Cobb County School District | |
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Address | |
514 Glover Street SE , 30060-2750United States | |
Coordinates | 33°56′19″N84°32′16″W / 33.938658°N 84.537803°W [1] [ failed verification ] |
District information | |
Motto | "One Team, One Goal, Student Success" |
Grades | Pre-kindergarten – 12 |
Superintendent | Chris Ragsdale |
Accreditation(s) |
|
Schools | 110 [2] |
Budget | US$1.8 billion (2024–25) [2] |
NCES District ID | 1301290 [2] |
Students and staff | |
Students | 106,970 Minority Enrollment 70% 34% White 30% Black 24% Latino/Hispanic 5.8% Asian 4.8% 2 or more ethnicities Contents
|
Teachers | 7,408.10 (FTE) (2022–23) [2] |
Staff | 6,187.60 (FTE) (2022–23) [2] |
Student–teacher ratio | 14.40 (2022–23) [2] |
Other information | |
Website | cobbk12 |
The Cobb County School District (CCSD) is the school district which operates public schools in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. The school district includes all of Cobb County except for the Marietta City Schools, though a number of schools in unincorporated parts of the county have Marietta addresses. [4] It is the second-largest school system in Georgia (behind only Gwinnett County Public Schools) and 23rd largest in the United States. [5] The district is the county's largest employer [6] and one of the largest in the US (at least in school systems). All Cobb County schools are accredited by Cognia (education), and the district is among the first to have earned district-wide accreditation. [7] The superintendent of the school district is Chris Ragsdale. [8]
As a body created under provisions of the Georgia's constitution, the Cobb County Board of Education has full authority to control and manage the public schools within the county, excluding any independent school system. This means that like other school systems in the state, it is directly under the Georgia Department of Education and not subject to city or county government control. This also means that it has separate funding through its own property tax (except on senior citizens) outside of Marietta city limits, and 1% county-wide sales tax which it splits with Marietta City Schools based on which jurisdiction it was collected in.
As of August 2024, the elected board members of the Cobb County Board of Education of the Cobb County School District are: [9]
The board gave management of fiscal year 2025 general-fund operating budget of approximately $1.8 billion to Superintendent Ragsdale for most transactions under $200,000. [10]
In recent years, the Superintendent has been granted authority to manage most of the district outside of the board's purview or approval. [11]
On August 16, 2024, Ragsdale banned 13 more books. [12]
On July 19, 2024, Ragsdale revealed a list of books banned since August 2023. It was also reported that he lashed out at The Marietta Daily-Journal for publishing information about his bans. The list focuses heavily on race, LGTBQIA+ topics and authors, and other topics Ragsdale deems "divisive" based on his interpretation of HB 1084 and SB 226. [13]
June 14, 2024 students and alumni announce joining the federal discrimination lawsuit against Cobb County School District, et al.
On May 14, 2024, the National Women's Law Center (NWLC) filed two complaints against the Cobb County School District for violations of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Ragsdale has previously responded that his bans are simply removals to protect children. [14]
On February 13, 2024, Katie Rinderle and other educators file a lawsuit against the Cobb County School District for discrimination. [15]
The district administers these 17 government high schools: [16]
The original Clarkdale Elementary School was a Cobb County school that opened in the 1960s and closed on September 21, 2009, due to the massive flooding in Georgia that day, which submerged the school to the ceiling in the waters of nearby Noses Creek. Despite being built outside the 100-year flood plain, water rose ankle-deep on the grounds as the children were being evacuated.
The school housed about 450 students. For three school years, these students attended Compton Elementary (K-2) and Austell Intermediate (3–5). The new Clarkdale Elementary opened in mid-August 2012 near Cooper Middle School (although the Federal Emergency Management Agency declared the original site acceptable [17] ), while the previous building awaited demolition, a delay which the local neighborhood complained about.
State funding (a bond for 20% of the cost of replacement) was vetoed by Governor Sonny Perdue on procedural grounds in early June 2010. [18] Most of the remainder will be covered by insurance and leftover SPLOST funds. [19]
At least one other school has been demolished. The original Blackwell Elementary School in the Blackwells community was built in the 1920s on Canton Road (old Georgia 5), as the county's first consolidated school. The historic schoolhouse, and all of its later additions, were destroyed in summer 1997 and closed for a year while a new replacement was built on the same site, in an institutional style much like the plain architecture of an office park rather than a historic school.
The original Mountain View Elementary was rebuilt farther down Sandy Plains Road; the original was demolished in 2018 for a new shopping center. Also located in a busy business district, Brumby Elementary on Powers Ferry Road was set to be replaced by a mixed-use development in 2020 with a Kroger superstore by 2022. Both Brumby and East Cobb Middle School opened new schools next to each other on Terrell Mill Road in August 2018, although local residents objected to the expected traffic and noise. The old East Cobb Middle School, located directly across Holt Road from Wheeler HS, will be home to a relocated Eastvalley Elementary School.
In 2002, Cobb County School District voted to put stickers on textbooks with a message including the admonition cautioning students that "evolution is only a theory." Plaintiffs brought suit on separation of church and state grounds, with the initial trial finding for the plaintiffs. Cobb County School District appealed and the verdict was overturned and remanded for a new trial, at which time plaintiffs and Cobb County School District reached an out-of-court settlement, with the district agreeing to remove the stickers. [20]
A Cobb County teacher was discovered to have had sex with a 17-year-old student. When brought to trial, the teacher pleaded that the student had consented. This defense was allowed by the Superior Court judge and upheld by the Georgia Supreme Court in 2009. This led the Georgia legislature to pass a statute in 2010 making it a crime for a teacher to have sexual relations with a student. [21]
As of August 2024, these board posts are up for general election in 2024: [22]
Cobb County is a county in the U.S. state of Georgia, located in the Atlanta metropolitan area in the north central portion of the state. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 766,149. It is the state's third most populous county, after Fulton and Gwinnett counties. Its county seat is Marietta; its largest city is Mableton.
Acworth is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, this city had a population of 22,440, up from 20,425 in 2010. Acworth is located in the foothills of the North Georgia mountains along the southeastern banks of Lake Acworth and Lake Allatoona on the Etowah River. Unincorporated areas known as Acworth extend into Bartow, Cherokee, and Paulding counties.
Austell is a city in Cobb and Douglas counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 7,713.
Kennesaw is a suburban city northwest of Atlanta in Cobb County, Georgia, United States, located within the greater Atlanta metropolitan area. Known from its original settlement in the 1830s until 1887 as Big Shanty, it became Kennesaw under its 1887 charter. According to the 2020 census, Kennesaw had a population of 33,036, a 10.9% increase in population over the preceding decade. Kennesaw has an important place in railroad history. During the Civil War, Kennesaw was the staging ground for the Great Locomotive Chase on April 12, 1862. Kennesaw is home to Kennesaw State University, an R2 research institution and the third-largest public university in the state of Georgia.
Mableton is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. Voters of the unincorporated area of Mableton approved a referendum to incorporate on November 8, 2022, and six council members were elected on March 21, 2023, with Michael Owens elected as mayor of Mableton in the 2023 Mableton mayoral election. According to the 2020 census, the census-designated area Mableton had a population of 37,115; the city has more. Upon Brookhaven's cityhood in December 2012, Mableton was previously the largest unincorporated CDP in Metro Atlanta. With boundaries described in Appendix A of House Bill 839, Mableton is the largest city in Cobb County in terms of population and includes historical Mableton, along with the Six Flags area, areas of unincorporated Smyrna, and parts of unincorporated South Cobb.
Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest of the principal cities by population of the Atlanta metropolitan area.
CobbLinc is the bus public transit system in Cobb County, Georgia, one of metro Atlanta's three most populous suburban counties. CobbLinc began operations in July 1989 and has had relatively strong ridership since then.
The Cobb County Public Library System (CCPLS) is a system of 15 public libraries in Cobb County, Georgia, United States, excluding its second-largest city of Smyrna, which runs its own Smyrna Public Library. CobbCat.org is the online database of all CCPLS holdings.
The Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, with jurisdiction over middle and north Georgia. It is in Province IV of the Episcopal Church and its cathedral, the Cathedral of St. Philip, is in Atlanta, as are the diocesan offices.
Atlanta Public Schools (APS) is a school district based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is run by the Atlanta Board of Education with Superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson. The system has an active enrollment of 54,956 students, attending a total of 103 school sites: 50 elementary schools, 15 middle schools, 21 high schools, four single-gender academies and 13 charter schools. The school system also supports two alternative schools for middle and/or high school students, two community schools, and an adult learning center.
North Cobb High School is a public high school located north of Atlanta in Kennesaw, Georgia, United States. It serves approximately 2900 students in the Cobb County School District, with classes from grades 9 to 12. The school mascot is the warrior and the official school colors are orange and white. North Cobb is the second largest school in the district.
Chattahoochee Technical College is a public technical college in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is governed by the Technical College System of Georgia and has eight campuses in the north-northwest metro-Atlanta area, and another just outside the region. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS) to award technical certificates of credit, diplomas, and associate degrees. The college was formed in 2009 as the result of the merger of Appalachian Technical College, Chattahoochee Technical College, and North Metro Technical College.
Pebblebrook High School is a high school in the Cobb County School District in Mableton, Georgia, United States. The school opened in 1963, serving grades 9-12. Pebblebrook houses the Cobb County Center for Excellence in the Performing Arts, the first magnet program offered within the Cobb County School District.
Kennesaw State University (KSU) is a public research university in the state of Georgia with two campuses in the Atlanta metropolitan area, one in the Kennesaw area and the other in Marietta on a combined 581 acres (235 ha) of land. The school was founded in 1963 by the Georgia Board of Regents using local bonds and a federal space-grant during a time of major Georgia economic expansion after World War II. KSU also holds classes at the Cobb Galleria Centre, Dalton State College, and in Paulding County (Dallas). The total enrollment exceeds 45,000 students making KSU the third-largest university by enrollment in Georgia.
The Marietta Daily Journal (MDJ) is a daily newspaper published in Marietta, Georgia. It is the primary local newspaper of Cobb County, Georgia, second only to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which covers all of metro Atlanta, and previously most of north Georgia.
The Paulding County School District is a public school district in Paulding County, Georgia, United States, based in Dallas. It serves the communities of Braswell, Dallas, and Hiram.
The Marietta City School District is the school district which operates the public schools in Marietta, Georgia, United States. It is the only city government in Cobb County which operates its schools separately from the Cobb County School District.
Allatoona High School is one of eighteen public high school in the Cobb County School District. The institution opened in the fall of 2008 and is currently the most recent high school in the district. It is located in suburban Acworth, Georgia, north of Atlanta, in the United States. The school is named after the nearby Lake Allatoona.
Noses Creek is a 14.5-mile-long (23.3 km) stream in Cobb County, Georgia, USA. It is a significant tributary of the much larger Sweetwater Creek, in turn part of the Chattahoochee River basin. From its source area between Kennesaw and Marietta the stream flows generally south-southwesterly to just northwest of Austell.
The Sumter County School District is a public school district in Sumter County, Georgia, United States, based in Americus. It includes the entire county, and serves the communities of Americus, Andersonville, Cobb, De Soto, Leslie, and Plains.