A Message From the Superintendent

I want to thank you for taking the time to read the 2007 Cobb County School District Annual Report. We’ve made every effort to present a comprehensive, clear and straightforward account of what took place in our schools over the last year. After all, you have entrusted us with two tremendous responsibilities: spending your tax dollars wisely, and giving your children the education they will need to become successful citizens.

In 2007, the District continued to work on implementing FOCUS, a plan that concentrates on four areas: Student Achievement, Leadership Development, Fiscal Responsibility, and Building Relationships Through Enhanced Communication.

Student achievement remains our highest priority, and in 2007 the District made significant strides in that area. Cobb students continued to outperform their peers on state and national tests. In 2007, Cobb County high school students widened the gap on the national SAT average by posting an average score of their own that was 23 points higher. In Cobb, nearly 80 percent of students take the SAT, compared to just 48 percent nationwide.

The biggest academic challenge our schools face is the No Child Left Behind Act and the statewide requirements that each school, and the District as a whole, make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Under the law, students are defined by subgroups – such as Students With Disabilities and English Language Learners – and each subgroup is required to show academic improvement year to year that is equal to their peers. With targeted improvement plans we were able to reduce the number of schools not making AYP to just 13 in 2007, down from 21 in 2006.

Still, Cobb as a whole continues to be labeled a Needs Improvement district because one or more subgroups of students, despite making significant progress, still fell short of the standard.
Next year those standards will move even higher and will continue increasing in subsequent years. More detailed information about the District’s academic performance and the No Child Left Behind Act can be found within this report.

I am pleased to report that a higher number of our staff than ever before is participating in
leadership development courses offered by the District and elsewhere. We have a strong team of administrators gaining experience in our schools, including our outstanding group of principals.
In 2007, the District hosted the Cobb Leadership Summit, an all-day community-wide seminar
of leadership advice led by Dr. John Maxwell, and attended by more than 3,000 school and local government administrators, as well as representatives from civic and religious organizations.

From a fiscal standpoint, our District continues to meet the challenges brought on by changes in state funding for public education, including requirements to reduce class sizes. As always, the District’s primary financial focus remains on the classroom and giving teachers and students the resources they need to succeed. We feel we are in strong financial shape moving into 2008, having shed all long-term debt associated with prior building programs, and hope to see more flexibility in our ability to spend local funds on new initiatives to advance academic achievement in areas of the District where it is needed most.

Finally, I am proud to say that our District continues to build on the already strong relationship it shares with the community. Through technology we have enhanced our efforts to communicate with you, our stakeholders, with timely and accurate information. That relationship will be especially critical moving into 2008 when we will ask voters to renew the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. The SPLOST program continues to be one of the great successes of our school system over the last nine years, providing new schools, classrooms, renovations, technology, safety improvements, and property tax relief, all with minimal impact to the taxpayers of Cobb County.

I am proud of the progress we continue to make as a District, and look forward to finding new solutions to the challenges that we will face down the road. Our school system remains successful and continues to build on a reputation of excellence because of the support that you, the community, provide for public education. We couldn’t do it without you, so thank you for taking the time to read this report and become informed about your schools.

Sincerely,

Fred Sanderson
Superintendent