Also at the meeting, the district’s chief financial officer told the board that preliminary numbers indicate a $72.2 million deficit for fiscal year 2013, which could lead to further pay cuts.
The biggest topic of debate at the school board’s seven-hour meeting was adopting a policy regarding how the calendar is changed.
The board is expected to vote on the rule change at their Oct. 27 night meeting.
The policy recommended by the superintendent and his staff would require that the board adopts changes to a two-year calendar at least nine months before the effective date, the board forms a committee to study the options and recommend at least two, and that the committee begins work in August and makes recommendations by Oct. 1.
“We feel like there needed to be a little bit of structure as to how we move forward with our two-year calendar,” Superintendent Dr. Michael Hinojosa said. “We felt that this committee get started in August, when school is back and people are here.”
Dr. Cheryl Hungerford, the district’s newly appointed chief of staff, said the committee would comprise 27 members.
“We felt it very important that we have a diverse stakeholder representative group that would bring lots of different opinions, ideas and research to the table as we begin our work at looking at this calendar,” she said.
The proposed committee would include one representative appointed by each board member, one parent and one staff member each appointed by area assistant superintendents, a staff member from the curriculum, budget, human resources, transportation, athletics and graduation departments and someone from higher education and the business community, both appointed by Hinojosa.
School board member Tim Stultz recommended the staff consider adding someone from the construction and SPLOST departments, and board chair Alison Bartlett asked that someone from the music department sit on the committee.
Banks began reading a statement during the discussion, recapping the divisive debate the last time the calendar was changed, but Bartlett interrupted him, asking that he talk solely about the policy that was before them.
“I don’t want us shooting arrows at one another. I want us working as a team,” Bartlett told Banks. “Do not discuss previous behaviors at this moment.”
“(Changing the policy) has no meaning when the new board comes in,” Banks said. “They can change it. So, this precedent has already been set. It can be changed at any time. Having the rule does not change that.”
Vice chair Scott Sweeney recommended the board consider approving a one-year calendar for now, then moving into approving calendars two years at a time.
Lynnda Eagle disagreed with Sweeney’s recommendation, saying she wanted to give schools and the administration two years from the beginning and not one.
At the close of the discussion, Banks proposed that they put the calendar vote back on the table immediately, but none of the board members agreed with his proposal.
“We have a calendar and it needs to run its course,” David Morgan said.
Banks pointed out that the last calendar was changed before its scheduled end.
“We did that in 2009 but it got superseded,” he said. “Would you rather the community stay enraged for the next two years or get this issue settled right now? There’s no problem with getting this committee together in 10 days.”
Morgan said the public was weary of the calendar debate.
“I think that whether people agree to disagree, they have accepted that,” Morgan said. “Changing (the calendar) wouldn’t be a good message for the board to send.”
During another presentation, Chief Financial Officer Mike Addison said the district is looking at a sizable deficit for the next fiscal year.
According to preliminary numbers numbers, the district is looking at a $72.2 million deficit. However, that number was reached without knowing what funds will be coming in from the state or having numbers from the tax assessor’s office.
“I wouldn’t be worried, but I think it is an alert that we’re probably facing some fairly difficult economic issues,” Addison said. “I think our economy here in the metro area has been a little slower in recovering, if there is a recovery.”
The approved FY12 budget was approximately $851.8 million, compared to the forecasted $890 million budget for FY13.
Addison said that if the district may to have to start looking at costs to trim, including salary cuts.
“Unfortunately 90 percent of our expenses are people,” he said.
Addison said the district has begun to consider the options, including increasing class size, which would result in fewer teachers.
“We’re just kind of brainstorming right now,” he said. “The central office has been decimated over the last few years, and we’re running out of areas to cut.”
The board also accepted resignations from Dr. Donald Dunnigan, chief of human resources; Jan Holley, support services and evaluation systems for human resources; and Kevin Sherman, compensation manager for human resources.
In other business, the board moved the following agenda items to the consent agenda:
* Increasing the amount of nursing services for medically fragile students.
* Approving the Georgia Department of educational capital outlay project reimbursements of $3.5 million for Varner, Rocky Mount and Norton Park elementary schools and Dodgen, Mabry and Lost Mountain middle schools.
The board kept the following agenda items on the discussion agenda:
* Approving a $500,000 bid to SnapSports Southeast out of Alpharetta to purchase and install resilient athletic flooring in 15 middle and elementary school gyms and play areas.
* Approving a $664,000 or $1.1 million contract to Baldwin Paving out of Atlanta to pave the current bus parking lot at Sanders Road Bus Shop in south Cobb and/or add 50 bus parking spaces.
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Statistics can be found to substantiate the success of BOTH calendars. I have read of HIGH performing year round systems in Cary, NC and of HIGH performing traditional after Labor Day starts in Batavia IL, and Sylvania OH. If your kid cannot maintain grades on a given schedule, whatever it may be, it is not the calendar that is at fault. Start date is a moot point.
Teachers do not have a monopoly on a tough job.
If you cannot hack a job that doesn't give you one in every six weeks off, you will not believe the private sector. You actually have to work one year to earn your first week of vacation. And BTW, you do not get to choose your vacation. You work your way up the totem pole with your first year (or even longer)being given the dregs and having NO holidays off. This continues until attrition such as retirements, attirition of your superiors leaving for better jobs, etc.
And BTW, I have only ever met wonderful hardworking teachers in Cobb county schools. I think (hope) the ones who need a week off every six weeks are not the majority.
So that means we need to have hard data about what is economically the most efficient manner in which to operate the buildings we have with the money we have. We need to look at utilities and administration costs. We need to look at fuel efficient bus routes and well trained drivers.
And we need to keep kids off of buses and athletic fields in early and mid August because it is a matter of life and death.
It still boils down to subjective statements like; "I liked the balanced calendar, my kids liked the balanced calendar, my kids did better academically and behaviorally with the balanced calendar." Talk about no proof; anecdotal nonsense.
"My six thousand kids loved it! Half of them scored 2400 on their SATs and the other half were so refreshed and ready to learn, they weren't absent one day!" - Says it all.
I liked the balanced calendar, my kids liked the balanced calendar, my kids did better academically and behaviorally with the balanced calendar. I am a single full-time working mom with 3 kids. It worked better for us!
Now call me any name you want, but it worked better for us.
The annual COBB-MARIETTA MARCHING BAND EXHIBITION will be held at the McEachern High School Stadium October 24th at 7:00 pm. Due to the whether, the date of the 10th has been changed to the 24th.
Post 5 folks, get your act together and get rid of this embarassment.
This is the most pitiful, sad situation in the history of the Cobb school system. You people, with your whining over a calendar; A CALENDAR! If you spent half the energy you expend on whining, doing something constructive in our schools, what a school district we would have.
Riddle me this, Batman; what would the school system have done if we went back August 1st and those construction projects, (i.e. you know - the schools!!!) were not ready? Because, guess what; they weren't! Have you been paying attention? Pull your heads out of your complacent derrières and realize that Fred Sanderson and that idiot Doug Sheppard not only are responsible for the slew of school building projects being over budget and mismanaged, quite a few schools were barely ready on August 15th! The district would then have been forced to move school out the two weeks anyway AND take away your precious vacation time at the very LAST MINUTE. What is wrong with you?!
David Banks is using the calendar to campaign for re-election; and he is using you clueless half-wits to do it. He is being manipulated by John Crooks, who can't walk away from the school system graciously, so he uses Banks to appoint him to the Cobb Education Foundation, F&T Committee, and a whole host of other school related entities just to keep his fingers in the pie. Ask Banks who writes his schtick that he clumsily reads on air. Ask him who writes his Grapevine rag that he sends out using teacher and parent emails he raided from the school system and PTA. It certainly is not him.
Why don't you calendar people look at Banks' voting record. He is the furthest thing from a conservative Republican that there is, but so many in the GOP owe him political favors, they are willing to look the other way while he continues to vote to spend your money and raise your taxes. Shame on you, Michael Opitz and Joe Dendy - you should have your GOP membership revoked for life!
I feel sorry for Post 5, but then again, you all elected this sad excuse for a school board member, so unfortunately the rest of us have to suffer for your inability to find somebody worthy to run and serve.
Please get involved, get informed and vote the bum out!
Integrity is the issue. Morgan, who may have once been allied with Banks, can no longer believe him.
It's hard to miss Banks' confusion of "whether" with "weather" when writing about the weather in his latest unsolicited Grapevine. A few other grammar bombs must have been thrown in for good measure.
It's dumbfounding to have a community leader affecting over 100,000 students who can't keep his promises and who carelessly refuses to engage a proofreader to catch the simplest of errors.
To give you a slight benefit of doubt... You may be confusing senior administrators with board members.
How have 4 day weeks affected other districts?
1. Academic achievement by students improved, or at worse, stayed the same.
2. Teacher attendance rates increased, decreasing the need for subsitutes, and increasing student achievement.
3. Student discipline incidents decreased
4. Student absenteeism decreased
5. Student seat hours are increased
6. Staff morale improves, and teacher vitality is invigorated
7. Long weekends allow for additional time to complete major projects.
Just a thought. The GA general assembly allows it.
Come on Board, do the right thing. You got your way this year, but now is the time to be gracious in victory.