This is such good news for Cherokee County. Thank you Janet for working so hard for the students of Cherokee County. Janet gets my vote!

Absolutely not. Not a chance. Never.

"During her 8-year tenure with the Cherokee County School Board, the district has met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standards, as set by the Federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB); and the district has seen a significant rise in SAT scores"

This has what to do with Janet Read?? Last time I checked it was the teachers who taught the students and it is the teachers that are responsible for a rise in SAT scores or any test scores for that matter. Also the entire district did not meet AYP the entire 8 years... Her goal is to continue to make sure the board doesn't focus on power?? Stop it, this is laughable at best!

Janet is the best candidate for the job. She will have the interests of all students at heart.

There is no doubt that Janet is the best person for the job. The welfare of the students has always been, and continues to be, Janet's top priority!

Janet is by far the best candidate for the job. She has the welfare of all the children of the county at heart. I trust her with Cherokee County's children.

Whatever! I keep teLling you people that with my banking expertise I will end furlough days and sing Kumbaya with the Chipster! All of your problems will be solved and everyone graduates! YABBA DABBA DOOO!

Yes and I will actively encourage everyone I know to do the same!

Let me see if I understand the logic here correctly; Mrs. Read is the best person for the job because furlough days have increased 100% in a year, the system is further in debt another $50+ million in a year, [which contributed directly to furloughs], etc. Et Cetera includes us thinking graduation rates are just wonderful, and test scores are outstanding - when in reality we should be asking ourselves WHY 82.1% [old formula] or 74.82% [new formula] grad rates makes someone the best qualified candidate. Is it because our pool of choices is so poor? Certainly, it can not be that informed and uninformed voters believe continuing the same path of mediocrity and ignoring major issues make acceptable School Board Chairs. We should ask both candidates their plan to reduce/eliminate furlough days and improve graduation rates. Blaming loss of Stimulus dollars, or the State funding is NOT a solution - some of us want to know the candidates plan to fix the problems and not moan at the difficulties.

We are lucky that Janet Read continues to be actively concerned about the level of education in our county. My first child started school in this county in 1996. She is now attending college with a full academic scholarship thanks to her Cherokee County Public School education. I know many many families that are as grateful as I am for our county educators and board members. Janet Read has always looked out for the best interest of every single student.

She has met her goal of not focusing on power. The CCSD BOE has given all power to Dr. P. Maybe she could focus on reducing furlough days or giving the teachers of CCSD a reason to want to remain in the district?

I'm with Nick. Her announcement seems to indicate that she plans to do more of the same. While, Cherokee may have a decent school system compared to other counties in the state, it's not saying much when GA is one of the worst states for education in the country. It's time to elect citizen leaders to the school board who are ready to make the system better, pay great teachers well, and produce better students who can help generate a more productive economy for Cherokee County.

I deleted my post above...I mistyped what I was trying to say. I contacted Read several times trying to get help with my daughter's special ed education. Her IEP was severally messed up at one time. Read stated to me that she had no intentions of helping me. Luckily I was able to get help with other members of our school board at that time. I agree with many that Cherokee County schools are some of the best, but our school board has continuously showed that they are not financially up to the job. Furloughs need to end. Every student needs and deserves a text book. Graduation rates need to rise.

Provided the Status qua is "Adequate" for qualification; is that type of standard you want for your child? I have four children and being average in life always scared me. Mr. Dukes seems to have above average skill sets in many areas, in comparison; with all do respect to Mrs. Read. Where do we rank Nationally with these fantastic rises in scores? Combined Federal, State, and Local Revenues Per Pupil, Adjusted for Geographic Cost Differences: FY 2005 #35. HS Graduation rate #49 (Forty-Nine). Really? For some reason that is not adequate for me.

In which areas does Mr. Dukes seem to have above average skill sets? Bank failures? Mr. Dukes' current CPA business has only been open for <2 years according to the Secretary of State. He sits on the Boards of Cherokee Charter Academy and the Georgia Charter Education Foundation. His CPA firm's website previously touted a testimonial from Charter Schools, USA as a client - which quickly disappeared prior to his announcement that he was considering running for School Board Chair. How many conflicts of interest can you count here? Mr. Dukes claims he will bring the board back together and eliminate furlough days, but has not indicated where a dime of that money will come from. Mr. Dukes does not have the best interest of the students of Cherokee County Schools at heart. Mrs. Read, on the other hand, has dedicated more than 13 years to the students of Cherokee County Schools. She served on the PTA Boards and committees in every school her sons attended for more than 13 years, along with serving on the Cherokee County School Board for the past 8 years. While no one wants furlough days or old textbooks, the slow economy and lack of adequate funding from the state dictates these are necessary at this time. The School Board is not perfect, but then again, no one is. Mrs. Read has proven herself time and again that she is dedicated to the best interest of every single student in this County.

I appreciate both views on this subject. In my opinion Mrs. Read is not the best person for the job. While I applaud her for the willingness to serve on the board and try and work for the children of this county I just do not feel that she has done this as well as someone else can. i feel that many of her methods and views are out dated and that we need new, fresh, innovative people serving this county. The world is changing and our county and state need to be able to keep up with the educational standards of the country and the world. We just are not there yet. I want to see all children succeed and offered the best there is in education, unfortunately I feel that the "we are good enough mentality" is becoming a common practice among many in this county and I for one do not agree.

It is so sad that there are so many misinformed citizens in our county. If you are going to use statistics to prove your point, use ones that compare Cherokee County schools with other systems or our individual schools with other schools. Mrs. Read or the memers of the Cherokee County School Board (or Dr. Petrozielo either) have no control over what takes place in the rest of Georgia, nor do they have any way of replacing the millions of dollars the state legislature has taken away from public education through budget cuts or outright scams involving tax credits without raising local taxes, or making the hard decisions of increasing class sizes and furlough days. You can't have it both ways - and if we continue down the path of destroying public education as we have been for the past 10 years, the American dream will have no chance of ever being realized by most of us.

And to your point Kelly, which school board members helped with your situation? If they interfered with the day to day operations of the school system, they are in violation of SACS rules.

What exactly is a "status qua"?

Rose...I have been teaching in Cherokee for 13 years. Almost every child who has transferred to my school from outside the state has been behind in skills compared to our students.

With all due respect, could someone please explain to me what the term "status qua" means? Am I missing a new term I'm unfamiliar with that even Google doesn't recognize? I get "status quo" but am not privy to the meaning of "status qua". Please enlighten me to this, please.

Cherokee parent and teacher: Many people violated her IEP, which is why I went to the school board to handle it when I was made aware of it. It really was more than Cherokee County, it was all discovered when I moved back to Cherokee County. I went to another county for 3 years and her education was made a mess and it took time to sort it out when we moved back. Luckily, it was the county psychologist that discovered the issues. Even issues I didn't notice. As she was the one that originally worked with my daughter when she was placed on an IEP. As much as I love CCSD, I lost a tremendous respect for most of the board. However, they have been extremely helpful with my other daughter who is above average when I contacted them asking questions about her education.

Many of the people who have lived in Cherokee County for a number of years, have seen the school board fall and rise. We have had many of the same people on the board since I can think back. While, Cherokee County schools have been on the rise for much of the last few years, I know we can do better. We need people who are not seeking complete control. We need people who can find new ways to keep our teachers in the classroom and for our students to have a textbook of their own. We need more efficiency on our school board. I will not say Read does not care for all the children in the county, because I truthfully don't know. I believe she is more interested in the schools of her affluent area verses those in the not so areas. Such as much of Cherokee High, Oak Grove Elem, Canton Elem, and Ball Ground Elem. Where there are more likely to be a Title 1 school. We need someone who cares about every school in the county, not just the ones with higher property taxes.

How is the BOE responsible for your child not having a textbook? There has been no state funding for textbooks for at least the past 3 years. Where is the money going to come from? I guess Kelly and Dean will be first in line to have their millage rate go up so that public schools can be "adequately" funded.
Dean - if there is not an effort by Chip Rogers et.al. to destroy public education, please tell me what they are trying to accomplish? I am in the classroom every day, and am being asked to do more with less every year. Our students a much more than "adequate" but that is the highest label we can earn. Please educate yourself on how NCLB and the other unfunded mandates work before you start making false claims.

Kelly - you didn't answer my question. Who on the board actually "helped" you with your daughters' education? Did they interfered in the day to day operations of the schools?

We need more people like Janet Read on the Cherokee school board! So thankful she is running again!

Cherokee County Teacher

I wish people would wake up. The state "cannot" pay funds due to our public school system but instead chooses to fund charter schools. If the state paid its dues, we could afford new textbooks and would have fewer furlough days. I know economic times are hard, but shouldn't public education be at the top of accounts payable?

Cherokee county is lucky to have Janet Read. She has always put the best interests of all students in the district first. The Cherokee county school system has become one of the best in the state during her tenure on the board and there is no denying that. Yes the district is experiencing many budgetary challenges at the present time, but the fact is the situation would be much worse without the leadership of Ms Read and "some" of her fellow board members. The fact is some of our more recently elected board members are there because of their own agenda which has little to do with the best interest of the majority of the students they claim to represent. If our schools are struggling we need not look any further than our political leaders such as Chip Rodgers and Charlice Byrd to name a few, who care little about public education. Wake up people the lack of state funding and the practice of funneling money away from public schools to for profit charter schools is what is hurting our school system. I put to children through Cherokee county schools and they received an exceptional education. We need people like Janet Read so that the students coming up will continue to receive the same quality education that my kids got.
Scott and Cindy McNeill

There is a simple principle going on here with respect to our local education. The state has a revenue sharing-type program, sort of like the NFL and other sports organizations. The Dallas Cowboys (because they make so much money) pay into a pot, which then helps smaller market teams exist - like Green Bay. Because we are considered a "rich county" in comparison to many smaller & "poorer" counties throughout the state - we send a few million to the state for them to give away to others.

Not saying that is right or not; however, if the state didn't take millions from us - perhaps we might not have such financial issues. But instead of returning those monies to the county directly, they chose to fund another school system (charter school) within our county.

There are probably many upsides to the charter school primarily from being a smaller community of students. I know I got a better education by attending 1st - 8th grade at one school before the evil that is middle-school was created in this county, than my younger siblings did.

Our legislature is to represent the will of the people at large on state-level issues, not micro-manage our local government and school system. Perhaps instead of creating a charter school b/c that's what Chip wants - our delegation should have reduced our millions previously taken away.

Here is my confusion...every one continues to talk about the state taking money from the schools, but they actually are not. If I decided to home school my child then the money for my child would not go to the school also. It is a per child amount based on the children attending the school. If my child is not there then the state money is not given, whether I chose to home school, charter school or private school. Therefore I do not see that argument as valid. While I will say that I am not jumping on the "I hate the school board train" I do feel that it is time for different perspectives on the board. In majority of elected positions there is a cap on how many terms you can serve, why not here? It is done so because human nature takes over. Power becomes an issue and so does control. If you are given this for a long period of time without feeling as if you have to be accountable then it goes to your head. This is not to "put down" anyone, it is just a fact of most peoples nature. Also, you get set in your ways and feel that you know better then everyone else. Fresh, new people with new suggestions and ideas is not a bad thing. Lets be honest, there are many reasons why the system is failing. Some are absolutely do to the misuse of funding by the board. Some are not. But we need to address the boards issues as well. No one seems to what to so that, why?

Hey Kara. Please provide examples of the school district failing? It seems to be holding up fairly well here in Cherokee county even with the decreased funding per child from the state of GA.

I have a question that I have been unable to get a clear answer from Janet on. I understand that we must keep a certian amount in reserves, and only should use the reserves in emergencies. Janet Read has voted against using any of the reserve money while her fellow BOE members out vote her (thankfully) regarding the recent budget issues. Janets concern is that if a huge storm comes through and wipes Cherokee County out, we need those reserves to rebuild. I have asked if we have insurance and been told yes. Then I get nowhere. Is our school system fully insured, partially self funded, or totally self funded. What is CCSD out of pocket costs in a worse case scenerio?

With the economy and budget cuts, I would consider our current situation an emergency and totally support the BOE for taking money out of the reserves to make ends meet. It concerns me that Janet may be to frugal and would rather lay off employees (teachers) rather than borrow from the surplus. Laying off teachers would only increase the class size and cause additional burden to an already stretched situation.

If I am not mistaken, CCSD is self-insured, so any catastrophic event (weather-related, lawsuit, etc...) would wipe out the reserves and then some.

Certainly we would all like to see these budget issues resolved, but in my opinion, taking too much out of the reserves is a short term solution with long term negative implications. Imagine the scenario: The BOE emptied the reserves and next month we had some massive storm like those that have gone through west Georgia many times. Then, they'd have to raise the millage rate AND lay off teachers because they STILL aren't getting adequate funding from the state and property taxes are STILL low. Then how happy would we all be for those smaller classes? There's no way to predict the need for those reserves, but I would rather be safe than sorry.

As bad as the budget issues are, I don't believe they rise to the level of "emergency" and Janet is being prudent with our tax dollars-despite the BOE being characterized as a bunch of spendthrifts who don't care how much they spend.

How could we find out how the the district is insured?

I'm checking on it and will post what I find out.

I emailed the county this morning and got this reply about 10 minutes ago:

"For its Workers Compensation program, the School District is self-insured with a retention limit per occurrence.

For property, the School District maintains appropriate levels of property insurance to provide for repair/replacement of buildings and contents and reimbursement of related expenses arising out of covered losses. However, insurance policies include usual deductibles, sub-limits and exclusions. Contingency reserves are necessary in the event of a catastrophic loss that could cause the District to incur additional costs above available insurance limits."

So, loss of property is covered by insurance, but would have substantial out-of-pocket costs with deductibles. If an employee is injured on the job, the worker's comp comes directly from county funds.

So. When you said this "If I am not mistaken, CCSD is self-insured, so any catastrophic event (weather-related, lawsuit, etc...) would wipe out the reserves and then some.", you were mistaken.

People blame the local board for cuts that they made regarding budget issues. Those budget issues were compounded by our state representatives & senators. And yet, the politicians are upset at the school board?

Simple analogy: I took your lunch money and now I'm going to complain about why you're only eating a ham sandwich instead of the steak & potatoes I want you to eat.

Makes perfect sense!

Holly J, I would still like more details. What are the Is there a stop-loss and if so what is it? You ask for us to read closely, yet you have given me nothing to read. Now that I know that they are not self insured I totallly support my statements.

"For property, the School District maintains appropriate levels of property insurance to provide for repair/replacement of buildings and contents and reimbursement of related expenses arising out of covered losses"

You stated they have "appropriate" coverage. I agree we need to keep as much in the reserves as possible, but if the BOE did not take it out for this year, we would have had to cut teachers.

I do agree with Ashley that pulling money from reserves is a short term fix. However what other option is available at this time. If you do not pull the money, teachers will be let go and classrooms will be even more crowded than they are now.

If Janet Read and her puppets get in, that is exactly what is going to happen. She consistantly votes no on this. Ashley if this happens, it could be your husband that gets the ax.

There is more to this position that Cherokee Charter Academy.

I must have deleted part of the first sentence. Ooops!
What is the deductible? What are the sub-limts and what do they apply to? What is the maximum benefit that will be paid out? What is the stop-loss.........(see above)

Two additional things regarding reserves. The STATE requires that each system keep a minimum percent of its operational budget in reserves. That is a law and I believe that theCCSD fell below that percentage with its most recent withdrawal from reserves. Example A oD disaster: Dekalb county... No money in reserves.

Secondly: the financial institutions that hold and sell the SPLOST bonds require a minimum amount to beset aside in reserves as well in order to maintain a lower interest rate to the school system and a higher bond rating for potential investors.

Having to pay a higher interest rate because we borrowed money could cause our operation expenses to increase putting the CCSD right back to where they started from.

Just more important info about the reserves that everyone needs to understand....

Still waiting on the insurance info

http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/1999-08-05/news/undercurrents/

Kelly A., feel free to contact the office of public information at the county office for that insurance info. That's what I did and got a very quick reply.

Kelly A., feel free to contact the office of public information at the county office for that insurance info. That's what I did and got a very quick reply.