COBB COUNTY, GA – The Cobb County School Board will consider changes to its method of public consultation, adjustments to attendance areas and loan approvals for special purpose local sales tax construction projects during Thursday’s board meeting.

The school board changed its method of signing up for public comment seven months ago, allowing residents to register online to speak in person during the public comment portion of board meetings.

But on Thursday, the council will consider reverting to its previous method of registering in person on a physical sign-up sheet, which would become available 30 minutes before each council meeting. Board Chairman David Chastain said online registrations created problems like people who sign up and don’t show up, the Marietta Daily Journal reported.

If council returns to in-person registration, residents will speak on a first-come, first-served basis.

Board members will also consider approving up to $100 million in a “bridge loan” for various SPLOST construction projects between SPLOST sales tax cycles. The loan advances projects until the county’s new sales tax, Ed-SPLOST VI, begins generating revenue in 2023, which will be used to repay the loan.

Among the major construction projects in 2022 is the reconstruction of Eastvalley Elementary School on the former site of East Cobb Middle School, East Cobb News reported.

Attendance zone adjustments for North Cobb’s Pitner Primary School on Wade Road are also a consideration, the MDJ reported. The school feeds into neighboring Palmer Middle School, and some Palmer students move to Kell High School while others go to North Cobb High School. The proposed change would feed all Pitner and Palmer students into KHS.

The board meets at 2 p.m. for a working session, followed by an executive meeting and a formal board meeting at 7 p.m.