The Cobb Board of Education will hold a special called meeting on Thursday to discuss the starting date for the 2020-21 school year as concerns over rising COVID-19 cases have sparked new governmental responses. 
The virtual meeting starts at 4 p.m. and can be seen online by clicking here or on television on the Cobb County School District’s public access cable channels (Channel 24 on Comcast and Channel 182 on Charter).
Last week Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said the school year would be starting on time, and in classrooms on Aug. 3, and parents would be offered a remote option that they would have to commit to for at least one full semester.
But since then, Gov. Brian Kemp extended the state’s public health emergency to Aug. 11 and on Wednesday, a Cobb public health alert was issued.
Those were responses to rising COVID-19 cases in Georgia and Cobb County, which now has surpassed the 5,000 mark.
Another executive order from Kemp pertaining to social distancing guidance also called for the Georgia Department of Education to provide “rules, regulations and guidance” for the operation of K-12 public schools for local school boards “to depart from a strict interpretation on the definition of ‘school year,’ ‘school month’ or ‘school day.’ ”
Since then, the Fulton County School System has delayed the start of its school year by a week, from Aug. 10 to Aug. 17.
Some Cobb parents and teachers have started petitions (here and here) demanding answers from the Cobb school district about the starting plans, which haven’t yet been detailed.
Those questions include the provision of resources for remote learning, class sizes for those who go back to school, cleaning and sanitizing procedures and protocols for when a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19.
Other requests ask that the start date be pushed back to Aug. 10 and extend the deadline for parents to choose remote or classroom instruction beyond July 10.
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- The East Cobb Open for Business Directory
- East Cobb News COVID-19 Resource Page
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