Cobb schools financial watchdogs ‘all about sharing facts’

Watching the Funds Cobb, Cobb schools financial watchdog group
East Cobb residents (L-r) Stacy Efrat Butler, Heather Tolley-Bauer and Kris Hale before a Cobb Board of Education meeting in June.

Several emotionally wrenching issues facing the Cobb County School District sparked parents, teachers and others into action, or at least to speak out, during an unconventional 2021-22 school year.

Many of those issues revolved around the district’s COVID-19 response—including the deaths of three educators—as well as continuing battles over racial and cultural matters.

However, for five women who didn’t know each other previously, the red flag that caught their attention was an emergency request last December to spend $12 million for UV disinfecting lights and handwashing stations.

That money was part of the district’s COVID response as cases were on the rise, and just before the tragic deaths of three of its educators.

It wasn’t just spending the money on such short notice that bothered them, said Heather Tolley-Bauer, whose son is a rising 7th grader at Hightower Trail Middle School.

After two school board members were restricted in asking questions about those purchases, the school board majority voted to limit how board members can place items on meeting agendas, even for discussion.

“We were outraged at how the school board works,” Tolley-Bauer said. 

On social media, she found another East Cobb parent, Stacy Efrat Butler, who expressed similar concerns, and wanted to organize around monitoring school board activities.

Three other women signed on at the start, including East Cobb resident Kris Hale, who had recently retired as a teacher in Fulton County Schools. 

They decided to focus on following the money—the Cobb school district budget is roughly $1.5 billion—and created a group they call “Watching the Funds—Cobb.”

Their main means of communication is a Facebook group with nearly 1,500 followers, and group members have spoken frequently during public comment sessions at school board meetings. 

“We’re a rag-tag group of amazing women,” Tolley-Bauer said. 

Butler stressed the broader appeal the group is trying to make, regardless of political views or where people live in Cobb County.

“Our issues should matter to everybody,” she said. 

Tolley-Bauer said that while “the money is not always that exciting, it is something that unifies people who might not agree on other things.”

More importantly, Hale said, “by having somebody looking at the money, they can’t ignore the community.”

The UV lights malfunctioned at Argyle Elementary School in March. The district quickly canceled that portion of the contract that represented roughly $6 million of the purchase.

A month before, Watching the Funds—Cobb questioned the district’s purchase of AlertPoint, an emergency alert system, that was set off at all schools and prompted a brief lockdown.

The district said the incident was the result of a cyberattack that was being investigated by police.

Like the UV lights and handwashing stations, AlertPoint was purchased by the school board with little discussion from a sole vendor that had not sold that product previously. 

“We did a deep dive and asked, ‘Why did we approve this?’ ” Tolley-Bauer said. “What was the vetting process. We got zero answers.”

The information they had assembled and their vocal comments at public meetings garnered media attention, especially when a former AlertPoint employee was indicted for alleged bid-rigging for a technology contract at a school district in Florida.

The $12 million COVID-related purchases are among the 50 complaints against the Cobb school district directed at Cognia, its accrediting agency, which is conducting a special review next month.

Tolley-Bauer and Butler said that no one from Watching the Funds—Cobb filed any of those complaints.

‘It’s not a functioning board’

They describe the group as non-partisan, although Tolley-Bauer was part of a fundraiser last fall for Democrat Julia Hurtado, who unsuccessfully challenged Republican incumbent board member David Banks of Post 5 in East Cobb.

“It’s all about sharing facts and not opinions,” said Butler, who also lives in Post 5 and who has children attending East Side Elementary School, Dodgen Middle School and Walton High School.

A risk manager in the financial industry, Butler expressed the same frustration as Tolley-Bauer, saying that “it doesn’t seem like anybody was doing anything to hold the school board accountable.”

She said in starting such a group, the original intent wasn’t financial, “but it seemed like everything kept coming back to the money.”

AlertPoint was installed in all Cobb schools starting in 2017, but Watching the Funds—Cobb began asking about the system’s effectiveness.

“It might not be a waste of money if it worked,” Butler said. “We are pushing for transparency and communication, but board members don’t respond much. It’s not a functioning board.”

Cobb school board chairman Randy Scamihorn acknowledged Watching the Funds—Cobb’s public comments, “and I don’t have a problem with what they’re saying. I’m a fiscal conservative, so I’m willing to work with them.”

But he defended the board’s $12 million emergency purchase, saying the district needed to act fast to address a strong surge of COVID-19 cases as the Cobb school district returned to in-person learning last fall.

“How do we keep our students, faculty and staff safe?” he said. “Hindsight is always 20/20, but there was nothing nefarious going on.”

Scamihorn said the UV lights “had to be failsafe,” and when they malfunctioned at just one school, “they violated the contract. I told the superintendent that there’s no way I can continue to support this.”

He also said the board majority’s decision to limit the placing of meeting agenda items was a good one, because “we have some board members who want to have endless conversation. We would be there forever.”

(Scamihorn has clashed openly several times at school board meetings with Jaha Howard, who along with Charisse Davis of Post 6 in East Cobb voted against the $12 million UV lights/handwashing contract.) 

Cobb school board approves budget
Heather Tolley-Bauer and other members of Watching the Funds—Cobb have been addressing the Cobb Board of Education in recent months.

Continuing to ‘provide a watchful eye’

After retiring as a Fulton County teacher last fall, Hale wanted to get involved in her community, especially as COVID-related actions gained more scrutiny than usual.

“Not many people were paying attention to the school board until COVID,” she said. “COVID brought it all out.”

Watching the Funds—Cobb did a teacher survey, and got 213 responses from educators on such subjects as safety, resources, CARES ACT funding, technology, equity issues and support from the district (you can read the details here).

“One of the things that I know is that teachers have no voice,” said Hale, who taught in Fulton for nearly 30 years. “I wanted to be that voice.”

Last month Watching the Funds—Cobb took part in an event about equity in funding sponsored by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute and devoted to funds provided through the American Rescue Plan Act.

Hale said the differing backgrounds and perspectives within the group have been beneficial. 

“We can use our strengths,” she said. “I know what’s going on in the classroom.”

Tolley-Bauer said Watching the Funds—Cobb is continuing to look over the finances in other areas of the school district’s finances, and most recently posted about its “Fueling Student Success” food program providing meal kits to families in need.

How the district might address American Rescue Plan funds also figures to be part of the group’s focus in the coming months.

At last month’s school board meeting, Tolley-Bauer said her group “will continue to provide a watchful eye” not only on the budget, but federal funding sources, SPLOST spending “and every single expense.

“Because no matter what, funds used to make purchases all come from the taxpayers, many of whom support our work.”

Scamihorn pointed out that the district’s entire budget is posted on its website, and that he’s willing to listen to anyone in the public.

“We are so transparent that some people can’t believe it,” he said. “All they have to do is call us. I’ll listen to anybody.”

He said he approached Tolley-Bauer after the June school board meeting to have a formal discussion, and she’s accepted.

The experience has been an illuminating one for Tolley-Bauer, who among her other activities is a stand-up comedian

“I don’t make many jokes about what’s going on in our schools,” she said. “We love our schools at the local level. With leadership [at the district level], there’s room for improvement.”

Related stories:

 

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Cobb school board candidate withdraws; threatens to sue district

A candidate for the Cobb Board of Education says he’s withdrawing after he announced that he may file a lawsuit against the Cobb County School District.Rob Madayag, Cobb school board candidate

Rob Madayag, an attorney, said late Monday that he wouldn’t be qualifying for the Post 5 seat currently held by two-term incumbent David Banks.

Madayag had been one of four GOP hopefuls to announce for the seat, including Banks, as qualifying began Monday.

Post 5 includes the Pope and Lassiter clusters.

In a post to a Cobb schools-related Facebook page, Madayag said that “based on several factors, I do not think I am the best candidate at this time.”

Madayag filed notice last week that he may take the CCSD to court, saying it doesn’t properly report bullying incidents under the state’s school anti-bullying law.

“I intend to win the lawsuit and will not be able to dedicate the amount of time to campaign and win that i think necessary,” Madayag said in his statement on Monday. “I do not plan on losing, and with the number of depositions and document requests in the litigation I have mapped out, I expect to have most of my free time taken up.”

In a letter sent to school board members and Superintendent Chris Ragsdale on Feb. 25 (you can read it here), Madayag said he was skeptical of huge reductions in reported instances of bullying in Cobb schools under Ragsdale—to be specific, 86 percent between 2014 and 2018.

Madayag, who said his daughter has been bullied in Cobb schools, wrote that it’s “a rate that defies all logic and reason and is a significant outlier with respect to all the other school districts in the metro-Atlanta area, and quite possibly the entire United States.”

In addition to Banks, the other Republican candidates for the Post 5 season are Shelley O’Malley, a Delta Air Lines pilot, and IT consultant Matt Harper.

Two Democrats also have announced, current Lassiter PTSA co-president Tammy Andress, and physical therapist Julia Hurtado.

Qualifying for the May 19 general primary ends at noon Friday.

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Cobb schools may seek eminent domain for Walton softball field

1495 Pine Road house, Walton HS campus expansion

The Cobb Board of Education next month may consider a resolution seeking eminent domain to purchase 15 acres of vacant land near Walton High School.

The land is being eyed for the construction of a softball field and tennis courts that were displaced for the new Walton classroom building that opened in 2017.

The two parcels at 1495 and 1550 Pine Road have been unoccupied for several years. A white house, built in 1923, fronts the road and there’s another building in the back that is accessed by a gravel driveway.

The rest of the property is undeveloped and most of it is wooded, with the northern part of the 1550 Pine Road parcel fronted by Bill Murdock Road, just across the street from Walton.

Walton HS softball field, Pine Road land
A Cobb Tax Assessor’s aerial map of the Pine Road properties; click here for larger view.

There’s a sign on the property giving notice of the eminent domain resolution at the Nov. 14 school board meeting.

According to a Cobb County School District spokeswoman, the board has been negotiating with the property owner, who “has expressed interest in selling” and that “the District has offered more than full market value for a property that has most recently been used as a garbage disposal service.”

The offer from the Cobb school district is $3 million, a price the spokeswoman said is for property that appraised for 10 percent less than that amount. That comes to around $200,000 an acre.

According to Cobb Tax Assessor’s Office records, the land owner is Thelma McClure, who took possession of the property in 2013 after the death of her husband, Felton McClure.

Cobb school board member Charisse Davis represents the Walton cluster. She said while the prospect of seeking eminent domain is a serious one—it’s the government taking of private property for public use with compensation—”the district has been trying to work with the property owner” for years, and “we just weren’t getting where we needed to make a deal.”

The decision to seek eminent domain, Davis said, came “after careful consideration.”

Walton softball parents have been pressing the school for a return to the campus, which was called for when the new classroom building plans were being made. New softball and tennis facilities are included on the Cobb Education SPLOST V project list.

For Davis, who was elected last November and lives in the Smyrna area, “it was January when I first learned about this issue,” she said. “I wasn’t aware of what had been happening here.”

After speaking out at a town hall meeting Davis held at Dickerson Middle School, the Walton softball parents went public at a board meeting in February.

Davis said the negotiations with McClure bogged down on price, but she wouldn’t be more specific except to say that the process included a property appraisal.

The 15 acres has some longstanding historical significance. According to Cobb property deed records, Felton McClure purchased the property in 1977 from Lannie Murdock, the daughter-in-law of Bill Murdock, who once had more than 200 acres of farm land in the area that now includes Walton, Dodgen Middle School and surrounding subdivisions.

The Walton campus is situated on nearly 46 acres on Bill Murdock Road at Pine Road, and has been undergoing a major transformation. In addition to the new classroom building, the school recently christened a new theatre and gymnasium complex where the original classroom building stood.

Private funds are being raised for a new athletic fieldhouse.

Walton softball and the boys and girls tennis teams have been playing their home competitions since 2015 at Terrell Mill Park.

The district potentially faced some issues with Title IX—a federal sex discrimination law in education—with the softball field off campus, since the baseball field was relocated to another part of the Walton campus.

Davis said there’s not a particular timeline for now on when the softball and tennis facilities would reopen near campus.

“We’re purchasing a lot of land,” she said. “These were facilities that were on campus that had to be moved. And now we’re bringing them back.”

 

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Back to school countdown: 2019-20 Cobb school calendar and transportation information

East Cobb Middle School, 2019-20 Cobb school calendar

The 2019-20 Cobb school year gets underway on Thursday, and leading up to that point we’ll be posting some preview information, starting with the calendar and transportation details.

As has been in recent years, Cobb schools begin on Aug. 1, one of the earliest starting dates in metro Atlanta.

That’s because the district employs numerous breaks during the academic year, especially around holidays.

There are a total of 180 instructional days, as required by state law, and in five of the 10 months are full-week breaks or longer. Graduations and the last day of school take place during the week of May 18-22, 2020.

2019-20 Cobb school calendar

Calendar legend:

  • BLACK BOXES: first and last days of school
  • GRAY BOXES: Holiday, school closed
  • YELLOW BOXES: student holiday/staff day
  • WHITE BOXES: ES/MS conference week; early release
  • PENTAGON: Early release day all levels

Getting around

The Cobb County School District has around 1,000 buses that run daily on a similar number of routes and travel around 13 million miles during the school year. About 70 percent of the district’s nearly 112,000 students ride the bus.

Last year the district rolled out an app called Here Comes the Bus that allows parents to track their child’s bus in real-time on a map.

The district also has a link on its websites with bus route information that you can find here.

During the months of August and September, students will be allowed to bring water in containers with a screw-on lid on school buses.

 

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East Cobb schools lead the way in 2019 Milestones results

Mountain View Elementary School

The Top 10 highest-performing schools in the Cobb County School District on the 2019 Georgia Milestones tests all come from East Cobb.

That’s the word from the district, which on Friday released Milestones figures for the previous 2018-19 academic year.

The assessment scores, which measure learning proficiency in grades 3-12, are collected by the Georgia Department of Education and distributed by public school districts in late July.

Students are categorized in one of four levels: Level 1 is Beginning Learner, Level 2 is a Developing Learner, Level 3 is a Proficient Learner and Level 4 is Distinguished Learner.

The evaluations are based on End of Grade (EOG) tests at the elementary and middle school levels, and End of Course (EOC) tests at the high school level.

In Cobb, 84 percent of the 82,600 students who took a total of 195,655 Milestone tests achieved Level 2 or higher. That reflected a range of between 7.4 and 9.4 percentage points higher than other Georgia students in all subject areas.

For the second year in a row, Timber Ridge Elementary School in East Cobb led the district, with 98.8 percent of students taking the Milestones achieving Level 2 proficiency or higher.

The others in the Top 10 are also from East Cobb:

  • Murdock ES (98.3 percent);
  • Dodgen MS (98.0 percent);
  • Mountain View ES (97.6 percent);
  • Dickerson MS (97.4 percent);
  • Walton HS (97.2 percent);
  • Mt. Bethel ES (97.0 percent);
  • Tritt ES (97.0 percent);
  • Hightower Trail (96.8 percent);
  • Lassiter HS (96.8 percent).

Students in grades 3-8 are given an End of Grade test in English Language Arts and math. Student in grades 5-8 are also tested for science and social students. The high school End of Course tests cover eight subjects in English Language arts, math, science, and social studies.

(Here’s more of a breakdown on the Milestones assessment from the Georgia DOE.)

Across Georgia, 76 percent of students were rated at Level 2 or higher on the Milestones. The state said that scores were steady or increased in 25 of the 26 assessments.

The scores of Cobb students rose in all four subject areas from 2018, and the district said 90 percent of students improved their Milestones scores from three years ago.

CCSD 2019 Milestone Bar Chart

The district also tracks school-wide improvement, and East Cobb’s Daniell Middle School had one of the biggest boosts from 2018. A total of 84.7 percent of its students scored at Level 2 or higher, an increase of 7.3 percent.

In 3-year trend improvements, schools in the South Cobb area enjoyed double-digit improvements in Level 2 or higher percentage points since 2016.

In a statement issued by the Cobb district, Murdock principal Lynn Hamblett credited three reasons for student results at her school: engaged parents, students prepared to learn and a dedicated staff.

“It is this winning combination and partnership that allows our students to perform at their highest levels,” she said.

For more information visit the Cobb school district’s Georgia Milestones resource page.

For detailed spreadsheets of grade- and school-level results and more, visit the Georgia DOE’s 2019 Milestone’s page.

 

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East Cobb school retirees include teachers, aides, custodians, nurses and more

East Cobb school retirees

We posted earlier this month about Cobb County School District retirees who were honored at a luncheon, especially those with 30-plus years of longevity. Here are all the retirees from East Cobb schools, including teachers, administrators, cafeteria workers, custodians, nurses and more, plus the number of years they were employed by the district:

Bells Ferry Elementary School
Robin Pullen, teacher, 21

Daniell Middle School
Carole Benavides, teacher, 23
Jacqueline Davies, food service assistant, 12
Mary Gates, teacher, 13
Sara Harris, media specialist, 19

Davis Elementary School
Lucia Brown, assistant principal, 30
Mary Ward, media specialist, 7

Dickerson Middle School
Lisa Larkin, paraprofessional, 22
Mary Scarbrough, teacher, 11
Nadiyah Shakoor-AbdurRahim, RN, nurse, 10

Dodgen Middle School
Phyllis Ellison, clerk, 23
Sheryl Mastley, teacher, 17

East Cobb Middle School
Kathleen Gonglach, school counselor, 22
Rebecca Braswell, LPN, school nurse, 15

East Side Elementary School
Debra Denise Clackum, teacher, 35

Hightower Trail Middle School
Caroline Sangster, teacher, 27
Linda Postell, teacher, 26
Suzanne Logue, teacher, 13

Keheley Elementary School
Cindy Stine, bookkeeper, 26
Eileen Gattone, paraprofessional, 20

Kell High School
Charles Goddard, teacher, 16
Lauren Hines, teacher, 30
Steven Lattizori, teacher, 30
Willie Patton, paraprofessional, 14

Lassiter High School
Angela Carder, clerk, 31
Beverly Conley, clerk, 20
Cathy Zingler, teacher, 24
Deborah Poss, teacher, 36
Donald Slater, teacher, 38
Jeannie Ledbetter, food service assistant, 39
Micheline Fournier, clerk, 21

Mabry Middle School
Lisa Bowman, teacher, 31

McCleskey Middle School
Beth Decker, secretary, 25

Mt. Bethel Elementary School
Tracy Sikes, teacher, 20

Mountain View Elementary School
Christine Nielsen, paraprofessional, 17

Murdock Elementary School
Elizabeth Sheeley, speech/language pathologist, 9

Nicholson Elementary School
Mary Ann Kessler, paraprofessional, 25
Pamela Otto, teacher, 17

Sedalia Park Elementary School
Marsha Williams, food service assistant, 22
Mary Kienker, teacher, 13
Sharon Drake, teacher, 11

Shallowford Falls Elementary School
Amy Koenning, teacher, 32
Diane Marco, teacher, 16
Jean Allen, secretary, 20
Pamela Heath, RN, school nurse, 17

Simpson Middle School
Blanca Carmichael, secretary, 13

Sope Creek Elementary School
Cindy Dingess, teacher, 28
Susan Jenkins, teacher, 30

Sprayberry High School
Catherine Barry, teacher, 30
Edwige Brun, teacher, 18
Mary Barber, paraprofessional, 19
Maureen Gamble, teacher, 23
Teresa Fuller, teacher, 24

Tritt Elementary School
Amy Benson, teacher, 21

Walton High School
Lawrence Moon, head custodian, 36 years

 

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Holt Road safety improvements announced after Wheeler students were hit by car

Holt Road safety improvements, Wheeler High School

Cobb DOT and the Cobb County School District said Tuesday they’ve drawn up a number of safety improvements that will be made on Holt Road in front of Wheeler High School following serious injuries to two students who were hit by a car.

The accident took place around 7 p.m. on a Saturday, March 9, as they were moving gym equipment in the crosswalk.

One student, Malik Spellman, is facing a long recovery after suffering multiple injuries. The other student has not been identified. The 73-year-old driver of the car who hit them has been issued traffic citations but was not charged with anything else.

According to Cobb County spokesman Ross Cavitt, here’s what’s going to happen on Holt Road, in front of Wheeler and the parking lot of the former East Cobb Middle School:

Installing a “rectangular rapid flashing beacon” device at the crosswalk, which would include a raised median providing a pedestrian refuge in the middle of the road. This is similar to a pedestrian crossing currently in place on Lower Roswell Road just outside of the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center.

Relocating the crosswalk away from a nearby side street and combine it with another crosswalk north of the current location.

Close an exit from a parking lot across from the high school near the crosswalk.

Install updated signage warning of the pedestrian crossing.

Upgrade street lighting in the vicinity of the relocated crosswalk.

Cavitt said the county government and school district will share in the costs, which haven’t been determined.

He said Cobb DOT was planning to conduct a pedestrian survey on Holt Road before the accident, with cameras and other devices recently installed.

Cobb DOT had planned a pedestrian survey on Holt Road before the incident happened. They installed cameras and other devices and are still studying the results.

 

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Sunshine Week: Filing open records requests for Cobb schools

Obtaining public records from the Cobb County School District is similar to requesting them from Cobb County government, but there are some differences due to federal laws governing student privacy.

Anyone may request public records from the CCSD at following addresses below:Cobb schools open records requests

Dr. Darryl York
Open Records Officer
Cobb County School District
514 Glover Street, Marietta, GA 30060
770-514-3870
openrecords@cobbk12.org

Like Cobb government, Cobb schools are also subject to provisions of the Georgia Open Records Act, and the CCSD also must reply to open records requests in three working days.

If open records requests are denied, school officials must cite a specific provision in the law that exempts that information from being released.

The information that’s available to the public from Cobb schools includes general administrative and operations records, school board proceedings, contracts and purchasing, budget and finance, curriculum and instruction, some hiring and personnel records, campus public safety records, SPLOST records and more.

These records include those in printed and electronic form, including tapes, computer records and correspondence, maps and photographs.

The exemptions are significant and are complicated, due to the federal law mentioned above. It’s called the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), first passed in 1974 (and also known as the Buckley Amendment), that governs the disclosure of student educational records.

The Georgia Attorney General’s Office produced this guide to the Georgia law and school records in conjunction with the Georgia Department of Education, the Georgia Press Associaiton and the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.

For students in K-12, the rights to educational records belongs primarily to their parents. They have the right to inspect educational records kept by school districts, and to request that information be revised for corrected if deemed inaccurate.

They also may request a formal hearing if those requests are denied. Likewise, K-12 parents must consent to any educational records of their children being released.

Certain non-educational information, such as a student’s name, address, date of birth and when they attended school, is generally considered public. So are records created after a student leaves a school.

After the age of 18, students have the rights to their educational records.

Test score information for individual schools and school districts is publicly available, but individual test scores of specific students are not.

Records produced by a school’s law enforcement department (Cobb schools has its own police force) are not protected from disclosure by the federal privacy law.

According to a revision of the law in the 1990s, “education records” subject to FERPA provisions do not include those “maintained by a law enforcement unit of the educational agency or institution that were created by that law enforcement unit for the purpose of law enforcement.”

However, FERPA does apply to records about internal student disciplinary matters.

Records that don’t need a parent or student’s consent to be released include “information necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other individuals” and regarding a student whose “conduct poses a significant risk to the safety of that student, other students, and the school community.”

The Georgia Attorney General’s office notes, however, that in the case of the latter, another state law keeps most of that information confidential.

School employees, including teachers, may request that certain portions of their personnel records, such as Social Security number, date of birth, credit reports, financial data and insurance and medical information, be redacted.

The state guide to FERPA and schools includes more detailed appendices of what information is subject to open records laws and what may be exempted from disclosure.

There’s also a sample letter format. As with any other open records requests, the more specific, the better. There may be some fees that are charged for researching, retrieving and preparing documents for disclosure and for some copying expenses.

The Georgia First Amendment Foundation has published a guide to Georgia’s Sunshine Laws, which has further resources on open government.

Later this week East Cobb News will post similar information about obtaining public records from state and federal government agencies.

It’s all part of Sunshine Week, which is being observed March 10-16 by news organizations and open-government advocates.

Through Saturday, East Cobb News invites you to send your questions about how to get public information. E-mail: editor@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll get some answers for you.

General resources

Sunshine Week

 

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Tritt Elementary School earns first Library Learning Commons certification in nation

Tritt Elementary School

Here’s some winter break news about a noteworthy accomplishment by students and teachers, and staff at Tritt Elementary School, which is the first school in the country to be certified as a Library Learning Commons.

The concept has evolved over the last decade or so nationwide, and thus far Tritt is the only school in Cobb to go through the district’s certification process (explanation here).

The information (along with photo) submitted by the Cobb County School District explains in detail the Library Learning Commons approach, which at Tritt has incorporated space for experimenting, playing, making, doing, thinking, collaborating, and growing:

The engaging space with flexible seating includes the traditional books but so much more. Digital tools and technology help the students collaborate. The library media specialists not only guide students as they select which book will take them on their next literary adventure, but they also conduct lessons focused on the curriculum the students are learning inside their classroom. 

“In our Library Learning Commons, students can stretch their thinking, ask questions, build research skills, design new concepts in makerspaces, and collaborate with their peers,” said Holly Frilot, Cobb Schools supervisor of Library Media Education. “The library media specialist cultivates lessons to spark curiosity, teaches how to research effectively, and guides students to present their new knowledge with digital tools.” 

Many Cobb students are tech-savvy and able to quickly navigate apps and social media. The media specialists inside the Library Learning Commons help the students become tech-literate so they can understand the digital world around them and navigate it safely and successfully.   

“One of our newer spaces is the MakerSpace where students can come to work on small or group projects, including green screen productions. Students and staff feel welcome to use the spaces and resources as needed in a truly flexible learning environment,” explained Tritt Principal Karen Carstens.  

Frilot and Principal Carstens both credit media specialist Joanne Bates for her work with teachers and staff over the past five years to transition Tritt’s media center into a Library Learning Commons.  

“The traditional library has gone through a transformation as old and outdated print materials have been replaced with more high-interest print materials and up-to-date digital resources,” added Principal Carstens. “The digital resources extend the walls of our library into the classrooms and even beyond our school as students and teachers can access the resources at home.” 

“In support of Cobb’s commitment to innovation, the Library Learning Commons certification highlights the transformation schools undertake to create engaging, inspiring spaces for students,” Frilot explained. “In our Library Learning Commons, students go on virtual reality field trips, engage in the engineering design process in makerspaces, and use digital tools like 3D printers.” 

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Cobb school calendar tops board’s 2019 legislative priorities

The Cobb Board of Education on Thursday adopted a set of legislative priorities for the 2019 session, and the contentious issue of school calendars tops the list.

Scott Sweeney, Cobb school board, Cobb school calendar
Scott Sweeney

The board voted 6-0 to endorse Superintendent Chris Ragsdale’s recommendation that the Cobb County School District determine when school years should begin an end.

The issue came up this year with the creation of a special State Senate study committee.

Some within the Georgia tourism industry have indicated that starting school in early August has had a detrimental effect on their business.

The study committee has held hearings around the state and is meeting now during a special session. Among the bills being considered would call for a statewide school start after Labor Day.

As far as Cobb schools are concerned, that should be a matter of local control.

“Whether it is giving Cobb the flexibility to test a new assessment system that has the potential to benefit all students in Georgia or allowing local communities, like Cobb, to approve school calendars that best serve the needs of their students and staff, local control is a must,” Ragsdale said in a statement.

Earlier this decade members of the Cobb school board sparred over setting the calendar. In recent years, however, it’s adopted what’s called a “balanced” calendar, with an early August start date and more breaks than a calendar with a later start time.

The balanced calendar also is strongly supported by the Cobb County Association of Educators.

In October the school board voted 6-1 to adopt balanced calendars through 2020 that have Aug. 1 start dates.

The board also included in its legislative priorities proposed changes to the “Local Fair Share” component of the Georgia Quality Basic Education Act.

In this provision, school districts are levied five mills of their local property tax rate, with the funding going to the state.

East Cobb board member Scott Sweeney noted at a work session earlier Thursday that Cobb sends $144 million annually to the state, and advocates capping the Local Fair Share amount at $100 million.

Cobb schools said that getting $44 million in return would enable it to hire 488 teachers or build two new schools.

Other priorities include changing graduation rate calculations “that more accurately reflect schools’ academic process” and pushing for a return to local control of K-12 dual enrollment programs.

Current graduation rate guidelines require school districts to count all students enrolled in a four-year period, regardless of how long they attended classes in that time.

In 2018, Cobb reported a countywide graduation rate of 85.18 percent. While that’s a record, district officials said the graduation rate would be 97.1 percent if only students who attended high school in Cobb all four years were counted.

 

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Cobb school bus camera program extended for five years

The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved an agreement to continue a joint school bus camera program with county courts and public schools for another five years.

The automated enforcement system issues citations to motorists who ignore school bus “stop arm” signs. The cameras, equipped on about 100 of nearly 1,000 buses in the Cobb County School District, take photos of the license plates of violating vehicles.

The agreement (agenda item here, formal agreement doc here) includes the Cobb County State Court Clerk, the camera manufacturer American Traffic Solutions and the Cobb Board of Education, which also must approve the agreement.ATS school bus camera, Cobb school bus camera program

The commissioners’ action comes after the original agreement was extended by a year.

Cobb State Court judges had not been enforcing the violations for a time earlier this year, questioning their legality. Enforcement resumed in February, but the county said the burden of handling stop arm violations required additional staffing.

In September, commissioners approved the creation of three positions in Cobb State Court and two more in the Cobb Solicitors office to start with the fiscal year 2019 that began in October.

County officials estimate more than 8,000 such cases are generated annually. Each violation comes with a fine of $300.

The fine money, which exceeded $2 million in 2017, is split evenly between the county, Cobb schools and ATS, which provides the cameras at no charge.

 

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Cobb CCRPI scores drop after state changes student assessment formula

Mt. Bethel ES, Cobb CCRPI scores

One of the most complicated measurements of academic progress in the state of Georgia has been streamlined in order to become less complicated. But the Cobb CCRPI scores for 2018, which were released Monday, are lower across the board than last year.

The drops include schools in East Cobb, which still had some of the highest figures in the Cobb County School District and in Georgia.

The CCRPI—which stands for College and Career Ready Performance Index—is a state accountability measure that gauges overall achievement results and how schools are preparing students for the next level of education.

Cobb’s average of 79.6 (out of a maximum score of 100) is nearly three points higher than the state average, but lower than the 82.9 score from 2017.

Student performance is assessed in several ways, and they differ according to school level. They include content mastery, progress, closing performance gaps, readiness and graduation rates.

The Georgia Department of Education made some changes to its formula in the spring (here’s a PDF that breaks it all down, but as stated above, it’s really complicated). These changes were done to reduce the number of indicators to measure.

‘They’ve redone the math’

It’s the third time in the last five years that the state has changed the formula, and both Georgia and Cobb officials are urging parents not to compare 2018 scores to those in years past.

“Whatever analogy you want to make—apples to apples, oranges to oranges—this is reflected across the state,” said John Floresta, the Cobb schools chief strategy and accountability officer. “They’ve redone the math.”

He said the changes that are being felt the most are at the elementary school level.

One was to remove “challenge points” for “exceeding the bar” activities that allowed some schools to get a score of more than 100 points.

The other major calculation that affected scores was the “closing the gap” measurement. In essence, Floresta said, there’s now a lower ceiling for the highest-performing schools, while that ceiling has been raised for lower-performing schools.

A good example is at Timber Ridge Elementary School in East Cobb, which last year had a score of 100.5, a school that “exceeded the bar.” This year, Timber Ridge’s CCRPI score is 93.3.

Like many schools in East Cobb, Timber Ridge students did very well in content mastery at 98.6 and also scored above 90 in progress and readiness. But Timber Ridge’s closing the gap number, which comprises 15 percent of an elementary school’s score, was 78.6.

“The frustration is with the principals and staff more than anything else,” Floresta said. “It’s the reality of how they’ve redone the categories. We just want to know what our kids know.”

On the other hand, Mt. Bethel Elementary School was a perfect 100 in closing the gap, along with Wheeler High School.

Those East Cobb elementary schools that had double-digit drops had closing the gap scores that in some cases were below 50 (full East Cobb school results here).

Ups and downs

Some East Cobb schools came close to the maximum in 2018: Walton High School (96.3), Lassiter High School (95.8), Simpson Middle School (94.7) and Dodgen Middle School and Hightower Trail Middle School (both 91.8).

At the elementary school level the leaders included Mt. Bethel (95.6) and Timber Ridge’s 93.3. They were among the 19 schools in Cobb that had averages of 90 or more.

Some schools did report sizable increases in their CCRPI scores from 2017. Among them are Simpson Middle School, which jumped from 89.9 to 94.7, one of the biggest moves up among Cobb middle schools.

Seven schools got perfect scores of 100 in content mastery, including Walton, Lassiter, Pope, Dickerson Middle School and Murdock and Sope Creek at the elementary school level.

“Although we are glad to see strong CCRPI scores yet again, we are more focused on supporting our teachers to identify what their students know and immediately acting on what they learn about their students,” Cobb schools Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said in a statement.

School-by-school breakdowns have been provided by the Cobb County School District, and you can click on this page to see the full table.

 

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Cobb schools student safety pledge to parents: ‘This is the most important thing we do’

Cobb schools student safety measures
Officer Phil Bradford was appointed to a new emergency management specialist role with the Cobb County School District police. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)

As they were rolling out a new website dedicated to safety issues, officials—as well as officers— from Cobb schools tried to reassure parents at an East Cobb town hall meeting Thursday that they were being proactive in dealing with a variety of threats to students, teachers and staff alike.

The new site, called Cobb Shield, includes much of the material presented to the audience of around 50 parents at the Lassiter Concert Hall.

Some of them had specific questions about threats of violence, accidents, assaults and bullying, but school officials said they couldn’t answer some of those questions in public.

One came from a Lassiter mother, who wanted more information about a report of bullet casings that were found in a classroom during the current school year.

John Adams, the Cobb schools deputy superintendent for human resources and operations, told her that a communication was sent to parents from the Lassiter administration. When she said she hadn’t received it, Adams said that he “couldn’t comment on an ongoing investigation.”

Adams said the matter “illustrates how . .. students have to be our eyes and ears” in reporting such incidents.

Being watchful was the watchword at the town hall, which featured leaders of the Cobb County School District Police force, which has 65 uniformed officers.

Many of them have years of previous law enforcement service, including Cobb Police. Capt. Wayne Pickett, a former Precinct 4 commander in East Cobb, is one of them, and he’s second-in-command to Chief Ron Storey, also a Cobb Police retiree.

Cobb schools student safety measures
Capt. Wayne Pickett of CCSD said that Code Red drills serve as “a way to surveil” how well schools are prepared for serious threats of violence.

The department average is 26 years of experience, according to Adams, and 12 officers have SWAT training. “We want mature officers who have some experience,” Storey said.

Pickett detailed how ongoing “Code Red” drills are working, especially at the high school level, which are supposed to  have one each semester.

He said the unannounced drills are designed to train staff, teachers and students to be better prepared for suspicious persons activity. During the drills, a plain-clothes officer comes to the school and tries to go as far as possible before being noticed.

“The administration has no idea we’re coming,” Pickett said. They’re told “We’re in a Code Red right now. What are you going to do?”

More than anything, he added, school police want to gauge how prepared each school is, with a checklist of around 25 items to keep in mind.

“There’s no way to pre-plan such a stressful activity,” Pickett said. “It’s snapshot of what they do. Do they know the policies for Code Red?”

After a drill, school police meet with administrators to identify successes and improvements. If there are enough problems at a school, another drill may be ordered.

A report is sent up the administrative line at the district, all the way to the superintendent.

Pickett said “we haven’t had too many that are bad. Most are exceptionally good.”

Cobb schools student safety measures
The AlertPoint system, Ofc. Phil Bradford said, “empowers every member of the staff to take action” to ensure safety.

When a parent asked about inspecting Code Red drill reports, Adams said that’s also something that’s not available to the public, for security reasons.

Officer Phil Bradford, another Cobb Police veteran, heads up a newly created position with the school police as emergency management specialist. He updated the Lassiter audience about the AlertPoint emergency communications system that’s gradually being rolled out at every school in the district.

It’s a $5 million system that was begun in the wake of the Parkland, Fla., school shootings, and features a device issued to teachers and staff. The card-type device allows them to trigger an alert to designated first responders in case of any kind of emergency, from a suspicious person to a health issue.

“The badge identifies who you are and where you are,” Bradford said. “Most important, it leads to instant action.”

Flashing lights and beeper alarms are activated in the case of a Code Red alert and the entire school is notified of a lockdown.

High school classrooms are being issued AlertPoints now, to be followed by those at the middle school and then elementary school level.

An active-shooter training video has been shown to staff for more than a year. Bradford said a safety video has just been completed for elementary students, and another for high school students should be done soon.

Those videos, and other safety-related measures, will gradually be added to the Cobb Shield webpage, said Adams, a former Cobb Police officer. That page also will include a tip line, which is expected to be fully functional by the spring semester.

He encouraged parents to contact him with suggestions at: john.adams@cobbk12.org.

“This is the most important thing we do,” Adams said.

 

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East Cobb students named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists

A total of 64 East Cobb students have been named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists.National Merit Scholarships, East Cobb students

They come from Pope, Lassiter, Wheeler and Walton, which has a total of 31 semifinalists, the second-most for any school in the state, according to the Cobb County School District.

The CCSD said 80 students from seven of its schools have made the next round of the process, including Campbell, Kennesaw Mountain and North Cobb.

Below are the names of the East Cobb semifinalists, followed by more information about the program, and how the process works, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation:

Lassiter High School
Sophia D. Babish
Eric Chow
Dennis G. Goldenberg
Peter R. Jacobson
Carter B. Johnson
Carter H. Kubes
Peyton R. Lamb
Delia K. Pung
Audrey J. Safir
Dylan Walters

Pope High School
Jacob T. Evans
Griffin W. Haarbauer
Edward C. Kokan
Maya Nambiar
Olivia D. Popovich

Walton High School
Albert Chen
David Cornell
Alison Cumberledge
Thomas DeBoer
Ava Edmunds
William Ellsworth
Eashan Gandotra
Vineet Gangireddy
Nicholas Hong
Emma Hunt
Jeffrey Key
Darren Kosen
Varun Krishnaswamy
Grace Lee
Ryan Li
Jesse Liu
Arundhati Mahendrakar
Isha Palakurthy
Anika Park
Sara Patyi
David Phillips
Varsha Ramachandra
Alice Shen
Daniel Shu
Elizabeth Sims
Albert Ting
Illahi Virani
Jayson Wu
Kevin Wu
Grace Xu
Margare Zhang

Wheeler High School 
Saman A. Bhamani
Fianko Buckle
Mariah K. Butts
Caden M. Felton
Ayush Goyal
Adith Guna
Vanessa I. Leonardo
Andrew J. Mayne
Arya N. Mevada
Shivam A. Patel
Abhinav Piplani
Shraddha Sekhar
Keshav K. Shenoy
Rebecca G. Simonson
Hanna E. Waltz
David M. Weinberg
Zachary R. Yahn

Over 1.6 million juniors in about 22,000 high schools entered the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2017 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

The nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors and includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors. More than 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to be named National Merit Scholar finalists in February.

To be finalists, semifinalists and their high school must submit a detailed scholarship application, in which they provide information about the semifinalist’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. A semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT® scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.

Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies, without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference.

Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2019. Every finalist will compete for one of 2,500 National Merit® $2500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state-representational basis.

About 1,000 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards will be provided by approximately 230 corporations and business organizations for finalists who meet their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 180 colleges and universities are expected to finance some 4,000 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards
for finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.

The 2019 National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and concluding in July. These scholarship recipients will join some 338,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.

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Cobb STEM Distinguished Educator Awards include Simpson, McCleskey teachers

Press release: Simpson McCleskey teachers honored, Cobb STEM

The Cobb County School District recently presented 16 teachers with the Cobb STEM Distinguished Educator Award.

“This program is designed to recognize exceptional K-12 teachers in our district who have made a commitment to meaningfully implementing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in their classrooms,” said Tania Pachuta, STEM Professional Learning Specialist for the district.

Teachers apply by submitting a portfolio of evidence documenting the various STEM experiences they have engaged in and provided for their students throughout the year. For example, Mableton Elementary School teacher Alana Davis runs the afterschool aerospace engineering club, STARBASE 1.5, that skypes with NASA engineers. Kerri Waller is a Simpson Middle School teacher who has received national recognition in Arts & Activities Magazine for her STEAM work with students. Portfolios are reviewed and points are awarded based on certain criteria. The program is modeled after the Georgia Department of Education STEM Educator Laureate Program.

Award winners receive various prizes, with the top winner earning a Sphero robot for use in the classroom, along with a trip to a Georgia educator conference of the winner’s choice. This year’s top STEM educator, Paulette Allard, teaches at Harrison High School.

“It is rewarding to have achieved such a high level of recognition for participating in the program, but I am also immensely thankful that it gave me a springboard to help my students achieve great things through their STEM experiences as well,” said Allard.

Awards are generously sponsored by nexAir, LLC, a leading distributor of atmospheric gases and welding supplies with locations across the mid-south, including Marietta.

The top five winners include Paulette Allard, Harrison High School; Alana Davis, Mableton Elementary School; Sean Splawski, Mableton Elementary School; Annette Simpson, McCleskey Middle School; and Michael Lee, McEachern High School.

More information about the program, including a full list of award winners, can be found at www.stemcobb.com.

 

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The 2018 Cobb schools teacher of the year is from Dodgen Middle School

Cobb schools teacher of the year, Fred Veeder
Fred Veeder is overcome with emotion as Cobb schools supterintendent Chris Ragsdale announced Friday he’s the district’s teacher of the year for 2018. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)

The Cobb schools teacher of the year presentation was disguised as something else for the seventh grade class at Dodgen Middle School Friday morning.

In order to keep a secret, and surprise the recipient, seventh grade teacher Fred Veeder, students were assembled into the auditorium and told they would be hearing from a Pearl Harbor survivor.

The special visit was even noted on the school marquee.

Veeder, who teaches seventh grade math, had been named the district’s middle school teacher of the year a couple weeks ago, and was overwhelmed and touched by the honor.

When the he took the stage Friday morning, his voice broke a little as he thanked his administration, fellow teachers, students and Cobb County School District staff.

“I feel so honored, so blessed,” Veeder said. “I feel like I have two families.”

Cobb Schools teacher of the year, Dodgen Middle School

As in his previous honor, Veeder mentioned his mother, a retired seventh grade math teacher herself (and who also was in attendance Friday) for help instilling the values and the desire to become a teacher.

After years as a gas station owner, Veeder finished his college education and began teaching at Dodgen 15 years ago. He said being named the district’s teacher of the year is an honor for the whole school, not just himself.

“There are so many wonderful teachers at this school that I have taken so many good things from” as a teacher, he said, his voice choking with emotion from time to time.

“It’s a blessing beyond belief. I don’t feel like this is just my award. This is Dodgen’s award, and I’m just a part of the family.”

Cobb schools teacher of the year, Dodgen Middle School

Veeder will next be in the running for the Georgia teacher of the year award. Other high-ranking Cobb schools officials were in attendance, as were East Cobb-area Cobb school board members Scott Sweeney, David Banks and David Chastain and chairman Brad Wheeler.

He was also thanked by Dodgen principal Dr. Loralee Hill, who has said of Veeder that he is ” a legend in our community.”

As the pep rally closed, she told him that “We are so blessed that you are here.”

Cobb schools teacher of the year, Fred Veeder

More East Cobb school news

 

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Nicholson Elementary students get ready for school on ‘ride-along’ day

Nicholson Elementary students

Thanks to the Cobb County School District’s communications office for the photos from today’s ride-along for Nicholson Elementary students who aren’t as familiar with that “back to school” feeling as those in the higher grades.

That’s because they’re kindergarteners and first-graders getting ready for the first day of classes on Wednesday as the 2018-19 school year begins.

Nicholson Elementary students

They got up early with their parents to ride the school bus, and were greated by teachers and staff. They also got greetings and special messages from the CCSD transportation staff on how to be safe riders on the buses.

The Chick-fil-A cow, the CCSD’s transportation mascot Hawkeye (in the background below) and Kell High School students took part in the ride-along festivities at Nicholson, and they were repeated at other schools in the district.

Nicholson Elementary students

Nicholson Elementary students

Nicholson Elementary students

Nicholson Elementary students

Nicholson is one of seven East Cobb schools to have new principals this year. Faith Harmeyer comes over from Mt. Bethel Elementary School, where she had been an assistant principal.

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Cobb school buses make final test runs; ribbon-cuttings for Brumby, ECMS

Cobb school buses

The last of the test runs for Cobb school buses take place Tuesday as another school year begins on Wednesday.

Here’s more about the Cobb County School District’s transportation services in this podcast with CCSD Executive Director of Transportation Rick Grisham and Associate Director John Lyles. The district has a bus route information page, and also has more information about stop arm laws and student safety.

Also Tuesday: Ribbon-cuttings will be held for the new Brumby Elementary and East Cobb Middle School campuses, which are ready to go after construction was completed this summer.

In addition to CCSD officials and school board members, the invited guests include Congresswoman Karen Handel, State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick and State Rep. Sharon Cooper.

The ECMS event is from 9-9:30 a.m. at 825 Terrell Mill Road, and the Brumby ribbon-cutting starts at 9:30 a.m. right next door at 815 Terrell Mill Road. Public open houses will follow.

From Cobb County government, here are some road and school bus safety tips for motorists to observe:

These tests will include activating the bus lights and stop arms—be on the lookout! 

As Cobb County children head back to school, drivers are reminded to be alert and exercise patience and caution. Impatient, uninformed or apathetic drivers pose a great threat to children waiting at school bus stops. Georgia Department of Education staff recommends these safety practices:

  • Be on the alert as children walk to and from their school bus stops.
  • Exercise care and be responsive as children congregate and wait at their bus stops. They may be thinking about getting to school, but may not be thinking of getting there safely.
  • Be ready to act when you see the yellow flashing lights on the front and the rear of a school bus. This is your warning that a bus stop is about to take place.
  • Begin to slow down and look for students in the area. NEVER speed up to beat a school bus. You must be focused and exercise caution any time you are in the vicinity of a school bus stop, as student riders can sometimes be impulsive.

Abide by the law when a school bus comes to a full stop and you see the flashing red lights activate and the stop arm deploy. Motorists are required to stop in nearly every instance. The only exceptions to this rule are when highways are separated in the center by a dirt, grass or concrete median or a center turn lane. In these situations, only vehicles following or traveling alongside a school bus in the same direction must stop.

Be attentive after stopping. You must remain stopped until all loading students are aboard in the morning or all unloading students have cleared 12 feet off the roadway in the afternoon. Proceed with caution only after all students have safely cleared the roadway, the stop arm is cancelled and the flashing red lights are deactivated.

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East Cobb schools excel in 2018 Georgia Milestones results

Timber Ridge Elementary School, East Cobb Schools, Georgia milestones
More than 98 percent of students at Timber Ridge Elementary School performed at Level 2 or higher in the Georgia Milestones, the highest figure in the Cobb County School District.

Several East Cobb schools led or did well in various categories of academic performance in the 2018 Georgia Milestones report.

The data was released Friday by the Georgia Department of Education, which collects test scores from public school districts to measure learning proficiency in grades 3-12.

The levels are 1-4. Level 1 is Beginning Learner, Level 2 is a Developing Learner, Level 3 is a Proficient Learner and Level 4 is Distinguished Learner.

The evaluations are based on End of Grade (EOG) tests at the elementary and middle school levels, and End of Course (EOC) tests at the high school level.

According to the Cobb County School District, 10 elementary schools had 94 percent or more of their students score between levels 2-4. Nine of them are in East Cobb: East Side; Garrison Mill; Davis; Mount Bethel; Mountain View; Murdock; Rocky Mount; Sope Creek; Timber Ridge; and Tritt.

At Timber Ridge, 98.1 of the students were between levels 2-4, the highest figure for a Cobb elementary school. The elementary EOG tests are in English Language Arts and math.

Among top performing middle schools, according to CCSD, were Dickerson (97.3), Dodgen (96.5) and Hightower Trail (96.9). Middle school students take EOG tests in English Language Arts, math, science and social studies.

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High school students are given End of Course (EOC) tests in eight courses in English Language Arts and math, as well as social studies and science.

Walton led Cobb high schools with a 97.1 score of students between levels 2-4, followed by Lassiter (96.4) and Pope (96.0).

Wheeler’s composite score of 83.3 is up 7.9 percent from 2017, one of the biggest improvements in the county.

Cobb schools said that the district-wide Level 2 or higher percentage for high school students is 84.9, much higher than the state average of 74.1 percent.

At the elementary/middle school level, 80.7 percent of Cobb students scored at Level 2 or higher, compared to 74.6 of all Georgia students.

For more information visit the Cobb school district’s Georgia Milestones resource page.

For detailed spreadsheets of grade- and school-level results and more, visit the Georgia DOE’s 2018 Milestone’s page.

 

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Dodgen Middle School teacher ‘a legend in our community’

Fred Veeder, Dodgen Middle School teacher
With Dodgen principal Dr. Loralee Hill applauding, Fred Veeder reacts to being named the Cobb middle school teacher of the year by Superintendent Chris Ragsdale Wednesday. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)

Fred Veeder was sitting in the cafeteria with his peers Wednesday morning, shortly after a welcome-back staff breakfast. The Dodgen Middle School teacher had no idea he was about to become the center of attention.

Then an entourage from the Cobb County School District, including superintendent Chris Ragsdale, entered the room, along with Veeder’s sister and mother.

He had been chosen the Cobb district’s middle school teacher of the year, and he was completely blown away by the honor.

The surprise announcements were repeated for teachers at Nickajack Elementary School in Smyrna and Harrison High School in Kennesaw.

Ragsdale, who told the Dodgen teachers that “you are the rock stars” of the school district, said breaking the news to the selected teachers is “probably one of my favorite things to do.”

A seventh grade math teacher at Dodgen for the last 15 years, Veeder was humble in being asked to speak to his colleagues.

“This is for all of us, not just me,” Veeder said.

Dodgen Middle School teachers listen to Fred Veeder after he was named a Cobb teacher of the year finalist.

Asked later what the honor means, Veeder still couldn’t believe it. “Oh God,” he said. “It just blows me away. I just love the job so much. That’s the reward in itself. This. . . this is surreal.”

Teaching is a second career for Veeder. He previously owned a Chevron station in Buckhead. After selling that business, he decided to go back to college and complete his education.

He’s been at Dodgen all 15 years as a public school teacher, but his teaching career isn’t a happenstance. His mother was a seventh grade math teacher before him, and she warmly embraced him at the celebration.

“He was just born to be a math teacher,” Dr. Loralee Hill, the Dodgen principal, said of Veeder. “It’s in his blood.”

Fred Veeder, Dodgen Middle School teacher
Dodgen Middle School teacher Fred Veeder gets a hug from his mother, a retired 7th grade math teacher.

She said that what distinguishes Veeder is a “passion for the kids that’s insurmountable” and his success in engaging with them in the classroom.

Hill said while Veeder is a demanding teacher in a demanding subject, the way he questions students in classes is among the best she’s observed by a teacher.

Veeder also has been a sponsor of the Dodgen math club while teaching a 7th grade honors class. Hill said students taking math support classes eagerly sign up for him to be their teacher.

Not only is Veeder constantly willing to collaborate and learn new things, Hill said, he passes on that knowledge.

“He’s a legend in our community,” Hill said.

Veeder is a finalist for the Cobb County School District teacher of the year, which will be named after the start of the school year.

Among the perks is the free use of a vehicle of his choice for this school year from the Ed Voyles dealerships.

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