As the Cobb County school district awaits word on its accreditation, some of those interviewed for the process are concerned it may not turn out well for the district.

Cognia wrapped up its review of the school system last month and is expected to issue its verdict and its recommendations to the district in as soon as a couple of weeks.

Longtime Cobb County resident Caric Martin was among the dozens interviewed for the process and was left feeling uneasy by the process.

“It’s just kind of not a positive tone—I wouldn’t say negative, but not a positive tone. And it just left me with a bad feeling,” he tells 95.5 WSB’s Sandra Parrish.

Martin says little time was spent asking those interviewed in his group about the positive aspects of the school district. Instead, much of the attention focused on the topic of under-serving transient students.

“It just feels like it’s a political agenda and not so much on how the school system is performing as it is, it’s not doing what they want it to do,” he says.

Cognia says it was asked for the review by the school board’s three Democratic members and received 50 complaints from the community and staff in four main areas regarding the school board’s governance, management of covid-19, the renaming of Wheeler High School, and the needs in struggling schools.

Martin says the school district has made great strides academically in the last two decades and worries that will all be overlooked.

“It was never a disagreement among all the participants that the school system is there to help every student—it’s just, how are we going to achieve that,” he says. “I just think we forget how we have improved and served most students much better.”

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