School Board Refuses to Revisit 2012-13 Calendar

David Banks of Post 5: "It would increase the morale of teacher and students, reduce absenteeism, and provide the opportunity for the citizens of Cobb to have a calendar that meets their needs."

David Banks of Northeast and East Cobb's Post 5 battled through Wednesday's Cobb County Board of Education work session to have the 2012-13 school calendar issue heard again. As seen 20 minutes into the Cobb County School District Part 4 work session video, Banks' school calendar proposal was quickly defeated. "I wish this was not a topic we're still discussing, but it's important to a lot of people. Lots of teachers and parents in my post, and others, have talked to me about it. I don't believe the calendar will change. None of the four people who wanted to change last February are going to change," Lynnda Eagle of Post 1 said. "I'd like us to look at going to school right up until Christmas and not starting again until the 10th," as …

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Andy Berman

7:01 pm on Saturday, January 21, 2012

Funny, David ran his campaign on starting the school year later, was elected, and now wants to start the school year earlier. Not sure why he would be elected on one side of an issue and all the sudden all his constituents want the exact opposite, or do they?   more ›

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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Banks Pushes Quick Calendar Change

The Cobb County Board of Education instead is looking at creating a 29-member committee to present proposed school calendars next fall.

A proposal to involve a 29-member committee in the school calendar process reopened the divisions on the Cobb County Board of Education and the possibility of more changes. After the Cobb County School District’s chief of staff, Cheryl Hungerford, presented Superintendent Michael Hinojosa’s proposal at the board’s monthly work session Wednesday, Post 5 board member David Banks of East and Northeast Cobb pushed to implement the plan immediately. That would allow the school board to consider again changing the 2012-13 schedule, which the board in February switched from a balanced calendar to a more traditional calendar. “Knowing how the public, the teachers feel and a lot of the students feel about this issue, why don’t we do it this year …

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Cobb School Board to Vote on Redistricting

Cobb County school officials also breakdown the district’s Adequate Yearly Progress results.

The Cobb Board of Education voted 6-1 on Thursday to put a new reapportionment map on the Aug. 10 work session agenda for a board vote. The board supported a map Board Chairwoman Alison Bartlett of Marietta’s Post 7 presented first at the meeting and that she said included input from all board members. David Banks of Northeast and East Cobb’s Post 5 presented a second map that he finished last week. He said he worked on it with board member Lynnda Crowder-Eagle of West Cobb’s Post 1 and shared it with other board members through an email. Bartlett pointed out to Banks that his map would put her and Crowder-Eagle in the same post, which Banks acknowledged and said “both of you are up for re-election next year.” “You’re creating a post that …

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Emails, 'Black List' Embroil School Board

Lingering calendar issue stirs up new controversy during Thursday meeting.

Three of the four Cobb Board of Education members at the center of an inquiry by the state attorney general declined to comment Thursday during a contentious school board meeting that also included allegations of a "black list" over the equally heated school calendar issue.  A June 27 complaint by Cobb schools parent Tricia Knor to attorney general Sam Olens alleges that the four board members used personal email accounts to possibly conduct official business. When pressed by board members Lynnda Crowder-Eagle and David Banks during a 20-minute discussion, only Vice Chairman Scott Sweeney of East Cobb’s Post 6 was willing to talk. Sweeney turned over the controversial communications from his private account following an Open Records …

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Cobb Schools Start 5-Year Facilities Plan

The Board of Education's discussions could lead to the next SPLOST.

The Cobb County Board of Education will talk about its five-year Local Facilities Plan (LFP) tonight at 7 during new Superintendent Michael Hinojosa’s first full board meeting at the Central Office, 514 Glover St. Cobb County School District SPLOST Chief Administrative Officer Doug Shepard said the LFP is a formal step the Georgia Department of Education requires to start the yearlong development process to ensure school systems are addressing their growth needs in a systematic way. The current plan expires June 30, 2012. The new plan will start July 1, 2012, and end June 30, 2017. “The new LFP will document the current facility inventory and capacity, projected enrollment growth and cost of needed renovations, additions and/or new schools…

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Northeast Cobb High Five

Tween Improv, Adult Tax Drama

Here's what you need to know to start July 26 in Northeast Cobb.

1. Today will be a typically muggy summer day, according to the National Weather Service. The high will be about 91, with little wind and a 20 percent chance of rain. The overnight low will be around 71.  2. The Mountain View Regional Library’s summer tweens program for children ages 9 to 12 continues from 3:30 to 5 this afternoon with an improv class. Kids can register in advance; walk-ins are welcome if the pre-registration list doesn’t fill the 20 spaces available. Call 770-509-2725 for more information. 3. The Cobb County Board of Commissioners will meet at 7 p.m. at 100 Cherokee St. for the third and final public hearing on the millage rate, then hold a regular meeting that will include a vote on the property tax rate. Commissioner …

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Hinojosa Satisfies Board, not Everyone

The 6-0 vote to hire the next Cobb school superintendent brought jeers from a group in the audience.

The Cobb County Board of Education needed less than four minutes Sunday to discuss and approve the hiring of Michael Hinojosa as superintendent, effective July 1. The 6-0 vote came almost a year after Superintendent Fred Sanderson announced he would retire at the end of this month, but a group of seven people in the audience said the move came too soon for Hinojosa, who applied only last month, more than three months after the Jan. 31 deadline. In addition to timing, the anti-Hinojosa crowd complained about past budget problems and his hiring of foreign administrators during his time running the Dallas Independent School District in Texas. Under his Cobb contract, attached as a PDF, he has two years to win over the community. His starting …

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The Water Cooler

Pope Theatre presents 'Annie Get Your Gun'

Gather around the water cooler to discuss what's happening in Northeast Cobb today, May 12.

1. The Board of Education will convene in a Called Meeting 9 a.m. at the Galleria 400 Building Lobby Conference Room, Atlanta.  The Board will immediately convene to Executive Session for personnel matters. 2. The Georgia High School Association (GHSA), the state's high school governing body, overwhelmingly rejected the controversial 4/8 plan that would have crowned eight state champions in each sport. Georgia high schools will crown six state champions in each sport next year as the state moves from a Class AAAAA to Class AAAAAA system. By a vote of 26-24, the GHSA Executive Committee Tuesday approved the six classification system proposed by former Brookwood High School Athletic Director Dave Hunter. 3. How are you handling the heat wave…

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