Were Cobb teachers coerced into voting for new calendar?
The Cobb County school board will hear a report Thursday night on allegations that teachers at five schools were coerced into voting in favor of a new school calendar.
School board member Alison Bartlett said at a previous school board meeting that she had received phone calls from teachers who said they felt pressured by principals to vote a certain way on an employee survey the school district took on four calendar options. The board hired a private investigator to look into the claims and will hear the investigator's report Thursday, said school board spokesman Jay Dillon.
Of the 51.1 percent who voted for the balanced calendar -- in which school starts Aug. 2 and ends the Friday before Memorial Day -- 40 percent were teachers and 11 percent were staff, according to a school board tally.
The school district adopted the balanced calendar for the coming school year recently, despite vocal opposition from parents.
MARY LOU PICKEL
