unless passengers are actively loading or unloading. Fire lanes can be identified by "No Parking Fire Lane" signage and/or red curbing. Fire lane violations will result…

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Osborne JROTC Places First in Competition

Osborne cadets faced off against JROTC teams from Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to earn the top spot.

The Osborne High School Army JROTC placed first in the regional JROTC Academic Leadership Bowl for an unprecedented fifth consecutive year. The Academic Leadership Bowl challenges cadets to demonstrate strengths in an academic quiz competition and to display principles of leadership and citizenship in scenario-based questions. Osborne cadets Kaleb Parham, Sanjuanta Trevino, Liliana Esquivel, Erik Rodriguez, Eduardo Trujillo and Wilver Mendoza faced off against JROTC teams from Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to earn the top spot. The team will travel to Washington, DC in June for the National Championships.

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Cobb High Schools Get Grants for AP Teacher Training

Each of Cobb County’s 16 high schools received $1,400 grant awards from the Georgia Department of Education to train teachers for Advanced Placement instruction.

Each of Cobb County’s 16 high schools received $1,400 grant awards from the Georgia Department of Education to train teachers for Advanced Placement instruction. Teachers from 207 Georgia schools will participate in the 2012 AP Summer Institutes, which include 30 plus hours of subject-specific professional development. AP courses help better prepare students for post-secondary studies. In February, the state recognized 15 Cobb schools among its 2012 AP Honor Schools for overall achievement on AP tests and for increasing access to AP coursework to more students.

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Safe, Sober Prom Season

Marietta High School will host their prom on April 14, and Osborne High School will hold their prom on April 20 at the Turner Field 755 Club.

Prom season is upon us—a time of celebration for teenagers and their families. Many proms and parties are scheduled throughout March, April and May. Marietta High School will host their prom on April 14, and Osborne High School will hold their prom on April 20 at the Turner Field 755 Club. But while prom is a time of celebration, it is also a time of increased underage drinking. The Cobb Alcohol Taskforce and its partners—law enforcement agencies, schools and community leadership—throughout the county are trying to get the word out. Don't drink and drive prom night. Underage drinking is a factor in the three leading causes of death for youth, also contributing to assaults, date rape, sexually transmitted diseases, unintended pregnancies, …

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Cobb School Meal Prices Going Up

Healthier menu options will cost students and teachers more for the 2012-13 school year.

Parents will have to add a few more coins to their childrens' change purses to buy meals at school next year. The Cobb County School District on Thursday announced that it would be raising the price for meals for the 2012-13 school year that begins in August.  The price hikes are the first in Cobb in 11 years and are due primarily because of healthier menu options that include more whole grains, more fresh fruits and vegetables, and lower sodium offerings, the district said in a written release. It's part of the U.S. Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, and the additional costs are also attributable to cost make-ups tied to federal subsidies. The new costs will be 25 cents for breakfast and 50 cents for lunch for students. Adult lunches …

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