Schools

Cobb School Board Delays Censure Talks

A proposal to take action against newly re-elected member David Banks will resume in September.

The Cobb Board of Education was supposed to discuss a possible censure measure against one of its own members on Wednesday, but that move has been postponed.

Board member Kathleen Angelucci, who last month , asked for the delay so the full board could take up the matter. 

Fellow board member Lynnda Eagle was absent from Wednesday's regular work session. A discussion of the options facing the board has been put on the agenda of its Sept. 12 work session.

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"If this board does vote to proceed" with a motion to censure, Cobb school board attorney Clem Doyle said during the meeting, "I would recommend that it be confined to the issue at hand, in order to be fair to all."

Angelucci, who represents Post 4 (the Kell, Sprayberry and North Cobb high school districts), wants to censure Banks for what she claims is a range of unethical behavior stemming largely from his recent re-election campaign. 

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Banks barely won for the Post 5 seat in East and Northeast Cobb (Wheeler, Pope and Lassiter high school districts) without a runoff. There is no Democratic opponent in November, so Banks will begin serving a second four-year term in January.

In her accusation, Angelucci said he improperly contacted school officials at Lassiter to inquire about school-related activities there involving Lisa Hanson, one of his political opponents. Her daughter is a Lassiter student, and Hanson lashed out at Banks, alleging he violated her privacy

Angelucci also said in her initial complaint that Banks violates board policies by showing up at schools unannounced and attending staff meetings. 

Banks, who was silent on the subject during Wednesday's work session, has called Angelucci's claims "a bunch of garbage."

But he admitted in his own e-newsletter in early July that he spoke with Lassiter officials about Hanson.

The unprecedented action by Angelucci presents a variety of possible scenarios for the school board to consider, depending on the nature of her motion. 

Doyle said a request to hold a hearing to consider formally censuring a fellow board member would require a two-thirds majority, or five of the seven board members. 

That's one reason he said such a move would be "extremely rare. This is pioneering territory." 


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