Sunday, April 22, 2012
At the April 11 school board work session Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, through CFO Mike Addison, presented recommendations for the Fiscal 2013 School District Budget. These recommendations contained some drastic cuts in teacher and staff positions.
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Sunday, April 22, 2012
By David Banks, Cobb County School Board Post 5 Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, through his CFO Mike Addison, presented recommendations for the Fiscal 2013 School District Budget at an April 11 school board work session. The recommendations contained some drastic cuts in teacher and staff positions, along with reductions in instructional time by imposing five furlough days and, increasing “average” class sizes by two students. Additionally, the budget proposal included utilizing approximately $21.1M from the existing “$100M Reserve Funds”. My question to Mr. Addison was, with $100M in “reserve funds” sitting in the bank, from a monetary standpoint is there any reason to make the above proposed budget cuts? Mr. Addison’s immediate …
Saturday, April 14, 2012
The Cobb school superintendent wants to avoid cutting teachers to balance the budget.
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Saturday, April 14, 2012
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 …
Thursday, March 22, 2012
The Cobb school board also will vote on renovations at Davis and Keheley.
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Thursday, March 22, 2012
The Cobb County Board of Education will take time tonight to recognize Kell High musicians back from a national competition in Indianapolis. The Kell Percussion Ensemble sent two groups to the invitation-only Sandy Feldstein National Percussion Festival this month, becoming the first high school to have two ensembles at the event. The school board will include the Kell percussionists at the start of its regular meeting tonight at 7 at the Central Office, 514 Glover St., Marietta. The board also is scheduled to vote on SPLOST-funded renovations at Davis and Keheley elementary schools in Northeast Cobb. The recommended Keheley contract with SouthCore Construction of Kennesaw is for $1.02 million, $380,000 over the estimated budget for the …
34.060552
-84.495127
Keheley Elementary School
1985 Kemp Rd, Marietta, GA
/articles/kell-musicians-to-be-honored
1379337
/locations/6638560
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Apply by Monday to help set the 2013-14 Cobb school schedule.
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Tuesday, March 20, 2012
The chance to stop arguing about the Cobb County School District calendar and start doing something about it has arrived. The school system is forming the calendar advisory committee proposed last fall by Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and, after much discussion, approved by the Board of Education. Each of the county’s four PTA councils—East Cobb, Jessye Coleman, South Cobb and Tom Mathis Sr.—gets two members on the committee, which also will include teachers, administrators and community representatives. The plan is for the committee to meet three to five times, starting in August, and recommend a 2013-14 calendar to Hinojosa in September. The hope, perhaps futile, is that the committee can come up with a calendar that bridges the bitter…
33.938836
-84.537645
Cobb County School District
514 Glover St SE, Marietta, GA
/articles/parents-can-join-calendar-committee
1113123
/locations/6630584
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Cobb County School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa asks that staff, parents and the community complete the survey which will be available until Feb. 10.
Each school in the Cobb County School District has developed a school strategic plan to identify specific goals and activities that will address the unique needs of its students. Feedback from staff, parents and community members is important to the school strategic planning process. Your participation in School Improvement Survey will provide feedback about the quality of educational services and programs in the schools. Your responses to the survey are anonymous. Results will be provided to the principals later in the school year and will be used, along with other information, to identify priorities for the school. Take a few minutes to respond to the survey. The survey will be available until Feb. 10. It should take about 15-20 …
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
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 …
Thursday, December 15, 2011
The new Cobb school superintendent has made major administrative changes and tackled the touchy calendar issue. What grade would you give him?
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Thursday, December 15, 2011
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, …
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
The program awards outstanding schools for consistently improving their educational environments.
The Georgia Department of Education has named Sprayberry High School one of the 26 schools that will receive 2011 Georgia School of Excellence honors. To qualify for the Georgia School of Excellence award, schools must either have the greatest gains in reading and mathematics performance on the Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT) in their congressional district or be in the state's top 10 percent in test scores. In addition, a school must make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for at least three consecutive years, offer a minimum of two Advanced Placement (AP) courses, and meet or exceed state mean test scores in science and social studies. A potential School of Excellence must also not be considered a “Persistently Dangerous School” …
Friday, December 2, 2011
Board member says the group has been "working together" as "good stewards."
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Friday, December 2, 2011
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 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. School Board Member Tim Stultz of Smyrna told Patch, “Even though there are different viewpoints and philosophies by different members, the Board has been working together to ensure that the school district is providing a quality education while being good stewards of tax payer funds.” The SACS Council on Accreditation and School Improvement sent the school…
Friday, November 11, 2011
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. …
JudyJ
1:50 pm on Saturday, June 16, 2012
I agree with David Banks 100% on the issue of unecessary budget cuts when we have $100 million in reserve just sitting in the bank. It's a no-brainer decision as I see it from a parent's point of view. Our kids deserve an uncompromised education and our teachers need the income they were originally promised! more ›