Cobb schools won't impose mask mandate; revising quarantine

Cobb keeps masks-optional policy — *Superintendent Chris Ragsdale reading a written statement about COVID-19 changes; but he said he will not mandate masks.*

Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said Thursday night that the Cobb County School District will not issue a mask mandate, although their use is “strongly encouraged.”

His remarks came after a public comment period in which he was emotionally urged by parents to impose a mask mandate, and on the same day that Marietta City Schools said it would begin requiring masks.

Before a Cobb Board of Education meeting there also was a rally organized by parents who want a mask mandate.

Ragsdale said that some areas with mandated masks in schools have no lower COVID-19 figures than those without mandates, and that he wanted to leave it to parents to decide what is best for their families.

Applause broke out in the meeting room when he said that.

There also is not a vaccine mandate in the Cobb school district, and Ragsdale said it’s “not appropriate” to mandate that as well.

Here are more of his remarks:

“Mandatory masking is not without a cost. We recognize that there are negative impacts to school-age children properly wearing a mask during the duration of the school day. The data analysis is obviously very complex during this pandemic.
“We have made a continuous effort to allow families to have a choice, both in the type of instruction, whether it be face to face or virtual, and in the decision about what is best for their families in regards to masks. We have also encouraged vaccinations but believe it’s also a personal choice for each employee, student, and family to make based on their individual situation. At this time, I do not believe it is appropriate to mandate either decision, which would remove the ability for each family to make the best decision for them as a family.
“Some parents who spoke in favor of the mandate also wanted to be able to switch to virtual learning, an option that had not been allowed for the new school year.”

Cobb’s decision runs counter to recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, which is urging indoor mask usage in schools, as well as Cobb and Douglas Public Health.

Among the parents pleading for a mask mandate was Tim Philbin, father of a fifth-grade student at Eastvalley Elementary School.

He said that “our students need in-person learning, and masks are one of the things that can keep them there.”

Ragsdale said that the district’s all-online learning environments will be expanding for a lottery for the second semester. Those are the Elementary Virtual Program (EVP) and Cobb Online Learning Academy (COLA) for middle school and high school students.

He didn’t indicate how many spaces will open, but anticipates the window for applying for the lottery to open in mid- to late October.

A Cobb school district spokeswoman told East Cobb News last week that only around 2,000 of the district’s 109,000 students are in all-online learning this year.

Unlike last year, students learning in a virtual setting are not being taught by in-person classroom teachers.

Ragsdale also said the district would be modifying its quarantine policy regarding close contacts. Students who are quarantining at home for three days can return after that, as long as they are asymptomatic.

That policy begins on Monday, Ragsdale said.