THOSE IN CHARGE of the Cobb school system have proven many times over that they don't listen to parents, don't listen to teachers, don't listen to bus drivers, don't listen to taxpayers and don't listen to their constituents. The question now is, "Will they listen to the county grand jury?" Don't hold your breath.

The jury's presentments announced Thursday hammered the system hard, describing "a serious need for a culture change, starting with the top management of the transportation department at the South Cobb Bus Shop." The jury listed 16 "serious issues/bad management practices," among them poor record keeping, lack of work instructions for mechanics, lack of a defect analysis being performed, unsafe lifts in the mechanics shops and school-bus fire extinguishers that were missing pins or low on chemicals.

And validating the allegations raised by MDJ columnist Laura Armstrong in recent months, the jury noted "the drivers and mechanics work in an environment of intimidation and 'virtual fear' of losing their jobs - it is palpable and we heard and saw it time and time again."

That jury presentments came on the heels of the January presentments, which sternly admonished the school board for limiting public debate and making policy decisions behind closed doors. The earlier presentments came as a shock - but if anything the latest round is even more damning of the system's poor management.

Truly, why was it left to the grand jury to investigate the poor operation of the transportation department? Why didn't the school board order its own internal probe after so many credible allegations were raised by Armstrong and by the myriad of bloggers who commented on them? Where there was that much smoke, there had to be fire.

Instead, the board complacently swallowed Superintendent Fred Sanderson's platitudes about how all was well. And new school board Chairwoman Lynnda Crowder-Eagle improbably chose "teamwork" as the topic of the board's winter retreat. Even though the central office is within a 10-minute walk of the bus barn on South Cobb Drive, the Transportation Department might as well have been deep in the Okefenokee for all the interest the board and Sanderson showed in its proper operation.

We're tempted to suggest that this school board has all the curiosity of a brain-dead amoeba - but that would be a disservice to all the amoebas out there.

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UNFORTUNATELY, the grand jury story was not the only school-related story that emanated from the courthouse last week. There was also the hearing into the grassroots effort to recall board member Dr. John Crooks for his role in sneaking a proposal to erect a controversial cell tower at Eastvalley Elementary School onto the board's agenda without public notice, a clear violation of the state's Sunshine Laws, to say nothing of the "Golden Rule" about doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. Last week's hearing saw Crooks deploy a hair-splitting rationale worthy of Bill "the meaning of 'is'" Clinton in a lame attempt to justify why he acted as he did. The truth is that he and a majority of the board again relied on bad advice from their attorney Glenn Brock about the Sunshine laws, which is a simple law grounded in basic fairness and the Golden Rule.

And Friday saw a meeting between the lawyers and judge in the "Astroturf" suit brought by an opponent of the system's plans to spend up to $11 million of SPLOST funds to install artificial turf on high school football fields. At issue is whether such spending qualifies as a legitimate educational purpose under the SPLOST law. Yet credible reports indicate Brock told the board before the SPLOST vote that it does not, but that the board insisted on including it in the plan in order to sway the votes of athletic booster club members.

There also are reports that attorney Tom Harper warned Brock he would sue the system to try to stop the SPLOST spending on the turf, which he now has done. If that were the case, why did the board not resolve the matter by putting out its RFPs for the turf sooner, so that the project could already have been under way in time for football season?

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WE'LL CLOSE with a pair of quotes. The first is from the latest grand jury presentments: "It is high time that the school board and all levels of management below them hear and understand this. To allow this atmosphere to continue unabated is the grossest form of mismanagement."

The second is from the Georgia Constitution: "All school systems are to be under the management and control of the board of education."

Unfortunately, the Cobb school board deserves a failing grade for its management of the school system and the superintendent. In fact, as we have noted here before, the Cobb board seems to be under the management and control of the superintendent, instead of the other way around.

Will the board and superintendent laugh off this latest public paddling by the grand jury like it did the first round of presentments? Or will they finally listen - and act?