Cobb schools staff to get $2,000 bonus
Mar. 25—Every permanent employee of the Cobb School District will get a $2,000 bonus this year, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale announced Thursday night.
The state, flush with unexpectedly strong tax revenue, had already committed to giving schools' cafeteria and custodial workers and bus drivers a $2,000 bonus.
"Because only selected employees would be identified to receive the (state) bonus, we're utilizing additional funding from CARES III funds to provide the $2,000 bonus to all permanent full-time and part-time teachers and staff," Ragsdale told the Cobb school board at its Thursday night meeting, referring to the most recent tranche of federal pandemic stimulus money. "And in case you're wondering — no, the superintendent will not be receiving the bonus."
A district news release did not specify the total cost of the district-wide bonus, nor the number of employees eligible for it. Those employees who are eligible will receive the bonus at the end of April, Ragsdale said.
Board Chairman David Chastain had high praise for the superintendent after Thursday's announcement.
"He gets the dollars and then he's got to figure out how to spend it," Chastain said. "And we (board members) just sit back and say, 'Hey, we're glad we hired a guy that knows how to make wise decisions.'"
Teachers will also get a $2,000 raise in the coming fiscal year, courtesy of Gov. Brian Kemp. On the campaign trail four years ago, he pledged to give teachers a $5,000 raise if elected. The first $3,000 of that raise came in 2019, with the remainder postponed until this year due to the fiscal uncertainty caused by the pandemic.
In other business, board members unanimously approved a number of large expenditures across the district.
Chief among them is the $36.7 million contract with R.K. Redding Construction, Inc. to move Eastvalley Elementary School to the now-vacant site of the old East Cobb Middle School.
The new Eastvalley campus is expected to be completed by May 2023 and will open to students for the 2023-24 academic year. The district has not yet determined what it will do with the existing campus, according to a district spokeswoman.
The board also approved the construction of a $6 million athletic facility at Walton High School, and renovations to LaBelle and Milford elementary schools and North Cobb High School, all funded by the county's education sales tax.
Thursday night, the district also announced the departure of three high-ranking administrators.
Assistant Superintendent Tracie Doe, Pope High School Principal Thomas Flugum and Director of Instructional Technology Cristin Kennedy will retire June 1.
At the end of Thursday's meeting, board members voted 6-1 to switch its counsel from law firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough to Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein. In approving the change, the board is following the attorneys who have served as co-counsel for the past year: Nina Gupta and Suzann Wilcox, both of whom recently joined Parker Poe.
The lone opposition vote was board member Charisse Davis. Last year, the board voted 6-1 to hire Nelson Mullins (and, by extension, Gupta and Wilcox), with board member Dr. Jaha Howard the lone opposition vote.
