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10 Things You Didn't Know About Cobb County Schools

Georgia School Boards 101

Before we dive into the facts, it helps to understand how school boards work in Georgia.

Partisan vs. Nonpartisan Elections

In Georgia, school districts can choose whether to hold partisan or nonpartisan school board elections. In partisan elections (like Cobb’s), candidates run with party labels on the ballot – Republican or Democrat.

In nonpartisan elections, candidates appear on the ballot without party affiliation. As of 2021, 61% of Georgia’s school districts held nonpartisan elections, while 39% (including Cobb) held partisan elections.

Partisan school board elections are held in November during the big general elections, while nonpartisan school board elections are held in May, when voter turnout is usually much lower.

The Cobb County School Board currently consists of 4 Republicans and 3 Democrats:

Republican Board Members

  • Randy Scamihorn (Post 1) – 2026 Board Chair
  • David Chastain (Post 4) – up for reelection 2026
  • John Cristadoro (Post 5)
  • Brad Wheeler (Post 7)

Democrat Board Members

  • Becky Sayler (Post 2) – up for reelection 2026
  • Leroy Tre’ Hutchins (Post 3)
  • Nichelle Davis (Post 6) – up for reelection 2026

The Board's Three Main Responsibilities by Law

Set Policy
and Direction

Establish the vision, goals and policies for the school system, with a primary focus on student achievement and overall governance (not day-to-day management).

Provide Fiscal
Oversight

Adopt the annual budget, set the local tax rate as needed, and oversee spending, audits and use of public funds to ensure resources are aligned with board goals and legal requirements.

Hire & Supervise the Superintendent

Select, contract with and evaluate the superintendent; hold the superintendent accountable for implementing board policy and managing the district consistent with law and board direction.

Why This Matters

Every decision our school board makes and every dollar they spend impacts a child, a teacher, a school, a family. You deserve to know how the system works. Here’s a fact-based look at your school board and district – the good, the bad and what needs to change.

10 Things You Need to Know

#1: The Money (Budget & Funding)

The 2025/26 Cobb County School District’s overall  budget is $1.8+ billion. SPLOST funds contribute another $800-900 million for new buildings, technology and security.

More than half of the $1.6 billion general fund comes from local property taxes – OUR taxes.

We’re not just stakeholders in this system. We’re the primary funders.

#2: The Students (Who We Serve)

Cobb County School District serves 103,283 students across 113 schools.

Student Demographics:

  • 68% students of color (29.2% Black, 26.6% Hispanic, 6.2% Asian, 6% multiracial or other)
  • 32% White students
  • 52.6% qualify for free or reduced lunch (54,300 students)

Title I Schools: 41 schools are Title I, including 27 elementary schools, 9 middle schools, 4 high schools and 1 residential treatment facility. These schools serve high percentages of students from low-income families and receive federal funding to support their education.

#3: The Power Structure (Who’s Really in Charge)

How it should work: Voters → Board → Superintendent → Schools

We elect the Board. The Board hires and supervises the Superintendent. The Superintendent implements the Board’s decisions. Money flows according to priorities set by our elected representatives.

How it actually works: Superintendent → Board → Voters

The Superintendent influences and controls Board decisions. The Board rubber-stamps the Superintendent’s requests. Parents and taxpayers are sidelined despite funding the majority of the system. Millions of dollars are wasted and children, teachers, bus mechanics, schools and communities don’t get what they need.

#4: The Governance Failures (Just a few examples)

Silencing Us and Each Other:

  • In 2020, the Republican majority changed longstanding policy on agenda control: now it takes 4 members to place an item on the agenda, but the Superintendent or Board Chair can do it alone. The result? Elected members of the minority party can rarely get constituent concerns on the agenda for discussion. If it’s not on the agenda, the board can’t act on it – effectively silencing both board members and the families they represent.
  • In July, 2025 after bus mechanics spoke at public comment desperately seeking resources they needed to keep our buses safe, The board voted 4-3 along party lines to end broadcast of public comment.

The “Fully Informed” Requirement – Routinely Ignored:

State law and board policy require members to be “fully informed” before voting on major decisions. In practice, this rarely happens:

  • The annual budget controlling $1.8 billion is presented and voted on the same day
  • Million-dollar contracts are delivered the morning of the vote
    Board policy requires votes on contracts over $200,000, yet contracts exceeding this threshold often skip board approval entirely.
  • On major spending decisions, the board routinely votes 7-0, 6-1 or 6-0-1, with members from both parties approving contracts without adequate details or data.

And here’s the very real outcome …

#5: MILLIONS WASTED (The Result of Failed Oversight)

AlertPoint: A $5 Million Case Study in Failed Oversight

The AlertPoint emergency communication system cost over $5 million and connected to Superintendent Ragsdale’s professional network. After the system malfunctioned and triggered a districtwide code red lockdown, Watching the Funds-Cobb investigation revealed hundreds of teachers were never trained on the system. Wearable badges – a critical safety component – had been collected due to problems and never returned to teachers. The system was cancelled and replaced at additional cost to taxpayers.

The $50 Million Arena That Almost Was

The board voted 6-1 to approve planning for what Superintendent Ragsdale presented as a “graduation center,” then quickly relabeled as a “multi-education facility.” The board received no data, no details, no architectural plans.

A concerned citizen obtained the actual architectural drawings and sent them to Watching the Funds-Cobb. The building was neither a graduation center nor an educational facility. It was a basketball arena and conference center with a $50 million+ price tag.

Meanwhile, schools across the district faced:

  • Deferred maintenance backlogs like broken plumbing at Birney Elementary and long overdue renovations at schools throughout the district.
  • Unsafe buses that mechanics were begging to repair.

After Watching the Funds-Cobb exposed the real plans and parents mobilized, the district cancelled the arena.

The priority wasn’t fixing what was broken – it was building something new and unnecessary.

Other Examples of Waste – Just to Name a Few:

  • IGGY hand-rinsing sinks: $10 million+ ($14,510 per unit), broke immediately, never used, not being used now. The company is now bankrupt. Millions down the drain – literally.
  • UV lights: multi million dollars contract, and hundred of thousands spent on Proof of concept but when the POC resulted in a dangerous malfunction, the contract was cancelled.
  • Smartboards: Millions spent, connected to Ragsdale’s network and after just a few years are being upgraded or replaced.

#6: THE LEADERSHIP (No Oversight or Consequences)

Compensation During “Tight Budget Year”: Superintendent Chris Ragsdale makes $571,000 after the board approved a 15% raise ($51,000) during what they called a “tight budget year.” During that same budget year, bus mechanics spoke at public comment begging for resources to keep the fleet safe. The Superintendent promised an investigation in May 2025. The investigation is still ongoing, yet he says the fleet is safe.

Board Vice Chair’s Admitted Fraud – No Consequences: Board Vice Chair John Cristadoro admitted in court to misusing $250,000 from a client (civil RICO, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty). Despite hundreds of constituents calling for his removal as Vice Chair and censure, Board Chair David Chastain opted not to take action.

No Evaluation, Just Contract Extensions: The board recently extended Ragsdale’s contract without publicly sharing their rationale, despite CCRPI scores dropping 6.5 points – the largest decline in the metro area. When questioned about oversight, board members cite concerns about “micromanaging” – a term that appears in state law but has become an excuse to avoid their legal duty to evaluate and supervise the superintendent.

Illegal Campaign Contributions: Four board members received illegal campaign contributions from vendors who later received lucrative district contracts.

#7: THE OUTCOMES (Mixed Results)

Reading Data: In 2023-2024, only 51.8% of Cobb County third graders were reading proficiently, according to the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. That means 1 out of every 2 third graders can’t read at grade level.

The Full Picture – Good and Bad: Many individual schools showed gains. The district saw higher graduation rates and increased SAT and ACT achievement.

However, overall district CCRPI scores (the state’s report card for Georgia public schools) declined in 2025 over 2024 by 6.5 points – the largest decline in the metro area.

  • What Leadership Chose to Share: District leadership publicly highlighted the graduation and test score improvements. They did not proactively share the overall CCRPI decline with parents or the board.
  • How We Compare: According to Georgia Department of Education data, Cobb ranks 9 out of 13 neighboring districts. Gwinnett, Cherokee, Fulton and Forsyth all posted higher overall scores.

#8: THE INNOVATION (What’s Possible)

Georgia’s BEST (Building Educator Success Together): Cobb provides teachers with graduate degrees at no tuition cost through a partnership with University of West Georgia. The program has helped Cobb achieve a 99% teacher retention rate, far exceeding the statewide average. Started in 2023, Georgia’s BEST is now being replicated by districts across Georgia as a national model for supporting educators. This is the kind of innovation Cobb is capable of.

CITA Campuses (Innovation & Technology Academy): Cobb’s two CITA campuses at Osborne and Allatoona give high school students from across the district hands-on training in high-demand fields like advanced computing, aviation, healthcare and skilled trades. Students graduate ready for college, careers or both.

Power Plus Charter School: Opening in South Cobb for 6th and 7th graders, expanding one grade per year through 12th grade. This gives South Cobb families a new educational option.

#9: THE PATTERN (Accountability Gaps)

  • Multiple technology purchases tie back to Superintendent Ragsdale’s personal network, including Smartboards, AlertPoint (the Code Red system), UV lights and IGGY hand-rinsing sinks ($10 million wasted). Many made Cobb the first district to test these technologies in schools – resulting in millions in equipment that’s been replaced, discontinued or sits unused.
  • The district continues spending millions on Servius and Vapor Wake K-9 dogs in the name of safety, yet Ragsdale refuses to provide data to board members or taxpayers proving these systems actually work.
  • Four board members took illegal campaign contributions from vendors who have received district contracts.
  • Teachers are afraid to speak out about problems. They face potential retaliation if they criticize district leadership publicly, which is why parent advocates are essential.
  • The district obstructs public access to spending information through repeated Open Records Act violations: documents delayed, heavily redacted or denied outright. Fees are set deliberately high to discourage requests, keeping taxpayers in the dark by design.

#10: THE OPPORTUNITY (What You Can Do)

Three school board seats are up for election in 2026:

  • Post 2: Becky Sayler (D)
  • Post 4: David Chastain (R)
  • Post 6: Nichelle Davis (D)

Regardless of party affiliation, we need board members who will:

  • Actually read contracts before voting
  • Ask tough questions and request additional information when needed
  • Demand transparency and accountability
  • Follow their own policies (the “fully informed” requirement)
  • Put students and classrooms ahead of administrative preferences
  • Provide real oversight of the Superintendent

You can make a difference:

About Watching the Funds-Cobb:

Watching the Funds-Cobb is a bipartisan grassroots organization of parents and educators focused on fiscal oversight and accountability in Cobb County schools. We track spending, expose waste and advocate for policies that put students first

Join Us

Join 3.300 Cobb parents who are already tracking these issues. This isn’t about Republican vs. Democrat. It’s about whether our elected officials fulfill their legal duty to oversee a $1.8 billion budget and put our kids first.

Contact:

Share your stories: 

Hundreds of CCSD teachers, staff, parents, and community members have trusted us with their stories. We can’t do this work without you. We know sharing takes courage, and we’ll handle your story with the care it deserves.

https://www.watchingthefundscobb.com/share-your-story/

Donate: 

Every dollar you contribute fuels our fight for transparency—and goes directly toward expanding our reach, our research, and our impact.

https://bit.ly/SupportWTF-C

(Note: Contributions to our advocacy work are not tax deductible.)

Sources & Verification:

All facts on this page are drawn from public records, official district documents, court records, Governor’s Office of Student Achievement data, and verified media reports. We encourage you to verify any information that’s important to you. 

Last updated: February 2026