Cherokee School Board Eyes Pay Raise

CANTON, GA -- It's been more than 15 years since Cherokee County School Board members received a boost in their compensation to the community's children.

But that could change within the next few years for those looking to represent the school district's 40,000 students.

Board members at their Thursday, Dec. 1 meeting discussed reviewing compensation for those elected to office. The discussion was brought forth by Mike Chapman, who has served for nearly 15 years on the board.

Serving the ninth-largest school system in the Peach State, Cherokee County school board members receive $600 per month for their service, much less than most large systems. That $600 a month is across the board for board members as well as the school board chair.

For comparison's sake, in Henry County, the eighth-largest system in the state (and only has 14 more students than Cherokee), school board members are paid $16,000 per year. According to figures released by the Cherokee school district, here's a breakdown of annual salaries of metro Atlanta school districts, ranked from highest to lowest for student population:

• Gwinnett: $16,524 per year
• Cobb: $19,000 per year for board members; $22,800 for board chair
• DeKalb: $18,000 per year + $450 per diem/meeting
• Fulton: $18,500 per year
• Clayton: $10,692 for board members; $11,692 for board chair
• Atlanta Public Schools: $14,800 per year for board members; $16,184 for board chair
• Forsyth: $8,400 per year for board members; $9,000 for board chair
• Douglas: $19,240 for board members; $24,050 for board chair
• Fayette: $6,000 per year
• Newton: $7,200 per year
• Marietta City: $6,912 for board members; $7,860 for board chair.

Rockdale County also pays $75 per diem/meeting to its board members and chair.

Other surrounding systems include Pickens County compensating board members and its board chair $100 per diem/meeting or event; Bartow County paying $50 per diem/day to its members and $50 per diem/meeting or event to the board chair; and Cartersville City Schools shelling out $50 per diem/day for its members and $50 per diem/meeting for its board chair.

Board members, who noted the compensation had not increased in 15 years and, if re-elected, any increase would not take effect until current members’ next terms, agreed to take up the issue at the Jan. 19 meeting.

If approved, an increase would require local legislation to be introduced by Cherokee County’s State Legislative Delegation in the Georgia General Assembly. At a meeting with members of the delegation on Friday, board members communicated their intentions to the lawmakers.

In other business, the school board also gave the green light to three important pieces in the district's continuous improvement efforts: the newly formatted annual update of the Strategic Plan, the new Instructional Framework and the newly formatted School Improvement Plans.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian Hightower and his staff guided board members through the plans, which all are focused on improving teaching and learning throughout Cherokee County schools.

The five-year Strategic Plan, which is updated annually and incorporates goals set by departments and schools to achieve the school board’s Major System Priorities, has been realigned to accreditation agency AdvancED’s “Standards for Quality School Systems,” which the organization will use in its review early next year for CCSD’s accreditation renewal.

“We’ve intentionally simplified the plan without sacrificing any accountability,” Dr. Hightower said. “We think this will be an effective format for us going forward.”

The Instructional Framework (IF) is a set of expectations that will guide how teachers design instruction and assess student learning. Just as the district adopts standards outlining expectations for students’ learning, the IF sets expectations for teachers’ instructional practices.

Full implementation of the IF spans a period of four years. Teachers will continue to work for the rest of this school year in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to further study the IF standards and how they compare to current practices. On the Staff Development day, scheduled for Jan. 2, 2017, all teachers will attend zone meetings for additional guidance from principals and Educational Programs’ staff on the IF implementation plan.

Board Chair Kyla Cromer thanked staff for their considerable work on the project, noting that she has heard very positive reviews from parents who attended stakeholder meetings including Georgia PTA President Lisa-Marie Haygood, a Sequoyah High School parent.

“She said ‘This is going to be what sets Cherokee County apart,’ and I agree with her,” Cromer said.

The newly formatted School Improvement Plans approved Thursday were based on “gap” analyses completed districtwide to compare district schools to schools with similar demographics not only within the district, but also statewide.

The resulting comparable data provided principals better information to use in setting two three-year goals, versus the former “laundry list,” and each goal was required to be “smart, specific and measurable.” The majority of the goals – 41 – focus on literacy.

“I think the goals are fantastic," board member Clark Menard said, noting he appreciates the "totally metric-driven goals." "They’re not only trying to bring up the bottom… but also extend the top."

The board also recognized and thanked members of the citizen committee, led by Cherokee County Commission Chairman Buzz Ahrens, that successfully campaigned for the continuation of the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.

Voters in the Nov. 8 election overwhelmingly voted to continue the Ed-SPLOST: 78,796 voters for a total of 73% said “yes” to the continuation…more voters than the four previous Ed-SPLOST successful votes combined.

The school board approved a resolution officially declaring the election results.

"Education SPLOST funds are integral to the continued success of our School District,” Dr. Hightower said, noting the renewal allows CCSD to continue to use sales tax revenue to pay for school construction, renovation projects, technology upgrades, buying buses, acquiring land for future schools and retiring bonds. “This success would not have been possible without the advocacy efforts of the citizen committee… thank you."

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