Cynthia Lindsey, a paraprofessional at Sedalia Park Elementary School in East Cobb, died Thursday after being hospitalized for the last 11 days with COVID-19 and pneumonia.
According to Deborah Perdue, the co-organizer of an online fundraiser, Lindsey had been on a ventilator. The fundraising effort generated more than $10,000 goal for medical bills.
Perdue said that the money will go to pay for Lindsey’s final expenses, and that arrangements are pending.
She was the second Cobb County School District teacher to die on Thursday from COVID-19, and the third since Christmas.
Dana Johnson, a teacher at Kemp Elementary School in West Cobb, died after being in intensive care since early December with COVID-19 and pneumonia.
Patrick Key, a teacher at Hendricks Elementary School in Powder Springs, died Christmas Day after being hospitalized with COVID-19.
During a Cobb Board of Education work session Thursday, and before Lindsey’s death was announced, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale referenced Johnson’s death, saying “our hearts are broken over this.”
He didn’t specify a cause of death, nor did he comment on COVID-related school safety issues raised by members of the public at the start of the meeting.
He did mention another district employee’s cause of death. Teko Browning, a football coach at Osborne High School, died in a traffic accident.
School board member Jaha Howard asked him if he would address the issue, but Ragsdale declined, and chairman Randy Scamihorn said “that’s it” since there wasn’t an item on the work session agenda specifically related to the district’s COVID response.
“There are a lot of concerns out there,” Howard said, “and we’re about to move on.”
The Cobb County School District has switched to remote learning this week due to rising COVID-19 cases.
Toward the end of last week, Simpson MS and McCleskey MS switched to all-virtual learning, and the district reported as many as 22 active cases at Lassiter High School.
There were nearly 500 new cases in the Cobb school district reported that week, but it was not disclosed how many are students and how many are teachers and other staff.
Related Content
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- 21 active cases of COVID-19 reported at McCleskey MS
- Cobb school board elects officers for 2021
- Cobb schools return amid COVID concerns, teacher’s death
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You are not a teacher. The “darkest day in Cobb County” was the day you decided that you could opine about schools and education. I have been with Cobb County Public Schools for over 31 years. The majority of our teachers want what is best for their students and contrary to your editorial opinion, that is face to face education. Until you walk in our shoes, keep your comments to the things you know; not education. And if you do not like our system, go private.
Thank you for your comment. I was not commenting on whether schools should return face-to-face; I was disappointed that the superintendent and the school board chose to say nothing after two teachers died of COVID.
I’m also a graduate of the Cobb County School District and am very proud of that, and think this is an even better school system than when I attended. The parents, students and staff deserved to hear something more from their leadership than “thoughts and prayers” for teachers who have died as a result of the pandemic.