This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

Board Passes Charter School Agreement

The oft-divided Cobb County Board of Education finds unanimity on a charter school agreement and almost all other issues Thursday night.

In what would turn out to be longest night meeting since the new Cobb County Board of Education took office in January, the long wait was worth it for some audience members.

At 10:23 p.m. Thursday, parents and students rejoiced after the board voted 7-0 to pass a memorandum of understanding for current students between the Fulton County and school districts.

After board member David Morgan of Post 3 in South Cobb took several minutes to revise the motion so it would reach beyond current students to include siblings and rising seventh-graders, the revised amendment also passed unanimously.

Find out what's happening in Acworthwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The agreement allows Cobb students to attend charter schools in Fulton County that allow out-of-district admissions. The state's per-student money follows each student to the charter school.

“It makes it good because as a rising ninth-grader I had the right to choose what school I went to, and now as a junior it’s only an extension of that right to finish what I started,” said Max Greenhouse, a junior at Riverwood International Charter School in Sandy Springs.

Find out what's happening in Acworthwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Kevin Brand, whose daughter and wife spoke during the night’s public comment period, said the board's decision restored his faith in politics.

“This feels great,” he said. “We did a lot of advocating, and I definitely think it turned around some of the board members with that. I especially appreciated David Morgan’s comments about the government not breaking something that’s working.”

The board rejected the memorandum of understanding 5-2 when Morgan first introduced it Feb. 17. Several families and students then spoke in favor of the agreement during March board meetings.

“The board and administration obtained more information over the last month that they didn’t have for the last vote,” said Tim Stultz, whose Post 2 includes . “Of course, the parents have been very passionate about it, and I’m very happy these students will have the opportunity to continue their education at their school of choice.”

The board passed all of the agenda's discussion items unanimously except for the recommendation to move ahead with installing artificial turf at the five high schools that haven't received it yet: , , , and . That measure passed 6-1, with dissent from Kathleen Angelucci, whose Post 4 includes North Cobb.

The 7-0 votes included renovations and additions at , , and , and  elementary schools; rebuilding Clarkdale Elementary; construction of a new Mableton elementary school; and paving projects at and .

The board also voted 6-1 (Morgan dissented) to use the Georgia School Boards Association as its vendor for training per a Southern Association of Colleges and Schools directive. GSBA professional development director Tony Arasi told the board he would provide training free because the sessions would be short and he’d drop his mileage expenses because he lives only 12 miles away from the Central Office.

After the vote, Bartlett told Arasi that he could schedule the training into the board's April 13 morning work session.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Acworth