School District Divisions

Policy, Planning & Student Support
Organizing the Present, Establishing the Future

Policy, Planning & Student Support is responsible for many key administrative functions in the day-to-day operation of the District, as well as fulfilling a significant role in several District long-range initiatives.

The primary goal of the office of Policy & Planning is to provide school and District leadership, parents and the community with accurate interpretation and implementation of District policy. It develops, interprets and updates the Board of Education’s online Policy Manual, which includes the Board’s policies and the District’s Administrative Rules and Forms. During the 2006-07 school year, Assistant Superintendent Tony L. Melton assisted the Board in its transition from the Policy Governance Model to its current governance structure, including the editing, legal and administrative review and posting of 36 new or revised policies. The office also facilitated the creation of two new Administrative Rules, the revision of 51 rules and updates to more than 100 forms. In fall 2007, Policy & Planning supported the Board of Education’s Policy Committee during its review of District personnel guidelines and subsequent updates to 17 related Administrative Rules.

Facilitating appropriate implementation of state and federal law is another major function of the department. A series of nine protocols have been developed to establish procedures for District personnel when employees interact with other government agencies, such as the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) and the District Attorney. These protocols are updated annually.

Policy & Planning worked with Superintendent Fred Sanderson to guide the development of school year calendars for 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10. The Board of Education approved the 2008-09 and 2009-10 calendars in fall 2007, providing parents and community members with long-term schedules for activity in the School District.

The department also coordinates the Committee of 100 which brings together Teachers of the Year from each school in a meeting with the Superintendent and other District administrators to discuss issues impacting schools and teachers. Last year, the Committee of 100 met three times, discussing 161 topics and questions submitted by members. Responses to committee members’ questions are pooled and posted on the District’s Intranet support Web site.

Student discipline hearings are conducted through the Student Support department. In 2006-07, 166 hearings took place, with an additional 465 hearings waived by parents or guardians. Student Support also coordinates the annual application of accreditation standards from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (AdvancEd) and facilitates responses to student issues, including more than 1,300 requests for student hardship transfers, custody, enrollment and legal matters.

The Prevention/Intervention Center celebrated its 20th year in 2007. Funded by the School District and Safe and Drug-Free Schools, the focus of the center is to reduce drugs and violence among youth by using research-based programs and best practices. The center also provides crisis response for schools and prevention programs for students and employees.

Twenty-two Cobb schools are involved with the center’s implementation of the Olweus Bully Prevention Program, designed to reduce bully/victim behavior in schools 30 to 70 percent after two years. Five schools have shown measurable reductions in bully/victim behavior after implementation, including Pine Mountain Middle School with a 54 percent reduction, Tapp Middle with a 50 percent reduction, Kemp Elementary with a 45 percent reduction, Lewis Elementary with a 43 percent reduction and Milford Elementary with a 39 percent reduction.

Peer Mediation instruction is provided for students to increase non-violent conflict resolution. North Cobb High School has reported a dramatic decrease in discipline issues since implementing and training more than 40 student peer mediators.

More than 100 staff members earned iSafe certification in 2007, learning to respond to issues of internet safety and cyberbullying in schools.

Cobb Cyber Safe is a districtwide initiative to respond to Internet safety and cyberbullying. More than 100 staff, including Technology Integration Specialists, Media Specialists and Counselors have been certified as iSafe instructors. These staff members facilitate parent seminars and student workshops on Internet safety and etiquette in grades K-12.

Prevention/Intervention also provides free mental health and risky behavior interventions and assessments for students and conducts suicide prevention training for teachers and staff.
These training programs for middle and high school staff members were recently highlighted in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

The Prevention/Intervention Center publishes a bi-monthly newsletter to address current youth culture and current trends in alcohol and other drug use, available for download at www.cobbk12.org/~preventionintervention.

The District employs 120 school nurses in the School Health Services department, supporting education by meeting students’ healthcare needs within the academic environment. School nurses provide first aid and administration of medication for students, as well as management of suspected communicable diseases in schools. Cobb’s school nurses served students in more than 500,000 office visits during the 2006-07 school year. In more than 85 percent of those cases, the student was able to return to class to continue his/her educational activities.

School Health Services also work with parents/guardians, teachers, administrators and other healthcare professionals to raise awareness of health issues in the schools and throughout the county. Throughout the year, the department held training sessions for Cobb’s school nurses that included coverage of DFCS protocol, diabetes education, CPR and proper use of the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) in place at every District facility.

A new Web page for School Health Services was also established in 2007, providing parents/guardians with important health information and resources available at any time.

The primary function of the School Social Work department is to remove barriers to academic success for the mainstream and at-risk student. Each elementary, middle, and high school in the District is served by one of 36 School Social Workers.

Of these, nine are bilingual and 10 are licensed Clinical Social Workers. School social work services provide interventions and prevention programming in areas of social, emotional, behavioral and adaptive functioning, supporting the student, his or her family, and the school. These services include economic assistance, counseling and truancy intervention. School social workers are also responsible for enforcing the Georgia Compulsory School Attendance Law.

School Social Workers handled 12,285 student referrals during the 2006-07 school year, which included more than 105,000 consultations or conferences and more than 3,000 home visits. For more specific school social work information, refer to the District Web site.

Athletics & Activities
Teamwork, Learning and Life Experience Outside the Classroom

The interscholastic activity program in the Cobb County School System is an important part of the educational process. It provides opportunities for learning experiences in athletics that are difficult to duplicate in other school activities. The activity program teaches attitudes of responsible team play and cooperation. Cobb athletics and competitive activities won a variety of state accolades over the past year: