Cobb School Board, District Need To Improve To Keep Accreditation

MARIETTA, GA — The Cobb County School District did not receive a clean bill of health on a special accreditation review, and must make some improvements to keep its accreditation.

Axios reported that the special review conducted by accrediting agency Cognia found issues with board members adhering to the district’s code of ethics and allocating resources, and pointed to needs for transparency and consistency in financial decision making, and a need for formal academic data collection, among other things.

The district and school board have until December 2022 to make corrections, although in a statement released Friday, Cobb Schools Board Chair Randy Scaminhorn said it was still not clear why public complaints — there were approximately 50 — triggered the special review.

“Despite numerous requests to Cognia, there remains a great deal we do not know about this review,” Scaminhorn said. “We still have not been provided with the specific allegations against the District, which led Cognia to believe this special review was needed. We do not know why so much weight was given to allegations made in public comment, which are often not representative of the community as a whole.”

Cobb Schools was granted a five-year accreditation in 2019.