L-r Vickie Benson, Leroy Tre’ Hutchins, Laura Judge, Andrew Cole: photo by Rebecca Gaunt

By Rebecca Gaunt

The four Democrats running for posts on the Cobb County Board of Education fielded questions about safety and achievement gaps at Tuesday night’s candidate forum, but those hoping to hear from all the candidates were left disappointed.

Despite a post on X (formerly Twitter) from the Cobb County GOP account claiming that the Republican candidates were not invited, the event organizers insisted otherwise.

“Democrats are hosting a fake school board candidate forum today. Republicans [sic] candidates were never invited. Who is responsible? Who is funding this? These are the extremists,” the post reads.

Meiling Jabbaar, the community engagement manager for the public education nonprofit redefinED, told reporters that candidates were contacted multiple times starting in July, but they did not get a response from those not in attendance.

The Courier reached out to Post 5 candidate John Cristadoro, Post 1 incumbent Randy Scamihorn, and Post 7 incumbent Brad Wheeler. Wheeler was the only one to respond, saying that he had a longstanding campaign engagement already planned for that evening.

Held at the Switzer Library in Marietta, the forum was moderated by 11Alive’s Chelsey McNeil and hosted by Cobb Collaborative, Delta Sigma Theta, Inc., the Cobb County Democracy Center, Mi Familia en Acción, and redefinED Atlanta.

Leroy Tre’ Hutchins from Post 3 was not originally scheduled to participate since he is running unopposed, but he joined the other Democrats on stage due to the three Republican candidates not attending. Vickie Benson, candidate for Post 1, Laura Judge, candidate for Post 5, and Andrew Cole, candidate for Post 7 were also present.

Safety

The candidates shared similar views on most of the topics discussed. Almost a month after the shooting deaths of two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Winder, safety came up early in the evening.

Benson said she wants to see Hutchins’ technology-focused safety plan on the school board’s agenda. He has been unsuccessful in getting support from enough board members to do so for more than a year. Without approval from the superintendent or board chair, he needs three other board members to back him. Currently, he only has support from Democrats Becky Sayler and Nichelle Davis.

“The superintendent is supposed to make sure that the community understands what is being done to make sure that our students are safe,” Benson said. “But he’s not doing that, and he’s calling the shots. And he doesn’t know his position either.”

Hutchins said he wants to implement prevention measures beyond just technology. He stressed the importance of school counselors and addressing mental health and bullying.

“It’s going to be more than just weapons detection, but making sure that we can address the needs of the whole child,” he said.

Cole told the audience that safety was what inspired his candidacy.

“I got involved in the first place because of school safety. The part-time armed mercenary safety policy that was proposed two years ago and rubber stamped caused me a lot of alarm and it still does,” he said, calling it too broad.

Read more here: Cobb School Board authorizes superintendent to arm staff in wake of Uvalde tragedy – Cobb Courier (cobbcountycourier.com)

He also discussed his frustration that after the shooting in the McEachern High School parking lot last February, the community was not allowed to use school facilities for a town hall meeting. Instead the Powder Springs Library was filled to standing room only. A follow up meeting was permitted on campus only if someone paid the county fee to rent the auditorium.

“That person was Tre’ Hutchins, whose post doesn’t even include McEachern. That school is in Post 7, which I’m running for,” Cole said.

Judge discussed her ongoing support of Be SMART, a safe gun storage education program that she has previously urged the district to adopt.

She’d also like to see Gov. Brian Kemp’s $45,000 annual allotment per school for safety used for mental health needs.

Achievement Gaps

Asked how the district should focus on closing the literacy gaps for Black, Hispanic, economically disadvantaged, and students with disabilities, Judge stressed the importance of structured literacy programs and using the science of reading.

“Because we have seen it work in the Post 5 schools,” Judge said of programs that individual school foundations have helped fund. 

Hutchins is the only board member whose post consists entirely of schools eligible for Title 1 funding. Three of the schools are on a state list that puts them in the lowest 25% for performance.

“I’d like to see focused attention on all those schools and have a plan of action for them to improve and get off that list,” he said.

Budget

“I approved the budget. I’m one of the ones who said yes, so I think the budget is fine,” Hutchins said to a chuckling audience. However, he did indicate he’d like to see more input permitted for what goes into it.

“A balanced budget is given to us by the superintendent, so oftentimes it’s going to take ensuring that every board member has the ability to address the concerns of their constituency,” Hutchins said.

Judge said she wanted the district to allow more opportunities for input from the public, but “overall, I think our budget does look good after some discussion.”

Benson said when she is considering a budget, she wants to look at how individual schools are having their needs met.

“There must be some equity piece in this budget,” she said.

Charter Schools

The candidates had different takes when it came to charter schools.

Judge said, “I would not like our students to leave our public school system to go to a public charter school, but I understand when you are dealing with an underperforming school and you need to educate your child, I think that should be your first goal.”

She and Cole both emphasized the importance of improving struggling schools, rendering alternative options unnecessary.

Benson and Hutchins said they viewed charter schools as public schools and were fully supportive of them. 

“Charter schools are public schools…I think the narrative that charter schools are less or–I’m not really sure what the issue is–but I believe that parents should be able to choose whatever learning option is best for their child, and if that happens to be a charter school, then we go with charter school,” he said.

The forum had technical difficulties during the livestream but a recording can be viewed on YouTube at Cobb County School Board Candidate Forum (youtube.com).