Morgan: Campaign Promises Reason for Calendar Change

David Morgan's been sitting on the Cobb County Board of Education representing Post 3 since the start of 2009. But recent actions by the board have made his constituents perhaps a bit anxious.

About three dozen people spent a chunk of their sunny Saturday afternoon at the questioning him about this week'schanges in the school calendar, the proposed cell tower on school grounds, and community partnerships. 

The board voted 4-3 Thursday to switch Cobb schools calendar to a traditional one that starts on Aug. 15 from the balanced calendar, which had school starting Aug. 1.

Moderator Richard Williams told the crowd: "Nothing is off limits." Morgan, who was one of the three dissenting voters on the calendar, nodded firmly in agreement.

Many residents were upset about the calendar change.

Theresa Baxter, who brought her middle schooler with her, said she didn't understand why the county ", had more than 70 percent approval for a balanced calendar, and then went a different way, putting in a calendar with an Aug. 15 start date that has kids taking finals two days before Christmas." The survey results are attached to this article.

Morgan said politics prompted the change: "You had three of my colleagues who campaigned on a later school start date, so they felt they had to vote that way." 

Morgan said he voted against the balanced calendar two years ago, but since seeing it in action, he supported it in the most recent vote.

The board member, who represents , Pebblebrook and South Cobb high schools, said that since the new calendar was approved, county residents will have to deal with it for another two years. 

They won't, however, have to deal with the cellphone tower proposed for Compton Elementary.

" and it will stay tabled," he said. "The reason it was tabled is because you, the constituents, spoke up. You guys made me pay attention."

But not all in attendance were happy about the board tabling the issue, saying the school needs the money that T-Mobile was ready to pay for use of the property. 

The company was offering a $5,000 gift to Compton’s PTSA, along with 60 percent of the $150,000 rent for the initial five-year lease going directly to the school.

Other residents countered on Saturday that the tower could negatively affect both property values and health.

Powder Springs Mayor Pat Vaughn and Kevin Lee of T-Mobile were in attendance. The mayor asked Lee if the school property was selected because there was a particular need for coverage in that neighborhood, or because "you wouldn't have to go through zoning, because school properties are exempt."

Lee responded: "I approached the school. Normally we go with commercial property." 

He added that the commercial property option wasn't viable in this case, and the area really needed the additional coverage. Now that the board has tabled the company's proposal, "we'll have to redesign it."  

"There's still a need in the area," Lee said.

Vaughn was concerned when the tower was proposed and advised Morgan to table the measure.

Morgan said he's been much more concerned about the board's lack of priorities when it comes to running the district. 

"You're currently searching for a new superintendent," he said. "What is the lack of priorities going to do for your search?"

He thinks the this time around is telling. 

"The last superintendent search, there were 50 applicants," he said. "This time, just 16. People are finding other places more inviting." 

Morgan pointed to the fact that Gwinnett County grabbed the lion's share of Race to the Top federal dollars, while Cobb County, second only to Gwinnett in size for Georgia districts, did not apply.

"There are board members who think everything's fine," Morgan said, "while there are four-year differences in reading and math levels between schools."

Also at the meeting, Morgan said he wants community input on developing partnerships between the schools and groups like the Gates Foundation, the National Council on Teacher Quality, Teach for America and the New Teachers Project.  

He said he feels strongly that forced placements—where schools have to fill teaching slots with teachers in the system first—should be a thing of the past. He also wants to keep communication open with the community by establishing a community panel to give him input on issues before the board.