MARIETTA - The parents are not pleased. At least not the ones who attended the Cobb School Board meeting Wednesday morning, when the board considered the contentious issue of school calendars.

The board ultimately approved, 4-3, calendars that start school for the next three years on the first Monday in August, grant week-long breaks in September, November, February and April, and ends school the Friday before Memorial Day. Members Alison Bartlett, David Morgan and Dr. John Crooks voted against the calendar.

Walton mom Vivian Jackson, a founder of the Cobb-based group Georgians Need Summers, which advocates for a later start date, was only a few seconds into her public comment when board chairman Dr. John Abraham called for security.

Jackson was stating that Abraham had campaigned for office on a platform that included later school start dates. She continued to speak in a calm, but determined voice as she read from her speech, undeterred by board attorney Glenn Brock's attempts to interrupt her. The security officer approached her, standing behind her as she finished speaking.

"I guess, in the end, you will have to look at yourselves and say, 'I was willing to lie. I was willing to take precious resources from you. Why? Because I bow to the whims of a superintendent who does not bat an eye at spending endless amounts of money on every snake-oil salesman, expensive toy or latest educational fad in order to hide the fact that under his tenure," Jackson said, before being interrupted by Abraham.

"Officer! That's enough. That's enough," Abraham said, as board member Holli Cash said to "turn it off." The officer then approached Jackson, who took her glasses off, placed both hands on the podium and looked around at the board members in disbelief.

"Should we refer to you now as your royal highnesses?" Jackson said before bowing to the board members and walking alongside the police officer to the back of the room among cheers and claps from the crowd.

After the incident, Jackson said she was shaken up by the ordeal.

"I am a mother and a wife and was treated today as a common criminal, for doing nothing more than invoking my right as a US citizen to free speech," she said. "I made no motion whatsoever towards the board and never came from behind the podium. There was also nothing in the speech that was not repeated time and again by other speakers. Although I am very shaken, I will not be intimidated by Dr. Abraham and will be looking into my legal options, because if Dr. Abraham and this school board are allowed to violate a citizen's right to free speech, then it would open the door for other school boards or politicians to do the same."

Kathy Asher, who has three children in the school district - and is a district employee - also spoke to the board in opposition of the "balanced calendar." She first expressed hope that she could speak freely.

"This is a decision that is being made for us without account of why they're doing this," Asher said later.

During a break, Acworth parent Scotti Madison - who founded Georgians Need Summers and led the fight against former Superintendent Joe Redden in his push toward a balanced calendar, which Madison saw as a stepping stone to year round schools - said he was irked that Abraham gave parents only one-and-a-half minutes to speak.

"When we first started this process under Mr. Joe Redden they gave everybody five minutes, and now it's only a minute and a half today, so it's kind of hard to get any information across in a minute and a half," he said.

Not that he thinks 10 minutes would have made any difference though.

A source close to the situation said Cash, Lynnda Crowder-Eagle, David Banks and Abraham, had already obtained their needed majority vote for the balanced calendar prior to the meeting, despite the fact that the Attorney General Office's has instructed the board not to poll board members before a vote occurs. Cash and Crowder-Eagle deny the accusation.

Madison said, "I think what happens a lot of times in this situation is you become callous when you've crossed Glover Street...I think people campaigned with good intentions, but once they cross Glover Street something happens and they realize deals have to be made, and they realize no matter what the parents say or their wishes are, it's almost like they quit listening to them and then start listening to the academicians that run the county."

Madison, an insurance agent, was the first to address the board.

"The decision-making process for this board and school officials reminds me sometimes of Saturday night wrestling - you already know the outcome before you ever come to us," he said.

"Some of you campaigned to keep a traditional calendar. What happened? Have you forgotten about that promise to your constituents?"

Madison said later, "Studies after studies have shown that when you have these kids who stay at home because their parents can't afford the additional childcare during these breaks, there's more teenage pregnancy, there's more gang violence, and there's a host of problems."

He said the board was trying to follow the money in supporting the calendar.

"If they have more kids pass with No Child Left Behind, there's more money that goes into the school system. I admire they're trying to find a way to improve the test scores, but this is not the way to do it. And if it is, just provide the evidence to us," Madison said.

The school district conducted a computer survey of teachers and staff from Oct. 19 to Oct. 30, garnering 8,400 responses, with 4,315 or 51.1 percent in favor of the balanced calendar, according to district spokesman Jay Dillon.

But the overwhelming impressions parents had were that there was no attempt to communicate with parents, that not enough information was given or researched to make a decision, and that the balanced calendar would harm instead of help Cobb's students.

Lisa Stone of Marietta, who has two children in the school system and one who recently graduated from Walton High School, said she opposed the calendar because no research has been done to show the benefits of a more year-round school year than the traditional school calendar that has been in place.

"All I want to know is, what is the evidence for the calendars you have proposed? If you can show me that what you're proposing can benefit the children, then I may be in support of it! I can't be in support of something that doesn't show me why it's a benefit. To date, I have not seen one shred of evidence - financial, academic or otherwise - that shows me that I should be in favor of what you're proposing," Stone said.

Kell High School mom Kathleen Angelucci held signs throughout the meeting showing her opposition. Like Jackson, she also worked on Abraham's 2006 campaign for the school board.

"During and before the campaigns, many of you were quick to condemn the former board and superintendent. How ironic it is that you now almost mirror them," Angelucci said. "My intent today was to share research and data that I have in regards to year-round school and its implications. Then I realized, it really won't matter. I'm very certain this is a done deal."

After the votes were cast and the calendar was approved, Angelucci said she was shocked not by the decision, but by the actions of the board. "I cannot tell you how astounded I was by the behavior I witnessed here today. In this instance, the decision for the balanced calendar was not a strategic choice for the well-being of the district," Angelucci said. "All school board decisions require analysis, the balancing of needs and concerns, and the ability to see the long-term implications of an action. There was nothing offered except subjective, personal opinions. I am at a loss as to what has happened to them as individuals and as a collective group."

- MDJ reporter Jon Gillooly contributed to this report