Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Additional changes have been proposed to the $894 million budget approved by a 4-3 vote Monday.
The Cobb Board of Education has tentatively approved an $894 million fiscal year 2014 budget that includes additional revisions and is likely to be altered further before final passage next month. By a 4-3 vote, the school board on Monday adopted a budget plan that retains five furlough days for all Cobb County School District employees, including teachers, but further reduces the number of proposed teacher cuts through attrition. The tentative budget also calls for taking more out of reserve funds than originally recommended and makes a more generous assumption about the upcoming Cobb tax digest than the county tax assessor. Voting in favor of the tentative budget were board chairman Randy Scamihorn of North Cobb, vice chairman Brad …
Monday, April 29, 2013
The board of education is scheduled to take an initial vote at Monday's called work session.
After two grueling work sessions, the Cobb Board of Education has scheduled another one for Monday as it faces a deadline for tentative approval of the fiscal year 2014 budget. A special meeting has been called for 1 p.m. on Monday as the school board continues to work to close a projected deficit of $86.4 million. Monday's work session will take place in the board room of the Cobb County School District headquarters at 514 Glover Street, Marietta. The meeting also will be live-streamed on the CCSD website. The board is expected to vote for tentative approval, which it is required by law to do in order to advertise a public hearing on the budget. That public hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, May 14, at 7 p.m., and final budget …
Monday, April 22, 2013
The Board of Education continues its discussions at a 2 p.m. special meeting.
After getting a newly revised set of options for balancing the fiscal year 2014 budget last week, the Cobb Board of Education will hold a special budget meeting on Monday. The meeting takes place at 2 p.m. in the board room of the Cobb County School District Central Office, 514 Glover Street, Marietta. Last Wednesday, the board received requested changes in the budget proposal that would restore some proposed teacher reductions through attrition, provide a mid-year cost-of-living increase for district employees and carry over $10 million in fiscal year 2013 leftover funding to reach an $838 million balance. The proposal still calls for five furlough days for all district employees and using $22 million in district reserves. The district's …
Thursday, April 18, 2013
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…
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
The Board of Education is trying to a close a projected $86.4-million deficit.
- GOVERNMENT
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Tuesday, April 9
As the Cobb County Board of Education tries to solve a projected $86.4-million deficit, the district has created a special section on its website to help the public understand the fiscal year 2014 budget. The website includes a video, which you can view above. The video can also be found at http://www.cobbk12.org/budget/ Related content
Thursday, April 4, 2013
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 …
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," …
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
The school board also is expected to vote on a contract extension for Superintendent Michael Hinojosa Thursday.
- SCHOOLS
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Wednesday, February 27
The extension of an existing contract to install "buzz-in" security systems at elementary schools is on the Cobb Board of Education agenda Thursday. The board will hold its monthly business meeting at 7 p.m. at the Cobb County School District central office, 514 Glover Street, Marietta. A public comment session will be held at the start of the meeting. Earlier this month the board heard at its work session about the proposed $900,000 extension with Kratos Defense and Security, a sole source provider. The money would come from surplus SPLOST III funds and the contract period begin on April 1 and conclude on March 31, 2014. Similar security installation work began in the Cobb school system during the SPLOST II period. Thursday's meeting will…
Thursday, February 14, 2013
The process begins in earnest in March, with mid-May approval expected.
The Cobb County School District's reputation for holding the line on administrative costs is being touted as the Cobb Board of Education prepares to dig into the fiscal year 2014 budget process. Brad Johnson, the district's chief financial officer, reminded board members during a work session on Wednesday that Cobb's full-time equivalency (per student) expenditure of $7,553 per year is the lowest of any major school system in the metro Atlanta area. Cobb's FTE general admistration cost of $83 -- compared to $1,342 in Atlanta Public Schools -- also is lower than DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett. "These are really good numbers that we really need to advertise," Johnson said in his budget briefing, which also included a specific schedule for the …
Thursday, January 17, 2013
The Board of Education heard early forecasts for projected fiscal year 2014 numbers Wednesday.
The early budget forecast for the Cobb County School District for fiscal year 2014 was as gloomy as the weather Wednesday during a Cobb Board of Education work session. Cobb schools chief financial officer Brad Johnson told board members that his preliminary indications are for a $79.5 million deficit for the fiscal year that begins on July 1. While the figure is preliminary -- state funding from the Georgia legislature and the 2013 Cobb tax digest are yet to be determined -- the long-term projections are even more grim, reaching an estimated $105 million deficit for fiscal year 2017. After struggling to close a $62.4 million gap for the current fiscal year last May, the school board faces a more daunting challenge, and not just in terms …
EthelToffelmayer
9:20 pm on Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Did the Cobb School Board have to get the budget approved by the Anti-Common Core, Glenn Beck fans that prevented the purchase of new math books? It appears that our school board would rather cater to the whims of extremist fringe groups than actually work to make our schools stronger. more ›