Sweeney elected Cobb BOE Chairman, Morgan as Vice Chairman

The Cobb County Board of Education started 2012 just as it spent much of 2011—split 4-3.

The arose as soon as the board convened Wednesday at 5 p.m. to elect a new chairman and vice chairman.

West Cobb’s Lynnda Eagle nominated David Morgan of South Cobb; Smyrna’s Tim Stultz nominated 2011 Vice Chairman Scott Sweeney of East Cobb.

Sure enough, Sweeney won, 4-3, backed by from the central part of the county, Stultz and North Cobb’s Kathleen Angelucci. That’s the

Morgan received the support of Eagle and East Cobb and Northeast Cobb representative David Banks, the same group that voted for the balanced calendar last year.

The board did offer some variety when it elected the vice chairman, however.

Stultz nominated Morgan and joined Morgan, Eagle and Banks on the winning side. Angelucci nominated Bartlett, who lost the 4-3 vote.

The board came up with another 4-3 split on its third vote, a motion by Bartlett to hold two meetings in November instead of the usual one.

Bartlett’s reasoning: “We have a lot that’s going on in November.”

Eagle’s argument against an extra meeting: “There’s so much going on during that time.”

Morgan joined Bartlett and Angelucci on the losing side as the board stuck with a single November meeting.

The school board then approved the unchanged meeting schedule on a 5-2 vote, with Angelucci and Bartlett opposed.

The Sweeney era begins in earnest next Wednesday with a work session at 8:30 a.m. at the Central Office, 514 Glover St. in Marietta.

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In other education news Wednesday, the Smyrna Educational Alliance, which has partnered with several local colleges and Lockheed Martin Corp. to create the Smyrna Academy of Excellence, received a $50,000 grant as part of Georgia's $400 million Race to the Top earnings. Smyrna-Vinings Patch will have more on this later Thursday.