Bartlett Named School Board Chair
Identical 4-0 votes make Alison Bartlett chairwoman and Scott Sweeney vice chairman of the Cobb County Board of Education.
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Alison Bartlett was elected the Cobb County Board of Education’s new chairwoman as expected Sunday, and new board member Scott Sweeney was chosen as the vice chairman.
Both Bartlett (Post 7) and Sweeney (Post 6) were chosen through 4-0 votes at Sunday afternoon’s special called board meeting at the school district’s Central Office boardroom. New members Kathleen Angelucci (Post 4) and Tim Stultz (Post 2) also attended the meeting, which lasted about 20 minutes.
Board members Lynnda Crowder-Eagle (Post 1), David Morgan (Post 3) and David Banks (Post 5) did not attend the meeting. Crowder-Eagle, the outgoing chair, told Northeast Cobb Patch on Thursday night that the three would miss the special meeting because of previous commitments.
Under Cobb school board policy, a board member may not serve successive terms as chair.
“I’m very much looking forward to it,” Bartlett said of being the board chair. “I feel honored that the three newly elected board members felt I was the best qualified for the job. I feel that the other three not being here (indicates) that they support the decision.”
Sweeney said he and “my colleagues have a tremendous amount of work to do, and I’m ready to get to work.”
The main reason Bartlett, Sweeney, Angelucci and Stultz decided Thursday night, soon after the three new members were sworn in, to have a Sunday meeting was to add items to the agenda for Wednesday's 8:30 a.m. work session.
Crowder-Eagle said Thursday that the special meeting set a precedent: “In the history of Cobb, there’s never been a called meeting to elect a chair.”
Although the meeting required paying overtime to two technicians to televise the meeting, a district security officer and a custodian, Angelucci said the special meeting was needed.
“I think it was important for all of us to be on the same page in terms of the agenda,” she said. “It’s nice to have us all have input on the agenda for Wednesday. By doing it now we all hit the ground running.”
Sweeney had one new item for the agenda, discussion of a board policy related to the Facilities & Technology Committee.
Bartlett added five discussion items to the agenda:
- Board meetings and procedures.
- The strategic plan in terms of bringing back the meets-and-exceeds category. “We need to make sure we’re challenging our high achievers because they’re our future doctors, engineers and scientific research,” Bartlett said. “The majority of (students at) American colleges and universities in engineering, medical and science fields are not American, and 80 percent of the gross national product comes from these people.”
- What the board wants included in monthly budget reports.
- The information provided to the public and board members about meeting agendas.
- The district’s liability for vacation payouts for its nonteacher employees who have 180-day contracts. “I spoke about this during the budget last year, probably February or March, where we’re having employees leaving with more than a $20,000 check for vacation,” Bartlett said. “It comes out of the general fund, so it’s a direct hit to our general fund.”
Bartlett acknowledged possible tension developing between the board members present Sunday and those who weren’t.
“I’m a professional, and I know my fellow board members are professionals," she said. "I know we can learn to work as a team."
Tomi Johnson
9:40 am on Monday, January 10, 2011
After being on the campaign trail with Bartlett in 2008, I'm elated that she is the new board chair. Now we'll see real leadership in action!
Suzanne Hale
11:51 am on Monday, January 10, 2011
The other Board members demonstrated there lack of commitment when they failed to attend the swearing in ceremony on Thursday. Ms. Eagle reportedly spent all day Thursday at Glover Street working on the agenda for next Wednesday and she can't show up to present her items? It was a brief meeting on Sunday; I think they could have made the effort.
John E. Grove
12:28 pm on Monday, January 10, 2011
It was good to see a special open meeting of the school board called for planning purposes instead of hearing about secret meetings in which all school board member are not invited. Let us hope that there are not may missed meetings "due to other comments"by the members in the coming year and that Mrs. Bartlett can get the cooperation of those memebers to accomplish the agenda needed to improve our school system.
C Brown
8:42 am on Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Mr. Fowler were you aware that other board members had limited input on the agenda. So knowing that she would no longer be Chair, LCE rushed to prepare her version of the agenda with Mr. Sanderson. This special election did not just elect a chair, but added very important items to the agenda.
It is important to note that those on the board of minds similar to LCE were voted out of office (or their hand picked replacement). Did you notice that Ms. Barlette added things that were already discussed? This is because constituents did not like the results. This board has long been a rubber stamp for the central office, when it should be the check and balance. I encourage you to ask questions next time and not just write what the board members hare.
Michael Jacobs
9:09 am on Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Hi, C Brown: I think both this article and the one announcing the called meeting addressed the agenda issues head-on. Kathleen Angelucci talks about the importance of the new members having input on the initial agenda, and Alison Bartlett explains the history behind some of the items she added to the agenda. I was not at the meeting, but it's clear that Ethan asked the kind of questions you propose because we have comments from board members addressing those issues. I understand if you disagree with the order of the story (perhaps you would have started with the agenda additions and saved the chair and vice chair elections for later), but if you read the whole story, I think it covers your concerns.
Linda Rehkopf
7:28 pm on Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Where does Bartlett get her statistics that the "majority of (students at) American colleges and universities in engineering, medical and science fields are not American... "?
Just curious.
John E. Grove
8:31 pm on Wednesday, January 12, 2011
As stated in the Wall Street Journal, December 4, 2010, it is also a fact that the majority of doctorate degrees go to non-americans.
BHerder
10:31 pm on Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Does nobody else realize we have started 2011 off with a political nightmare already with the CCBE? We have never had a called meeting before to elect the chair before the first meeting, why now? Because, Ms. Bartlett wanted to make sure she got what she wanted. Do you not recall when she spoke out about not being able to basically trust our principals to do their jobs and be ethical about it when the calendar vote came up? Furthermore, she is a teacher correct? If education is so important to her, who is teacher her children in Douglas County when she is gone, a sub? A sub always means busy work....who are you really hurting Ms. Bartlett? That would be the children in both Cobb and Douglas County.
I don't agree with all the decisions that last year’s board made; however, I respect the 3 members who did not show for a new political game that our new board members are playing.
I hope that ALL the board members remember what they were elected to do. They are not elected for their personal plans but for their districts!
Tomi Johnson
9:20 am on Monday, January 17, 2011
Bherder,
Most substitute and supplemental teachers are well educated retired teachers, retired business professionals, or folks doing community service for little pay or recognition. All work given to students while the regular teacher is away is not "busy" work. Your remarks are disrespectful and not rooted in fact.
BHerder
12:02 pm on Monday, January 17, 2011
Toni,
While I appreciate your comment, I know my comment is not disrespectful and in fact has merit. Having an education background and many friends in the field, and was a substitue teacher in cobb I speak with FACT! Furthermore, nobody talked about supplemental teachers as they have other qualifications. Obviously we know you will disagree as you helped Bartlett on her campaign. If objection to something someone says is disrespectful, then Ms. Bartlett is on of the most disrespectful people I have seen on the CCBE. However, I feel a difference in opinion is a healthy thing when done correctly.
Tomi Johnson
12:15 pm on Monday, January 17, 2011
To set the record straight, I did not help Bartlett with her campaign. I met her when I was also a candidate.