Cobb County School District
This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2019) |
Cobb County School District | |
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Address | |
514 Glover Street SE
, Georgia, 30060-2750United States | |
Coordinates | 33°56′19″N 84°32′16″W / 33.938658°N 84.537803°W[1] |
District information | |
Motto | "One Team, One Goal, Student Success" |
Grades | Pre-school – 12 |
Superintendent | Chris Ragsdale |
Accreditation(s) | Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Georgia Accrediting Commission |
NCES District ID | 1301290[2] |
Students and staff | |
Students | 107,379 (2020-2021)[2] |
Teachers | 7347.70 (on an FTE basis)[2] |
Student–teacher ratio | 14.61[2] |
Other information | |
Website | https://www.cobbk12.org/ |
The Cobb County School District (CCSD) is the county government agency which operates public schools in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. The school district includes all of Cobb County except for the Marietta City Schools, though a number of schools in unincorporated parts of the county have Marietta addresses. It is the second-largest school system in Georgia (behind only Gwinnett County Public Schools) and among the largest in the United States. The district is the county's largest employer[3] and one of the largest in the US (at least in school systems). All Cobb County schools are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), and the district is among the first to have earned district-wide accreditation.[4] The current superintendent of the school district is Chris Ragsdale.[5]
Board of Education
As a body created under provisions of the Georgia's constitution, the Cobb County Board of Education has full authority to control and manage the public schools within the county, excluding any independent school system now in existence within the county. This means that like other school systems in the state, it is directly under the Georgia Department of Education and not subject to city or county government control. This also means that it has separate funding through its own property tax (except on senior citizens) outside of Marietta city limits, and 1% county-wide sales tax which it splits with Marietta City Schools based on which jurisdiction it was collected in.
As of January 2021, the elected board members of the Cobb County Board of Education of the Cobb County School District are as follows:[6]
- Randy Scamihorn (Post 1)
- Jaha Howard (Post 2)
- Leroy Tre' Hutchins (Post 3)
- David Chastain (Post 4) and (Board Chair)
- David Banks (Post 5) and (Board Vice-Chair)
- Charisse Davis (Post 6)
- Brad Wheeler (Post 7)
The Board manages a fiscal year 2020 general-fund operating budget of $1.17 Billion.
Schools
Elementary schools
- Acworth Elementary School (grades 2–5)
- Addison Elementary School
- Argyle Elementary School
- Austell Elementary School
- Baker Elementary School
- Bells Ferry Elementary School
- Belmont Hills Elementary School
- Big Shanty Intermediate School (grades 3–5)
- Birney Elementary School
- Blackwell Elementary School
- Brumby Elementary School
- Bryant Elementary School
- Bullard Elementary School
- Chalker Elementary School
- Cheatham Hill Elementary School
- City View Elementary School
- Clarkdale Elementary School
- Clay-Harmony Leland Elementary School
- Compton Elementary School
- Davis Elementary School
- Dowell Elementary School
- Due West Elementary School
- East Side Elementary School
- Eastvalley Elementary School
- Fair Oaks Elementary School
- Ford Elementary School
- Frey Elementary School
- Garrison Mill Elementary School
- Green Acres Elementary School
- Hayes Elementary School
- Hendricks Elementary School
- Hollydale Elementary School
- Keheley Elementary School
- Kemp Elementary School
- Kennesaw Elementary School
- Kincaid Elementary School
- King Springs Elementary School
- LaBelle Elementary School
- Lewis Elementary School
- Mableton Elementary School
- Milford Primary School
- Mount Bethel Elementary School
- Mountain View Elementary School
- Murdock Elementary School
- Nicholson Elementary School
- Nickajack Elementary School
- Norton Park Elementary School
- Pickett's Mill Elementary School
- Pitner Elementary School
- Powder Springs Elementary School
- Powers Ferry Elementary School
- Riverside Elementary School
- Rocky Mount Elementary School
- Russell Elementary School
- Sanders Elementary School
- Sedalia Park Elementary School
- Shallowford Falls Elementary School
- Smyrna Elementary School
- Sope Creek Elementary School
- Still Elementary School
- Teasley Elementary School
- Timber Ridge Elementary School
- Tritt Elementary School
- Varner Elementary School
- Vaughan Elementary School
Middle schools
- Bernard Awtrey Middle School
- Murray F. Barber Middle School
- Orme Campbell Middle School
- Cooper Middle School
- J.J. Daniell Middle School
- Dickerson Middle School
- Dodgen Middle School
- Durham Middle School
- East Cobb Middle School
- Floyd Middle School
- Garrett Middle School
- Griffin Middle School
- Hightower Trail Middle School
- Lindley 6 Grade Academy
- Lindley Middle School
- Lost Mountain Middle School
- Lovinggood Middle School
- Mabry Middle School
- McCleskey Middle School
- McClure Middle School
- Palmer Middle School
- Pearson Middle School
- Pine Mountain Middle School
- Simpson Middle School
- Smitha Middle School
- Tapp Middle School
High schools
The district administers these 17 public high schools:[7]
- Allatoona High School
- Campbell High School
- Harrison High School
- Hillgrove High School
- Kell High School
- Kennesaw Mountain High School
- Lassiter High School
- McEachern High School
- North Cobb High School
- Osborne High School
- Cobb Innovation and Technology Academy
- Pebblebrook High School
- Pope High School
- South Cobb High School
- Sprayberry High School
- Walton High School
- Wheeler High School
Special needs schools and other programs
- Adult Education Center
- Paulding
- Cobb
- Cobb Virtual Academy
- Cobb Horizon High School
- Cobb Online Learning Academy at CHHS
- Deveraux Ackerman Academy
- Learning Everywhere
- HAVEN Program
- HAVEN Academy at Sky View
- Douglas HAVEN
- Cobb HAVEN
- HAVEN
- HAVEN Academy
- Pre-K
- Preschool
- ESOL
- Cobb Mentoring Matters
- Elementary Virtual Program
- Homeless Education Program
- Intensive English Program
- International Welcome Center
- South Cobb Early Learning Center
- Magnet Programs
- Ombudsman
- Title 1
Charter schools
- Walton High School
Former schools
The original Clarkdale Elementary School was a Cobb County school that opened in the 1960s and closed on September 21, 2009, due to the massive flooding in Georgia that day, which submerged the school to the ceiling in the waters of nearby Noses Creek. Despite being built outside the 100-year flood plain, water rose ankle-deep on the grounds as the children were being evacuated.
The school housed about 450 students. For three school years, these students attended Compton Elementary (K-2) and Austell Intermediate (3-5). The new Clarkdale Elementary opened in mid-August 2012 near Cooper Middle School (although the Federal Emergency Management Agency declared the original site acceptable[8]), while the previous building awaited demolition, a delay which the local neighborhood complained about.
State funding (a bond for 20% of the cost of replacement) was vetoed by Governor Sonny Perdue on procedural grounds in early June 2010.[9] Most of the remainder will be covered by insurance and leftover SPLOST funds.[10]
At least one other school has been demolished. The original Blackwell Elementary School in the Blackwells community was built in the 1920s on Canton Road (old Georgia 5), as the county's first consolidated school. The historic schoolhouse, and all of its later additions, were destroyed in summer 1997 and closed for a year while a new replacement was built on the same site, in an institutional style much like the plain architecture of an office park rather than a historic school.
The original Mountain View Elementary was rebuilt farther down Sandy Plains Road; the original was demolished in 2018 for a new shopping center. Also located in a busy business district, Brumby Elementary on Powers Ferry Road was set to be replaced by a mixed-use development in 2020 with a Kroger superstore by 2022. Both Brumby and East Cobb Middle School opened new schools next to each other on Terrell Mill Road in August 2018, although local residents objected to the expected traffic and noise. The old East Cobb Middle School, located directly across Holt Road from Wheeler HS, will be home to a relocated Eastvalley Elementary School.
Controversies
Power to Learn laptop initiative
In 2005, the district implemented a technology initiative called Power to Learn, which supplies individual laptop computers to students for use in the classroom. The initiative was to be initially funded by a portion of the special-purpose local-option sales tax (SPLOST) funds approved by Cobb voters in the 2003 referendum and earmarked for technology improvements. The first of three proposed phases of the initiative was approved by the Board of Education in April 2005, authorizing purchase of Apple laptops for all teachers, upgrades of middle school business labs, and the establishment of four high school pilot sites to test and evaluate individual student laptop use.
Former county commissioner Joseph "Butch" Thompson filed a lawsuit against the Board of Education on May 31, 2005. The lawsuit charged that Cobb voters did not specifically authorize the program in the 2003 SPLOST vote. On July 29, 2005, Superior Court Judge S. Lark Ingram mandated the Board of Education to use technology funds as specified in SPLOST II and ordered a permanent injunction to halt the Power to Learn initiative. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted Ingram, "The ruling had nothing to do with the merits of the program. But fair notice of such use was not given to the public when the referendum for [the sales tax] was held." Board chair Kathleen Johnstone announced on August 1 that the laptop program "was no longer an option." The board voted on August 25, 2005, to appeal the ruling, which was thrown out by the Georgia Supreme Court.
Superintendent Redden's resignation
The Board of Education hired New York-based auditing firm Kessler International in July 2005 to investigate the bidding process for the initiative, amid allegations that the bidding process which selected Apple Computer as supplier for the initiative had violated state law. The board received the Kessler report on August 14, 2005. The report indicated flaws in the selection process that were not in line with state procurement policies. Superintendent Gen. Joseph Redden offered a page-by-page rebuttal of the audit report to the board on August 17, 2005. Redden announced his resignation on August 24, 2005.
Grand jury investigation
Upon the request of the Board of Education, Cobb District Attorney Pat Head was granted an order on October 6, 2005 to empanel a special grand jury to investigate the bidding process. On April 19, 2007, the 25-member grand jury released its report and suggested no criminal charges be filed. The report was critical of the school district's procurement processes, and suggested that the district provide greater definition and clarity to its purchasing procedures. The release of the grand jury report concluded the laptop initiative saga. The school district began refreshing outdated computer systems throughout the county in early 2007, precisely as outlined in SPLOST II.
Selman v. Cobb County School District
In 2002, Cobb County School District voted to put stickers on textbooks with a message including the admonition cautioning students that "evolution is only a theory." Plaintiffs brought suit on separation of church and state grounds, with the initial trial finding for the plaintiffs. Cobb County School District appealed and the verdict was overturned and remanded for a new trial, at which time plaintiffs and Cobb County School District reached an out-of-court settlement, with the district agreeing to remove the stickers.
Teacher's sexual contact with student
A Cobb County teacher was discovered to have had sex with a 17-year-old student. When brought to trial, the teacher pleaded that the student had consented. This defense was allowed by the Superior Court judge and upheld by the Georgia Supreme Court in 2009. This led the Georgia legislature to pass a statute in 2010 making it a crime for a teacher to have sexual relations with a student.[11]
References
- ^ "Free US Geocoder". Archived from the original on 2011-05-11. Retrieved 2010-06-23.
- ^ a b c d "Search for Public School Districts - District Detail for Cobb County". nces.ed.gov. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
- ^ "Cobb County Government". Archived from the original on 2016-06-24. Retrieved 2016-07-08.
- ^ "Cobb County School District - Student, School & Staff Data". October 2014. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
- ^ "Leadership". www.cobbk12.org. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
- ^ "Cobb County School District". www.cobbk12.org. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
- ^ "CCSD High Schools". Cobb County School District. 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
- ^ "The Marietta Daily Journal - News, Sports, Classifieds, Businesses in Marietta, GA". Archived from the original on 2010-02-16.
- ^ "The Marietta Daily Journal". Archived from the original on 2011-07-14.
- ^ "Clarkdale Elementary School (Austell, GA) News Stories - Public School Review". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2010-07-29.
- ^ Cook, Rhonda (2 October 2010). "Teacher gets 2 years for sex with teen". Atlanta, Georgia: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. pp. B2.