Angelucci Confronts Calendar Issue

member Kathleen Angelucci said she wanted to clear a few things up during Tuesday night's town hall meeting at . Calendar talk was the hot issue of the night, a topic that peaked in intensity when Angelucci said the online calendar survey taken by community members was inaccurate and "not scientific."

About 300 people packed into the school media center to attend the town hall with Angelucci, who represents North Cobb and Kell High Schools in Post 4.

The traditional calendar passed 4-3 on Feb. 17, with support from Angelucci, Board Chairwoman Alison Bartlett of Post 7, Scott Sweeney of Post 6 and Tim Stultz of Post 2.

David Banks of Post 5, Lynnda Crowder-Eagle of Post 1 and David Morgan of Post 3 voted against it.

Angelucci, who was elected in November and expressed her support of a traditional calendar early on, spoke for about half an hour before opening up the floor to questions from the audience. Notably, she questioned the accuracy of the online calendar survey used to gauge support of the different calendar options, a point which drew laughter, groans and verbal interjections from several members of the audience.

The survey, which was hosted by surveymonkey.com, showed 72 percent of the survey participants opted for the balanced calendar.

“The problem with it is the multiple responses and the editing of responses,” said Angelucci. "If a person can vote multiple times, it skews the results. That’s a fact.”

“When looking at the survey results, there were over 14,000 votes from teachers. We don’t have 14,000 teachers. We have over 8,000 teachers," she said.

Angelucci said she's looked at "economic impact studies” and other data to form her opinions on the calendar issue and also noted that her support for the traditional calendar has never been a secret.

“When I ran for this post, I was very, very vocal about my position," she said.

Angelucci said she has spoken with band directors, football coaches and teachers who do not support the balanced calendar, adding, "It’s my job to take everything into consideration, not just a few."

“So I’m not going to go back on my word,” she said, drawing applause from supporters in the crowd.

The meeting then opened up for the question and answer portion of the evening, moderated by Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews.

Mike Swab, an electrical engineer who has children at and North Cobb High School, said the traditional calendar was originally based on an agrarian society and that "most of your industrialized societies have dawned on a balanced calendar."

"Which is more important?" he asked. "Our kids' education … or going back to a traditional calendar?"

One Cobb County teacher noted that Cherokee County, which is on the balanced calendar, outranks Cobb in several standardized test scores. Angelucci responded that there's no proof the balanced calendar is related to the test scores. Earlier in the evening, Angelucci also said, “There is absolutely nothing that points to any kind of real academic increase with a balanced calendar.”

She did, however, note the effect of economic considerations. “Less teachers means more kids in the classroom, and that does affect academic achievement," she said.

In response to a question about possibly taking qualitative measures into consideration, such as the impact of the balanced calendar on student attitude, attention span, and overall educational experience, Angelucci said, "When you look at the system as a whole, you’ve got to have data … not just anecdotal responses."

While Angelucci has said a traditional calendar is more economically viable than a balanced calendar, she said she is still waiting on an exact number in regards to how much money a later August start date would save the school district in utility costs.

The meeting came to a close at 8:30 p.m., but this likely won't be the end of the calendar debate.

Today at 8:30 a.m., Angelucci and the other members of the board will meet for their monthly work session. On the agenda, Board Member Banks has asked to

“People are very mad,” said Banks.

"When you have over 70 percent of your constituents out there saying that they want the balanced calendar and you ignore it, that’s not being very accountable to your constituents," he said.

Despite hearing several voices of opposition, Angelucci said she is "one of seven" and that the traditional calendar is what she felt was best.

"I tried to look at everything, the big picture, how does this affect Cobb County as a whole?” she said. “That’s how I made my decision."