When Cobb County’s school board tapped recently elected member Randy Scamihorn to serve as chairman, few people were as shocked as district Superintendent Michael Hinojosa.
“I haven’t seen it in my entire 17 years of experience as (a) superintendent,” he said of a new board member taking the leadership position.
However, six months in Scamihorn is receiving accolades from residents and fellow members on his ability to quickly navigate his duties and the personalities on the board.
“I was flattered and astonished to be asked to be chair,” said Scamihorn, a Vietnam veteran, engineer and retired educator. “I’ve tried to keep the board focused on the issues around educating kids, and not personalities.”
The Cobb board and the superintendent have a history of clashing over everything from the school calendar to members’ governing powers, and Hinojosa said Scamihorn’s lack of experience concerns him.
“He hasn’t been through the ebbs and flows of governing,” Hinojosa said. “I don’t think anyone has a sinister plan for the district. But when the board doesn’t have a lot of experience, it looks bad.”
“It’s a very sensitive position,” said Jim Serrate, a Cobb resident for 29 years. “He has a tremendous amount of influence in the county. Randy has inherited a culture where the superintendent and the central office think that they don’t report to the board.”
Justin Pauly, a spokesman for the Georgia School Boards Association, said it’s rare for a recently elected board member to be chosen as the chair, who moderates discussions and serves as the liaison between the superintendent and the board.
Scamihorn said he grew up “dirt poor” in Florida, Indiana and California and served in the military for 22 years before retiring to become a teacher at several Cobb schools. He quickly was promoted to serve as an assistant principal, and retired from teaching in 2011.
In November he ran unopposed to represent northwest Cobb on the school board, replacing Lynda Eagle.
Early in his tenure, Scamihorn — with the board’s support — rejected Hinojosa’s proposed budget cuts to close an $86.4 million deficit. The superintendent’s proposals, which included getting rid of hundreds of teachers, would have too much impact on classrooms, Scamihorn told Hinojosa. Scamihorn, a self-described fiscal conservative, moderated a contentious, monthslong debate over how much money to pull from the district’s savings account.
In a split April vote, the board approved a scaled-down version of Hinojosa’s plan, which resulted in the loss of 182 teachers through attrition and pulling $45 million from savings.
Next week, Scamihorn is expected to resolve a lingering dispute between Hinojosa and the board over what resources teachers will use to teach math this fall.
The board voted 4-3 in April not to purchase new math textbooks because they were aligned with Common Core, a set of national curriculum standards that specify math and literature concepts students should learn by certain grades. Scamihorn voted against purchasing the new textbooks.
In a subsequent board meeting, several board members, including Scamihorn, stood firm on their stance against purchasing the books, saying they aren’t sure how long Common Core will last, where state politicians stand on the issue, or whether hardbound textbooks are even needed in the 21st century.
Other board members and a group of teachers argued that opposition to Common Core has “politicized” math, and that without the books the district’s already lagging test scores will continue to suffer.
After an email from an administrator protesting the board’s decision went viral, Scamihorn scolded Hinojosa, but then gave him a chance to make several alternative proposals.
“He sets the tone and the tenor of the board,” member David Morgan said of Scamihorn. “Even though I don’t agree with some of his opinions, I think he makes sure our voices are heard.”
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