Friday, March 22, 2013
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…
Friday, March 1, 2013
The Cobb school superintendent's contract was due to expire on June 30.
With no discussion, the Cobb Board of Education voted Thursday night to extend the contract of Superintendent Michael Hinojosa through the end of calendar year 2014. By a 5-2 vote, the board approved an extension -- which is not a renewal -- for Hinojosa, whose initial two-year contract was to have ended on June 30 of this year. Board member Kathleen Angelucci tried inserting an amendment to delay the decision pending the results of surveys from staff, teachers and parents, but her motion gained the support of only one other colleague, David Banks. They voted against the extension, with board chairman Randy Scamihorn, vice chairman Brad Wheeler and members Scott Sweeney, David Morgan and Tim Stultz voting in favor. "I'm excited about it," …
Thursday, February 7, 2013
The Cobb and Marietta school superintendents are panelists at today's National Alternative Education Association gathering.
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Thursday, February 7
From a press release issued by the Cobb County School District: Dr. Michael Hinojosa, Superintendent for the Cobb County School District, will serve as one of several guest speakers in a panel discussion of public school leaders at the National Alternative Education Association (NAEA) Annual Conference Feb. 6-8 in Atlanta. Dr. Hinojosa will be joined on the Superintendent’s Panel by Marietta City Schools Superintendent Dr. Emily Lembeck; Richard Storm, principal of Union Alternative School in Oklahoma; Susie Bunch, Director of Schools for Lexington, Tennessee City School system and Anthony Pack, Superintendent of Monroe County Schools in Forsyth County, Georgia. The NAEA is a support and advocacy organization for educators who work with …
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa is recommending denial of a start-up school in Smyrna, despite strong community support for the plan.
The Cobb Board of Education is expected to vote today on a petition to create a charter school in Smyrna. Many parents and residents there want it, and since last week's board work session have provided school officials with additional information about a possible location. But superintendent Michael Hinojosa continues to recommend against granting the charter status for financial, facilities and academic reasons. That issue figures to be the major item of business when the board meets at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Cobb County School District office board room, located at 514 Glover Street in Marietta. An executive session has been called for 6 p.m. Supporters of the proposed Smyrna Academy of Excellence are upset by Hinojosa's continued …
Sunday, May 20, 2012
The Cobb Board of Education voted 4-3 to allow CCSD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa to begin fundraising efforts for Teach for America for the 2013-2014 school year.
In a 4-3 vote at Thursday night's nearly four-hour meeting, the Cobb Board of Education authorized Hinojosa's fundraising efforts for up to 25 TFA teachers, who will likely work in South Cobb during the 2013-2014 school year. Board members Kathleen Angelucci, Alison Bartlett and Tim Stultz voted against the measure. In order for the TFA teachers to be hired, the board established four stipulations at its May 9 worksession: Possible Fee Increase for TFA Training The fee required for each TFA teacher pays for the teacher's five-week training prior to entering the classroom and the ongoing training each teacher receives regularly throughout her two-year commitment. Hinojosa said the training fee for each TFA teacher has increased from $2,000 …
Friday, May 18, 2012
The Board of Education has until June 30 to find a compromise that at least four members can support for fiscal 2013.
The Cobb County School District has to go back to the chalkboard after the Board of Education failed to approve the fiscal 2013 budget Thursday night. The school board has until June 30 to pass a budget for the year that starts July 1, but after Thursday's extensive, often passionate debate, the path forward is unclear. A special meeting will be scheduled to search for an answer. The seven board members staked out at least four distinct positions on the proposed $841.9 million budget—none of them matching the administration's recommendation. Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and Chief Financial Officer Mike Addison entered the meeting recommending the same budget that the school board passed April 26 on a preliminary basis. It features 350 …
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Do you think cutting 350 teacher positions is a good solution to Cobb's school budget deficit?
- GOVERNMENT
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Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Cutting the teaching staff in the Cobb County School District by 350 positions is part of Chief Financial Officer Mike Addison’s plan to close a $62.4 million deficit in the budget for next school year. The preliminary budget he presented earlier this month also calls for five furlough days, a 175-day school year, a half-year delay in the step increases in teacher salaries, bigger classes and reductions in the hours of paraprofessionals working in school libraries. Even with the cuts, the budget uses $21.5 million from the school system’s nearly $100 million fund balance to close the deficit. Cobb Superintendent Michael Hinojosa would rather dip deeper into reserves than resort to layoffs if attrition doesn’t meet the District's plan to …
Sunday, April 22, 2012
More than 700 Cadets from nearly all Cobb County and Marietta high schools participated in the ceremony.
More than 300 people from throughout Cobb County attended a Junior ROTC Pass in Review ceremony Thursday at Campbell High School. More than 700 Cadets from nearly all Cobb County and Marietta high schools participated in the ceremony. Maj. Larry Moyers, the host school’s JROTC instructor, explained that the purpose of a pass in review is to honor the accomplishments of the cadets and the military itself. “It’s a ceremony that’s used to recognize individuals for accomplishments or for a guest commander to review the troops and see what they look like,” he said. “So it’s kind of a combination in honors.” Two students from each school were honored with either the Superintendent’s Award or the Military Officers Association Award. Cobb Schools …
Saturday, April 14, 2012
The Cobb school superintendent wants to avoid cutting teachers to balance the budget.
- GOVERNMENT
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Saturday, April 14, 2012
Cobb Superintendent Michael Hinojosa would rather dip deeper into reserves than resort to layoffs if attrition doesn’t meet the Cobb County School District's plan to cut 350 teaching positions. The school system is 200 teachers short of that 350 goal, Hinojosa said during Wednesday’s Cobb Board of Education work session. But even though that’s behind the predicted pace, he said he expects attrition to do the fiscal dirty work. Last year Cobb schools lost 320 teachers from this point until the end of the school year, Hinojosa said. “I think it’s unfortunate, the bit of news that you bring up—the people leaving aren’t matching up to expectations—because the last thing we want to be in position to do is to lay off teachers,” said board member…
Friday, March 23, 2012
Apply by Monday to help set the 2013-14 Cobb school schedule.
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Friday, March 23, 2012
The Cobb County School District is forming a calendar advisory committee proposed by Superintendent Michael Hinojosa last fall and, after much discussion, approved by the Board of Education. Each of the county’s four PTA councils—East Cobb, Jessye Coleman, South Cobb and Tom Mathis Sr.—gets two members on the committee, which also will include teachers, administrators and community representatives. The plan is for the committee to meet three to five times, starting in August, and recommend a 2013-14 calendar to Hinojosa in September. The hope is that the committee can come up with a calendar that bridges the bitter divide between advocates of a balanced calendar and those who favor a traditional calendar. A balanced calendar starts at the …
Leo Smith
1:18 pm on Saturday, March 23, 2013
Fund the Educators 1st! Together we can create better legislation for local education funding. Fund the Educators 1st. LIKE the developing FACEBOOK effort at https://www.facebook.com/EducationFundingPetition -Decrease Teacher Furloughs -Fund Learning Objectives over Buildings -Engage Citizens with a November Ballot on SPLOST Votes -Prioritize Projects Based on Community Needs -Hold the System … more ›