Cobb School Officials Rework Budget Cobb School Officials Rework Budget

But school board members remain divided over how to balance the numbers for fiscal year 2014.

Cobb County School District officials presented a fresh set of options for balancing the fiscal year 2014 budget on Wednesday, but school board members rehashed familiar arguments for addressing a projected deficit of $86.4 million. In a lengthy work session on Wednesday, chief financial officer Brad Johnson offered a new proposal that gets to an $838 million balance by ditching several suggested cuts board members didn't like. Reductions in magnet school transportation and outsourcing custodial services have been placed below "a line" of 18 specific revenue and expense items that achieve a balance. But that didn't satisfy some board members worried over increased class sizes, steep teaching reductions through attrition and other cuts they…

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What's Next After School SPLOST?

East Cobb supporters of the recently-approved sales tax referendum say they'll continue to address funding concerns.

Last month's passage of the Cobb Education SPLOST was a relief for supporters of extending the sales tax referendum for construction and maintenance projects. But larger funding issues loom for the Cobb County School District, which faces a projected fiscal year 2014 budget deficit of $86.4 million. While Cobb Board of Education members last week expressed their unhappiness with proposed budget cuts, East Cobb parents involved in helping pass the SPLOST say they'll continue working on grassroots efforts to address long-term financial issues. "ED-SPLOST was a first step and not our goal," said David Schwartz, a Dodgen Middle School parent and co-founder of FACE It Cobb, which was organized as the SPLOST campaign geared up. Although strong …

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Cobb School Board Pans Budget Proposals

Details of suggested cuts to close an $86.4 million budget deficit weren't received well at a work session Wednesday.

Getting used to what's being called "the new normal" isn't going to be easy for the Cobb Board of Education. After absorbing more details of a proposed fiscal year 2014 budget that recommends deep cuts in several key areas, school board members on Wednesday demanded more options as they try to solve a projected $86.4 million deficit. That's because many of the suggestions provided by Cobb County School District officials were hardly to their liking. During a long and at times heated work session, school board members told Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and the district's chief financial officer, Brad Johnson, that they weren't happy with a 13-point list of proposed cuts and changes to achieve a balanced budget. "This board needs to be …

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Cobb School Board to Hold Budget Meeting

Wednesday's session will include more details on addressing an estimated $86.4 million deficit for fiscal year 2014.

The Cobb Board of Education will hold a special meeting on Wednesday devoted to the proposed fiscal year 2014 budget. The meeting begins at 1 p.m. in the board room at the Cobb County School District central office, 514 Glover Street, Marietta. The meeting also will be streamed live on the CCSD website. Last month the school board heard initial recommendations to balance a deficit projected at $86.4 million, including five days of teacher and staff furloughs, cutting nearly 300 professional positions, mostly teachers through attrition, canceling employee cost-of-living increases, reductions in transportation services and borrowing from reserve funds. District Chief Financial Officer Brad Johnson also unveiled a conceptual plan for for an …

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West Cobb Students Chosen for Governor's Honors

They are among the 86 participants selected from the Cobb County School District.

Students from Kennesaw Mountain, Harrison and Hillgrove high schools have been chosen for the Georgia Governor's Honors Program this summer. They are among the 86 students selected from the Cobb County School District. Three students from Marietta City Schools also were chosen as part of a group of 690 finalists statewide, out of more than 3,000 applicants. The Governor's Honors Program, which is administered by the Georgia Department of Education, is a summer residential instructional program designed to provide intellectually gifted and artistically talented high school students challenging and enriching educational opportunities not usually available during the regular school year.  Activities are designed to provide each participant …

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Solid 8th Grade Writing Scores in West Cobb

Nine middle schools had 90 percent or more of students meeting or exceeding state standards for the test.

Eighty-seven percent of students in the Cobb County School District met or surpassed standards in the winter 2013 state Eighth Grade Writing Test, according to a figures released by the district on Monday. Cobb has the highest percentage of students of any school district in the metro Atlanta area reaching or surpassing the state benchmark, and it is one point above 2012 Cobb results. Lost Mountain Middle School had 92 percent of its students meet or go beyond the state standards, while Lovinggood Middle School had 89 percent and Tapp Middle School 88 percent. The metro figure is 86 percent, while across the state 82 percent of students reached or went beyond the standards. The Eighth Grade Writing Assessment is one of four level-specific …

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Cobb Kindergarten Registration Starts Wednesday

Georgia law requires that kindergarten students be five years old on or before Sept. 1.

With two months left in the 2012-13 school year, it's time for parents of new kindergarten students to register their children for the 2013-14 school year. Parents can go to all Cobb County elementary schools from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. March 27 to complete the registration process. To find out what school your child will attend, check the Cobb County School District bus routes site. For more info about registration requirements, visit the enrollment webpage. Don’t miss any of the local news you care about. Subscribe to West Cobb Patch’s free newsletter, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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Furloughs Proposed for Cobb Schools

Teacher layoffs have not been recommended as the projected budget deficit for FY 2014 has jumped to $86.4 million.

The chief financial officer for the Cobb County School District is proposing five furlough days, hundreds of school-level staff reductions, borrowing from reserve funds and cancelling an employee cost-of-living increase to help balance a fiscal year 2014 budget deficit that has grown to an estimated $86.4 million. The proposed cuts do not include a recommendation for teacher layoffs, but savings through attrition. In a special budget presentation to the Cobb Board of Education, chief financial officer Brad Johnson said his estimates were revised up from nearly $80 million earlier this year, largely due to rising insurance costs for district employees. He is projecting $894 million in expenses against $807.6 million in anticipated revenues…

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Cobb School SPLOST Extension Passes

Cobb voters approved Tuesday's referendum to continue sales tax collections through 2018.

The Cobb Education SPLOST will continue through 2018. Cobb voters on Tuesday approved a referendum that would continue collecting the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for school construction and maintenance projects for another five-year period. With all 153 precincts reporting, a total of 23,248 votes were cast in favor of the SPLOST extension, or 57.3 percent. There were 17,317 votes against, or 42.7 percent, according to figures reported by the Georgia Secretary of State. The Cobb Ed SPLOST IV, as it has been called, would collect $717.8 million for the Cobb County School District and $55.4 for Marietta City Schools between Jan. 1, 2014 and Dec. 31, 2018. "Schools win, kids win, economic development wins, property values win. It's…

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Brian

4:42 am on Sunday, March 31, 2013

A blanket statement about those who don't want to pay taxes but want to reap the rewards of land value increases is not a personal attack. It's quite the opposite. I'm really not angry :-) But if I seem annoyed lately, I'm really tired of hearing a few people make inane religious arguments because it's SPAM and borderline trolling. These comments add noise that sensible people have to sift …   more ›

Cobb Ed SPLOST Opponents To Rally Today

The "Rock the E-SPLOST" rally will take place from noon to 1 p.m. at the Marietta Square.