Tentative Cobb School Budget Vote Expected

The board of education is scheduled to take an initial vote at Monday's called work session.

After two grueling work sessions, the Cobb Board of Education has scheduled another one for Monday as it faces a deadline for tentative approval of the fiscal year 2014 budget. A special meeting has been called for 1 p.m. Monday as the school board continues to work to close a projected deficit of $86.4 million. Monday's work session will take place in the board room of the Cobb County School District headquarters at 514 Glover Street, Marietta. The meeting also will be live-streamed on the CCSD website. The board is expected to vote for tentative approval, which it is required by law to do in order to advertise a public hearing on the budget. That public hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, May 14, at 7 p.m., and final budget approval …

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Hinojosa's Contract Extended Through 2014

The Cobb school superintendent's contract was due to expire on June 30.

With no discussion, the Cobb Board of Education voted Thursday night to extend the contract of Superintendent Michael Hinojosa through the end of calendar year 2014. By a 5-2 vote, the board approved an extension -- which is not a renewal -- for Hinojosa, whose initial two-year contract was to have ended on June 30 of this year. Board member Kathleen Angelucci tried inserting an amendment to delay the decision pending the results of surveys from staff, teachers and parents, but her motion gained the support of only one other colleague, David Banks. They voted against the extension, with board chairman Randy Scamihorn, vice chairman Brad Wheeler and members Scott Sweeney, David Morgan and Tim Stultz voting in favor. "I'm excited about it," …

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Hinojosa, Lembeck at Alternative Ed Conference

The Cobb and Marietta school superintendents are panelists at today's National Alternative Education Association gathering.

From a press release issued by the Cobb County School District: Dr. Michael Hinojosa, Superintendent for the Cobb County School District, will serve as one of several guest speakers in a panel discussion of public school leaders at the National Alternative Education Association (NAEA) Annual Conference Feb. 6-8 in Atlanta. Dr. Hinojosa will be joined on the Superintendent’s Panel by Marietta City Schools Superintendent Dr. Emily Lembeck; Richard Storm, principal of Union Alternative School in Oklahoma; Susie Bunch, Director of Schools for Lexington, Tennessee City School system and Anthony Pack, Superintendent of Monroe County Schools in Forsyth County, Georgia. The NAEA is a support and advocacy organization for educators who work with …

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Cobb County Schools Youth Mentorship

Cobb Mentoring Matters is the school district’s first “district-wide” youth mentoring program.

The Cobb County School District celebrates National Mentoring Month with the launch of Cobb Mentoring Matters, the school district’s first “district-wide” youth mentoring program. Cobb Mentoring Matters was created by the district’s School Social Work Department and the Success for All Students project.

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Leo Smith

11:14 am on Monday, January 30, 2012

We Must Give Parents the Resources They Need to Make Informed Decisions about Their Child’s Education Blaming poor parents for their child’s struggle in school only adds to the argument for the choice movement. Public school systems and advocates need to, as Bill Cosby says, develop programs and interventions that also deal with home life. That is one the advantages choice proponents argue. If …   more ›

Teach for America Proposal Withdrawn

The Cobb Board of Education did not discuss or vote on the proposal to bring 50 Teach for America teachers to South Cobb at the board's Thursday night meeting.

Website Pushes School Calendar Switch

The Cobb Parents site says it's not too late to change the 2012-13 Cobb County School District schedule.

Backers of a balanced Cobb County School District calendar have launched a website in the hope of changing the schedule for next school year. Cobb Parents started last week and offers a link to email the seven Cobb Board of Education members at once. The goal is to persuade them to switch from the current traditional calendar to the balanced calendar the district used in 2010-11. The board dumped the balanced calendar with less than six months’ notice Feb. 17 on a 4-3 vote, and the Cobb Parents organizers hope for a repeat in reverse. “There is a unique opportunity for Cobb County to come together to give input to the board on the 2012-2013 calendar,” said Thom Gray, a father of four, including three in Cobb County schools. “The board’s …

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Some Early Marks for Hinojosa

The new Cobb school superintendent has made major administrative changes and tackled the touchy calendar issue. What grade would you give him?

Since he began his tenure as Cobb schools superintendent, Michael Hinojosa has reorganized his top administrative staff and attempted to settle the long-raging controversy over the school calendar. He inherited another thicket of trouble in a set of complaints from parents that reached all the way to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Georgia Attorney General's office.  He wants to overhaul the process by which principals are selected.  He appears to be trying to say all the right things as he learns his way around Georgia's second-largest school district, whether it's improving overall student perfomance or closing the achievement gap areas of the county such as South Cobb.   After nearly six months on the job, …

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Hinojosa Submits Final SACS Report

The superintendent tells the Marietta Daily Journal that this response should resolve the accrediting agency's concerns about the Cobb County School District.

The Cobb County School District submitted a progress report Wednesday in the hope of closing the books on last spring’s inquiry by its accrediting agency. Cobb Superintendent Michael Hinojosa told the Marietta Daily Journal that the report addresses the concerns of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools bullet by bullet and should resolve the accrediting agency’s concerns. The SACS Council on Accreditation and School Improvement sent the school district a letter of inquiry on March 29 in response to public complaints, many responding to the change from a balanced school calendar to a more traditional schedule. Hinojosa’s predecessor, Fred Sanderson, responded with a letter acknowledging many problems with the county Board of …

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Hinojosa Reveals Principal Hiring Plan

The Cobb County school board adds a third meeting in January to vote on a new chairman and vice chairman.

Superintendent Michael Hinojosa unveiled a two-to-three-month hiring process for principals aimed at combating the buddy system Wednesday. The Cobb County School District plan would feature a more detailed application process and create school profiles to ensure a “leadership match” to help find candidates who fit a school’s culture. A selection committee led by an area superintendent would include parents, teachers, students (for high school openings), counselors and district executives. Board of Education members would pick one of the two to three parents on the committee but would not be involved directly with the group. “This is a very rigorous process,” Hinojosa told the school board during its monthly work session Wednesday. …

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School Board Trips on Calendar Process

David Banks’ proposed 1 percent bonus for all district employees dies without a vote.

The school calendar stirred emotions again Wednesday as Cobb County Board of Education members and Superintendent Michael Hinojosa debated the process of how to make a rule to create the calendar. Early in the 17-minute discussion at the board’s monthly work session, Hinojosa said he didn’t want one person to stand in the way of recommended rules. “It appears that one board member may have veto power over a rule, and I don’t want to revisit that every month. That’s why I’ve decided to do what I’m going to do,” he said. Board Vice Chairman Scott Sweeney of East Cobb’s Post 6 exercised that power last month. Facing Hinojosa’s proposal for a 29-member committee to draft calendar recommendations starting with the 2013-14 school year, Sweeney …

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