Cobb schools offer out-of-district enrollment as student numbers decline

Families across Georgia can apply to send their children to select Cobb County schools through a new tuition-based enrollment program.

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The Cobb County School District is accepting applications for its Choose Cobb program, which allows eligible students who live outside the district to attend participating schools if space is available.

Applications for the Spring 2027 semester are open through Nov. 30. The cost of tuition is $600 per student each semester.

It’s a way for the school district, which has more than 105,400 students, to fill open spaces at 12 schools: four elementary, four middle, and four high schools.

District officials are highlighting Cobb County’s high academic performance and a nearly 91% graduation rate for 2026 to promote the enrollment program.

But not all parents in the district give the idea a high grade.

“I feel like it’s a big idea, it’s a big plan, it’s a big program that should have been discussed with the taxpayers who are ultimately subsidizing this program,” said Heather Tolley-Bauer, who runs a watchdog group of parents and taxpayers called Watching the Funds.

She said the idea should have been presented before the school board and public before the district launched it, and that a $600 tuition per semester comes nowhere near covering the cost of a student’s education for a year.

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Brooke Zauner, a spokesperson for the Cobb County School District, said the per-pupil cost each year for a single student is about $14,452, including buildings, utilities, teachers and staffing.

“Taxpayers have already invested in the buildings and infrastructure to serve those students,” she said in a text. “When we fill existing empty seats without having to add teachers, we’re spreading costs that are already being paid across more students. In other words, we’re getting more value out of the taxpayer investments we’ve already made rather than paying for unused capacity.”

Tolley-Bauer said out-of-county students could stretch the district’s resources thin. “And now the toothpaste is out of the tube,” she said. “They’re taking applications. The board never saw a presentation about it. I just can’t get past the fact that they should have had this conversation with us.”

The program includes 12 schools across four high school clusters:

• Harrison cluster: Harrison High, Lost Mountain Middle and Vaughan Elementary.
• Allatoona cluster: Allatoona High, Durham Middle and Pickett’s Mill Elementary.
• South Cobb cluster: South Cobb High, Cooper Middle and Clarkdale Elementary.
• Kell cluster: Kell High, Palmer Middle and Kennesaw Elementary.

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Available seats vary by school, grade, class and program. Students must meet eligibility requirements, and admission depends on qualifications and available space.

The district says the program will use existing classroom capacity while generating additional revenue for participating schools. Cobb County students will remain the priority for enrollment.

For questions about eligibility, applications, tuition, or application status, contact the Choose Cobb office at [email protected] or 770-514-2844.