Our organization is very supportive of the Superintendent’s position on both Race To The Top funds and the Education Jobs bill. Our major concern with Race To The Top is that teachers were not included in the application. I really feel that the grant would have been detrimental to Cobb County schools and I am glad we did not participate. On the other hand, we are extremely excited that the Superintendent is talking about restoring the step raise and part of the furloughs using the Education Jobs bill money. This is great news for our teachers!

- Connie Jackson, Cobb County Association of Educators (CCAE)

PAGE is supportive of the district receiving the emergency Federal stimulus package under the condition that it will enable the Cobb County school district to provide the best program of teaching and learning possible and in such a way that employees reap the benefits from the stimulus package as proposed by the Superintendent. We encourage the district to seek all appropriate sources of revenue and also ask the school and system leaders to communicate openly and frequently with the dedicated educators on the “front lines” of teaching and learning in their classrooms. These are challenging times, ones in which the way school leaders deal with their most important resources – their educators – will also determine how well they provide for their most important customers – their students.

- Melanie Evans, Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE)

The District’s transportation efforts are heavily featured in the latest edition of School Bus Fleet magazine, a national trade publication. The magazine includes Cobb at #17 in its list of the Top 100 school district fleets of 2009. The listing is based on the number of routes, number of buses deployed and number of students transported. The District’s Safe Rider program is featured, with details on how the program has helped cut the number of discipline referrals. The naming of the Carroll Pitts Transportation Center was also mentioned. The online version of the magazine is available here.

Cobb’s newest high school, Allatoona High, is drawing closer to completion. The facility will open its doors to students for the first time in August, along with nearby Pickett’s Mill Elementary. These aerial photos show the building layout and location of the school’s sports fields.

The Cobb County School District’s Food & Nutrition program is one of only six honored throughout Georgia by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for its practices. Cobb was honored in the category of ‘Promoting a Healthy School Environment.’  The Georgia Department of Education nominated 11 schools for USDA honors; six were chosen.

Superintendent Fred Sanderson and Board of Education chair Lindsay Tippins presented a proclamation at the Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting this morning at the BOC meeting in appreciation of the great working relationship between the School district and the County. For the past two years, the two entities have met monthly to talk about projects, joint initiatives, and efforts to make things run smoothly for the citizens of Cobb County.