School Board Members to Appear Before Grand Jury

On March 25, the Cobb County grand jury sent a request to meet with all seven members of the county’s Board of Education on April 1 at 9:30 a.m. in the Grand Jury Room at 10 East Park Square in Marietta.

“We can’t discuss anything that the grand jury does, ” said Kathy Watkins, director of communications for the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office.

Watkins said the grand jury will not release its actions, recommendations or discussions to the public until its May 5 "general presentment."

"But until then, it's private," Watkins said.

A source close to the situation told Patch that the balanced calendar is one of the issues to be discussed.

"I don’t know what the other issues could be about," Board member David Banks, whose Post 5 includes , and Pope high schools, told Northeast Cobb reporter Ethan Fowler this afternoon. "I don’t know what sparked it. I don’t know who’s on the panel unless there was a lot of complaints that went into pat head about the balanced calendar, but that’s speculation on my part."

It seems there are precedents everywhere for the School Board.

"When you’re riding a wild horse, it’s best to get off of it. There’s a lot of stuff going on," Banks said.

Banks said he received the e-mail at 3:44 p.m. Friday that the board was requested to speak to the (Cobb County) grand jury.

The e-mail read from Pat Head’s office:

“The grand jury has recently been impaneled and has requested to meet with the entire school board. They would like them to come to the grand jury room, located at 10 E. Park Square, Marietta, Ga., on Friday, April 1, at 9:30 a.m.

“Topics: Balanced calendar and there were other subjects discussed by them (the grand jury), including the number of employees at the central office, in administration and etc.”

"This is just a civil grand jury. They’re just going to issue their findings and opinions. It’s not really that serious, but if they find something wrong it could get serious. You never know what could come out of it. They might release a report, but I don’t expect anything.," Banks said.

Check back with Northeast Cobb Patch as we keep you updated on this story.

What are your thoughts about the board members appearing before the grand jury this week?