COBB COUNTY, Ga.,None — The Cobb County School Board will take another look at controversial changes made to the school calendar.
The board chair, Alison Bartlett, has confirmed the issue has been placed on the board's work session scheduled for next Wednesday. She said only one board member has to ask to revisit a vote for it to be put on the agenda again. She did not say which board member asked to revisit the issue.
Two weeks ago, the board voted to replace the current calendar, which began Aug. 1, with a more traditional calendar. Under the new plan, students will attend class the same number of days, but school will start on Aug. 15 and have fewer breaks throughout the year.
The vote angered many parents who adjusted schedules after the board opted for a "balanced" calendar just last year. Parents sounded off at a heated Thursday night town hall meeting.
"Let us finish out the three years that you promised us, voted on and approved", parent Kaycee Valazquez told Bartlett to the applause of about 80 parents gathered at the meeting.
"It's absolutely more than the calendar. It's a matter of trust." Valazquez said after the meeting.
Other parents agreed.
"Why did you give us the false impression that you were going to listen to us?" asked Gerald Williams during the meeting.
What upsets parents the most is that the board opted for the schedule change after only a few months of what was promised to be a three-year trial run. The new calendar will go into effect for the 2011-2012 school year.
"My family, we adjusted our lives based on the fact for these three years," Williams told Bartlett.
But Bartlett, who sided with three new board members on the recent vote, said it's about money, not convenience for her.
"The balanced calendar costs money in additional utility costs," Bartlett told Thomas after the meeting.
Bartlett confirms the issue will come back before the board once again later this month, but she doesn't expect it to change the outcome of their decision.
Thomas asked her, "Do you see it changing at all?" "No, I'm not going to change my vote because I haven't seen any difference in the data," she replied.