Photo above: John Floresta (photo by Rebecca Gaunt)
By Rebecca Gaunt
With the clock ticking for the Republican majority’s hold on the Cobb County Board of Education, they extended the contracts for Superintendent Chris Ragsdale’s executive cabinet and all school principals through February 2029.
The board has routinely extended Ragsdale’s contract on an annual basis for the full three years allowed by law, but principal and cabinet contracts have previously only been extended one year on an annual basis.
Last week’s election will flip the board from a 4-3 Republican majority to a Democrat one when Micheal Garza takes the Post 4 seat in January. He defeated Republican incumbent David Chastain in his bid for a fourth term with 25,493 votes to 20,982.
The executive cabinet includes Chief Strategy and Accountability Officer John Floresta, Chief of Staff Matthew Moody, Chief Human Resources Officer Keeli Bowen, Chief Financial Officer David Baker, Chief Academic Officer Kevin Carpenter, Chief School Leadership Officer Jasmine Kullar, and Chief Technology and Operations Officer Marc Smith.
There was no public discussion of the contracts following the executive session. Leroy Tre’ Hutchins, the Democratic board member representing Post 3, made a motion to remove the cabinet’s three year contracts, but it failed along party lines. The contracts were approved 4-3, also along party lines.
Democratic board members tried to remove Floresta in 2024 after an open records request showed that he and members of his department coordinated to move the public comment line to prevent critics of the superintendent from speaking, accessed student records inappropriately, and attempted to pressure news organizations to withhold negative coverage. That effort failed without support from the Republicans.
In a Facebook post, Garza called it a “disgusting display of board leadership (or lack thereof).”
“If we are having to explore ways to generate revenue, why did Floresta and others in Ragsdale’s executive cabinet receive three-year contracts, a first for Cobb…How does the potential payout of millions of dollars in golden parachutes to Ragsdale and his cabinet help our students?” he wrote.
Watching the Funds-Cobb posted the fiscal year 2025 salaries for the cabinet members, which are publicly available. They range from $172,572 to $240,102.
The group posted, “Meanwhile, the district cut 185 teaching positions this year to help balance the budget. And last night we were told schools may close if enrollment doesn’t go up…But the folks at the top get a three-year safety net on our dime?”
Rebecca Gaunt earned a degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in education from Oglethorpe University. After teaching elementary school for several years, she returned to writing. She lives in Marietta with her husband, son, two cats, and a dog. In her spare time, she loves to read, binge Netflix and travel.