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Spotlight on . . .
Brumby Elementary Relies on Community
Volunteers
“It takes a
village to teach a child,” is a philosophy that Cobb County
Schools follows through its Partners in Education program (see
page 5 for details). Through this program, business leaders
provide support to our schools by donating money, time and
volunteers.
Since reading is
a fundamental concern with every school in Cobb County, the school
district relies on its business partners and other volunteers to
assist in providing mentors and tutors to students.
Brumby Elementary School is a true
example of this philosophy in action. With many local businesses,
including Publix, General Electric, Cousin’s Properties,
Prudential/Atlanta, The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, Cobb
County Firefighters, the Optimist Club and others, as partners,
Brumby is able to call upon these leaders to assist in its RISE
(Reading Is Succeeding Everyday) instructional model.
With the help of Communities in
Schools, Brumby has recruited and trained more than 50 new
volunteers to work one-on-one with students in grades K-3 to
enhance their reading skills. Many volunteers also work with the
school’s After School Program tutoring students in reading and
mathematics.
Because Brumby
is rich with multicultural influences and represents approximately
42 different countries, they also have a need for translators.
Community members showed an overwhelming response and offered
their services as translators.
Brumby has increased its volunteer
force more than 350 percent in the last year alone and hopes to
continue gaining community support and awareness.
Community involvement is a part of
what makes the Cobb County School District such a strong school
system. Through volunteers, business partners and community
leaders, Brumby Elementary and other schools in Cobb County are
better able to serve their students and help them prepare for the
future. |
Business Services — Operating
Schools Effectively and Efficiently
 The Business Services
division continues to support the educational process by
sourcing goods and services, providing student meals,
transporting students, maintaining the district’s fleet, and
maintaining facilities that meet or exceed state and federal
standards to foster a positive learning environment for
students. The division’s primary goals are to support the
local school administration in a totally transparent manner
to allow local school administrators to focus on student
achievement. Other objectives of the division are to deliver
the best value for required goods and services while
controlling costs.
- Building Maintenance is
responsible for 119 facilities with 13,366,270 square feet
of floor space, or 306 acres. The department maintains
2,803 acres of land.
- Fleet Maintenance is
responsible for the repair and maintenance of the
district’s 1,327 vehicles, as well as the annual
inspection of the fleet by the Georgia Department of
Public Safety.
- Food and Nutrition
Services operates 100 cafeterias that provide meals
meeting state and federal requirements to more than 84,000
students daily.
- Pupil Transportation
provides safe reliable transportation for more than 73,000
students to and from school on a daily basis.
- Purchasing, with a staff
of 16, is responsible for the procurement of all
materials, supplies, equipment, and services for the
district while maintaining compliance with state laws and
regulations regarding purchase. The department ensures
open competition while taking advantage of the economics
of scale by buying in quantity.
- Records Management has the
responsibility of archiving, filing, and distributing
student transcripts for the district. Records activity for
last year was approximately 17,000 transactions.
- Warehousing and
Distribution department receives and distributes products
necessary to provide a positive learning environment for
students from its 150,000 square foot facility located in
Kennesaw.
Financial Services — Effective
Management of Taxpayer Dollars
The Financial Services
division is chiefly responsible for managing the nearly $1
billion in revenue received by the Cobb County School
District annually. Departments include: Payroll, Accounting,
Budget, Internal Audit, and Capital Projects. These
departments perform tasks such as ensuring that the
district’s 13,000 employees are paid each month, that sales
and property taxes are assessed and collected correctly, and
that expenses are budgeted accurately. Financial Services
prides itself on managing taxpayer dollars in the most
effective and efficient manner possible and has received
substantial acclaim for its efforts, including:
- Certificate of Excellence
in Financial Reporting from the Association of School
Business Officials (ASBO) for fiscal year end 2001. The
school district has received this award for the past 20
years for excellence in the preparation and issuance of
the school system comprehensive annual financial reports.
- Certificate of Achievement
for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government
Finance Officers Association of the United States and
Canada (GFOA) for the 2001 Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report. The school district was the first in Georgia to
receive this award, in FY1979-80, and has continued the
trend for 22 consecutive years. Only five other school
districts in Georgia have been recognized with this award.
- Distinguished Budget Award
from the Government Finance Officers Association of the
United States and Canada (GFOA) for the 2001 Comprehensive
Budget Report. The Cobb County School District was the
first in Georgia to receive this award, in FY1988-89, and
has continued the honor for the past 13 years. Only two
other school districts in Georgia have been recognized
with this award.
Operations — Ensuring a Safe School
Community
 Policy & Planning
The Policy & Planning department is responsible for many key
administrative functions in the day-to-day operation of the
school district. Duties include: coordinating and
maintaining Board of Education policies and regulations;
handling student legal issues, including the implementation
of the No Child Left Behind Act; handling parent appeals of
school decisions; conducting student discipline hearings;
enrolling students; coordinating student transfers; and
overseeing all athletics, including scheduling and
compliance with Title IX.
Safety & Security
The Safety & Security department is responsible for ensuring
that all Cobb County schools are the safest environment they
can be. The department includes 32 certified police officers
who patrol Cobb’s middle schools and high schools. The team
includes a drug-sniffing dog and an explosives-sniffing dog
and their professionally trained K-9 handler. Safety &
Security also works in conjunction with Cobb County
Sheriff’s Department to patrol certain schools.
Construction
The Construction department oversees all building projects
throughout the school district. During the current SPLOST
program that began in 1999, the Construction department has
overseen more than 1,000 projects from start to finish,
working directly with contractors and the district’s program
manager, The Facility Group, to ensure that taxpayer dollars
are spent effectively and efficiently.
 Facility Use
The Facility Use department has the responsibility of
coordinating use of school facilities, both inside areas and
fields, by community groups. In the past year, the
department processed approximately 530 contracts for 160
different groups, including youth and adult sports leagues,
homeowners’ associations, churches, language schools, boys
and girls clubs, police and fire departments, civic groups,
and numerous others.
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