Cobb County Schools--Over/Under Capacity in year 2013: Redistricting in the not-too-far future? (Atlanta: neighborhood, school districts)
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Thanks for asking. I suspect we'll be hanging about to take advantage of the Hope scholarship, since daughter currently aspires to study engineering at Georgia Tech. I have the impression you have to maintain a family home in-state...? Anyway, I doubt we'd want to be too hasty to rush out of state if our offspring is attending college here.
Beyond that, much depends on family finances....
Make sure your daughter is U.S. citizen by HOPE time. When I was at Tech, I had a classmate who moved to U.S. from England when she was twelve (she went to Roswell High), but she could not qualify for the HOPE scholarship due to her non-citizen status.
It would be smart to stick around while your daughter is in school in order to maintain in-state status.
lastminutemom (or others) could probably give you more details about maintaining a family home vs. in-state status (every state is different with the details).
I don't know. They are grown and graduated now. I doubt it though. McEachern was a good school.
Well, McEachern was dealt a blow when Hillgrove was built. A lot of the upper-middle class neighborhoods were supposed to stay at McEachern, but some vocal residents used their political clout to shamelessly and ruthlessly get redistricted to Hillgrove. The original redistricting plan (a d@mn good one!) had the mega upper-middle class neighborhoods of Echo Mill (Psycho Mill!), Amberwood, Oakleigh, and other smaller subdivisions nearby remaining at McEachern.
Thanks for the link Aries. Just saw the recent GHSA realignment for all high schools and was surprised to see both Kell and Pope moving down from AAAAA to AAAA. They will join Osborne and Sprayberry in region 5 AAAA with the Douglas County and Paulding County Schools.
Also surprising, that North Cobb is so overcrowded with Allatoona just opening. Was Allatoona built smaller than other schools? It is the one Cobb County high school classified AAA.
Perhaps some of the schools north and east of Kennesaw should switch over to Kell. Never understood the building of Kell in the first place, at least as far east as they built it. Seemed it should have been closer to Kennesaw, at least west of Canton Road.
Make sure your daughter is U.S. citizen by HOPE time. When I was at Tech, I had a classmate who moved to U.S. from England when she was twelve (she went to Roswell High), but she could not qualify for the HOPE scholarship due to her non-citizen status.
Thanks. I was briefly startled by your account, but after a few minutes online research, realized that by "non-citizen status" you really meant "non-citizen, non-permanent resident" status. We have "green cards" i.e. Legal Permanent Resident status. LPRs are entitled to apply for US citizenship after five years of LPR status. That falls in mid 2010 for us and we do intend to apply, but I think daughter would be OK for HOPE even without citizenship. It seems that Georgia HOPE follows federal Title IV eligibility rules, and Title IV, like most federal regulations, treats US citizens and LPRs equally.
Your classmate was probably stuck in nonimmigrant status, or in the years-long immigration application processing backlog. Most native-born US citizens naturally have no idea of this country's arduous immigration process. Also, since there is high awareness of illegal or undocumented immigration, people naturally but incorrectly jump to the assumption that legal immigration must be pretty easy. That's so far from the reality!
If anyone is reading this sideline at this point, let me just point out that all legal residents of this country (including documented nonimmigrants, immigrants and legal permanent residents), plus many illegal residents, do pay income tax. We have been Georgia taxpayers since 2002, when we arrived on L-1B (intra-company transfer, non-managerial) and L-2 (dependent of L-1) statuses. Back when our child was in sixth grade at Mabry middle school, I was scandalized that her social studies teacher informed the class that only US citizens pay taxes. We wish! Just wanting to take any opportunity to correct this popular misinformation.
Thanks for the link Aries. Just saw the recent GHSA realignment for all high schools and was surprised to see both Kell and Pope moving down from AAAAA to AAAA. They will join Osborne and Sprayberry in region 5 AAAA with the Douglas County and Paulding County Schools.
Also surprising, that North Cobb is so overcrowded with Allatoona just opening. Was Allatoona built smaller than other schools? It is the one Cobb County high school classified AAA.
Perhaps some of the schools north and east of Kennesaw should switch over to Kell. Never understood the building of Kell in the first place, at least as far east as they built it. Seemed it should have been closer to Kennesaw, at least west of Canton Road.
Yes, I saw the GHSA realignments...and Pope and Kell will join Sprayberry AAAA (which moved down just a few years ago).
Man, we do think alike--I always thought that there was no need for Kell or that it should been built further west. Most of the old "McCleskey Part" of Lassister should still be a part of its zone. Kell should have been built somewhere between Canton Road and I-75...not east of Canton Road! Some of Lassiter's overcrowding issues (which weren't that severe at the time...early 2000's) could have been taken care of with some redistricting to Pope and Sprayberry.
Allatoona is not smaller than the other schools. It is still AAA because the school is still new (and filling up). It will be overcrowded like the rest of the West/Northwest Cobb schools as well. The problem was that Allatoona received most its population from Kennesaw Mountain and Harrison...not too much from North Cobb. I personally think the Allatoona district could have jumped across the lake in the north and taken up a lot of Acworth proper.
I do think Kell's district can stretch further west still and take some more of North Cobb. However, I just think Cobb is just going to have to reassess all of the boundaries and start at a clean slate--they use to do boundaries well in the 80's and 90's, but now parents have too much irrational power and influence (most who don't understand demography, geography, and maps well).
Thanks. I was briefly startled by your account, but after a few minutes online research, realized that by "non-citizen status" you really meant "non-citizen, non-permanent resident" status. We have "green cards" i.e. Legal Permanent Resident status. LPRs are entitled to apply for US citizenship after five years of LPR status. That falls in mid 2010 for us and we do intend to apply, but I think daughter would be OK for HOPE even without citizenship. It seems that Georgia HOPE follows federal Title IV eligibility rules, and Title IV, like most federal regulations, treats US citizens and LPRs equally.
Your classmate was probably stuck in nonimmigrant status, or in the years-long immigration application processing backlog. Most native-born US citizens naturally have no idea of this country's arduous immigration process. Also, since there is high awareness of illegal or undocumented immigration, people naturally but incorrectly jump to the assumption that legal immigration must be pretty easy. That's so far from the reality!
If anyone is reading this sideline at this point, let me just point out that all legal residents of this country (including documented nonimmigrants, immigrants and legal permanent residents), plus many illegal residents, do pay income tax. We have been Georgia taxpayers since 2002, when we arrived on L-1B (intra-company transfer, non-managerial) and L-2 (dependent of L-1) statuses. Back when our child was in sixth grade at Mabry middle school, I was scandalized that her social studies teacher informed the class that only US citizens pay taxes. We wish! Just wanting to take any opportunity to correct this popular misinformation.
Good post. I had to pay taxes (hefty!) when I was a resident in a country in Latin America.
I don't know the exact status of my classmate (your designation is more than likely correct), I just remember her saying she couldn't get HOPE because she wasn't a citizen (with a roll of the eyes and an American-influenced British accent! ).
Yes, I saw the GHSA realignments...and Pope and Kell will join Sprayberry AAAA (which moved down just a few years ago).
Man, we do think alike--I always thought that there was no need for Kell or that it should been built further west. Most of the old "McCleskey Part" of Lassister should still be a part of its zone. Kell should have been built somewhere between Canton Road and I-75...not east of Canton Road! Some of Lassiter's overcrowding issues (which weren't that severe at the time...early 2000's) could have been taken care of with some redistricting to Pope and Sprayberry.
Allatoona is not smaller than the other schools. It is still AAA because the school is still new (and filling up). It will be overcrowded like the rest of the West/Northwest Cobb schools as well. The problem was that Allatoona received most its population from Kennesaw Mountain and Harrison...not too much from North Cobb. I personally think the Allatoona district could have jumped across the lake in the north and taken up a lot of Acworth proper.
I do think Kell's district can stretch further west still and take some more of North Cobb. However, I just think Cobb is just going to have to reassess all of the boundaries and start at a clean slate--they use to do boundaries well in the 80's and 90's, but now parents have too much irrational power and influence (most who don't understand demography, geography, and maps well).
LOL, don't find many map/statistic/development geeks out there to converse with. Enjoy your posts.
I remember when Cobb passed the bond to build Kell and I believe Kennesaw Mountain (I know there was a second school in the same referendum). They only announced a new high school in the north central part of the county and were searchinig for appropriate land to purchase. I remember scouting the area, decided that somewhere around Chastain and 575 would be perfect as that area had some of the largest undeveloped tracts around and would be a great central location equidistant from existing high schools. I never understood that location east of Canton Road and such a small foot print of land for such a large school. Acreage more comparable for a middle school IMHO.
I made the comment about Allatoona because your map link shows it already at 287 over enrollment but it still comes in at a AAA size according to the GHSA. As far as I can tell, the GHSA has made these new classifications based on predicted enrollments and not current ones, especially for new schools just coming up.
Pope's location also intrigued me as well, seemed so close to Lassiter, Sprayberry and Walton. I guess it is hard to plan in hindsight, but seems the county could have spread these schools out a little better. If Pope could squeeze north a bit and Lassiter west a bit and Kell west a bit, these locations would have worked better in the long run.
How is Marietta school system's reputation these days in comparison to Cobb County? The reason I ask is I remember about ten years ago that a couple of the subdivisions on Sandy Plains that are very close to Sprayberry but in the Marietta city limits were looking to de-annex so they could be at much closer county schools. Seems Sprayberry's reputation may have slipped a couple of notches since when I was there, but it was always the red headed step child when compared to the three schools east of it.
I really don't understand what this is all about. Can someone explain??? Especially about the link with the changed status. I have roofers working on my house (all day long) and a very big headache as a result this post isn't making sense (or I am an idiot).
I really don't understand what this is all about. Can someone explain??? Especially about the link with the changed status. I have roofers working on my house (all day long) and a very big headache as a result this post isn't making sense (or I am an idiot).
On the posted maps, it shows the under or over capacity for each of the schools in the county...an estimate for year 2013.
Overcapacity numbers are in red and undercapacity numbers are in negative black.
The maps may be used by forecasters/planners of the school district to determine where new schools will be built and where redistricting should or will take place.
I think Cobb County is probably making this information public now so the public is not surprised when they may make certain redistricting decisions (and/or build schools) in the next few years. Cobb County probably does not want to have the same problem that DeKalb did in the 1980's and 1990's when certain schools' populations got way too low--and the redistricting/school closings were so drastic and jolting. Smart move on CCSD's part, in my opinion.
kaday (you are Murdock and Pope, right? I'm not sure if you're Hightower Trail or Dodgen though), you will see that in East Cobb, Pope, Sprayberry, and Lassiter, (and Kell somewhat) are way under capacity...and so are many of the elementary schools and Mabry Middle school...things may have to be shifted.
I don't think CCSD will decide to close schools though...
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I suspect we'll be hanging about to take advantage of the Hope scholarship, since daughter currently aspires to study engineering at Georgia Tech. I have the impression you have to maintain a family home in-state...? Anyway, I doubt we'd want to be too hasty to rush out of state if our offspring is attending college here.
and an American-influenced British accent! 
).
