East Cobb Schools Archives

Cobb superintendent wants teachers prioritized for COVID vaccine

January 28, 2021 1:21 PMJanuary 27, 2021 12:08 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb school superintendent honored

Two days after three Cobb school board members asked Gov. Brian Kemp for teachers and school staff to be placed in a higher priority group for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, the Cobb school superintendent has done the same.

Chris Ragsdale signed a letter sent Tuesday by metro Atlanta superintendents to request that teachers and other school employees be added to the 1A category—the highest in the tiered vaccination system being rolled out by the Georgia Department of Public Health.

“The longer we delay in vaccinating our teachers and school staff, the more we risk having to close our doors once again,” the superintendents wrote in the letter, which you can read in full here. “The educators in our districts have given tirelessly in time, effort, and dedication, especially during the pandemic; we ask you to recognize their value and importance to our communities and our state.”

The other superintendents signing the letter include those from the Atlanta, DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett and Marietta school districts.

Three teachers in the Cobb school district have died from COVID since Christmas, including two on Thursday. The same day, the Cobb school board met but was silent on the matter, despite hearing emotional pleas from protesting teachers to go to all-remote instruction.

Ragsdale briefly mentioned the dead teachers by name but did not discuss COVID response, and when a board member tried to ask him about it, he was cut off by the chairman.

In a release sent out by the Cobb County School District Wednesday, Ragsdale said that “I, along with other superintendents, have been advocating for our employees with decision-makers for some time now. The letter was simply a culmination of our efforts to get access to the vaccine for educators. We all understand the most extreme hurdle for us to overcome is the quantity of vaccine available to be administered.”

Vaccine recipients in the 1A category include frontline medical and health-care workers and residents of long-term care facilities.

This is the third week that people in the 1A+ category—first responders and citizens age 65 and older—have been able to get vaccinations.

But the supplies have been severely limited and many older people have expressed frustrations with an online appointment booking website that has crashed, or that shows no vaccination slots available.

Cobb and Douglas Public Health is vaccinating around 700 people a day, six days a week and is asking for public patience as they try to get more vaccine supplies.

In Georgia, only 80,000 vaccines are being distributed a week to around 2,000 public and private providers.

On Tuesday, Kemp announced the state will be getting an additional 25,000 vaccine doses a week from the federal government.

Kemp spokesman Cody Hall issued a message via Twitter later Tuesday saying there is “a simple math problem” and said there isn’t enough vaccine for 400,000 teachers.

“These superintendents should explain which currently eligible population should be, in their view, sent to the back of the line for vaccination. Seniors? Healthcare workers? First responders and law enforcement?

“The Governor has repeatedly stated—as recently as today—that as soon as Georgia begins to receive increased vaccine supply, teachers and school staff will absolutely be included in any expanded criteria.”

The Cobb school district release said that the school system “would continue to offer choice for as long as it was feasible.”

Nearly two-thirds of Cobb’s 107,000 enrolled students are attending class in person for the spring semester that began Jan. 6. Last week, students worked remotely due to high COVID case numbers and students and staff being out due to quarantine.

Classes resumed in-person Monday. The district has said there would be another period for parents to choose face-to-face or remote instruction for the rest of the spring semester, but it has not announced when that will be.

Cobb school board members ask Kemp for COVID safety measures

January 26, 2021 3:42 PMJanuary 25, 2021 2:48 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb school board COVID safety letter — *Jaha Howard*

Three members of the Cobb Board of Education have signed a letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp asking him to prioritize teacher vaccinations and provide other safety measures related to COVID-19.

The letter was written by Cobb school board member Jaha Howard and signed by Charisse Davis and Tre’ Hutchins, as well as 10 other school board members from other metro Atlanta school districts, including Atlanta, DeKalb, Clayton and Gwinnett.

The letter, which was dated Sunday, mentions two teacher deaths in the Cobb County School District last week, and said that “we stand as champions for the men and women who dedicate their lives to educating our students.”

In addition to prioritizing vaccines, the signatories are asking for medical grade face masks be provided for every school staff member and for the state to “collect and review anonymous COVID-related feedback from public education staff.”

The letter comes after the Cobb school board last week announced that two elementary school teachers died after being hospitalized with COVID and pneumonia.

They were Dana Johnson of Kemp Elementary School and Cynthia Lindsey, a paraprofessional at Sedalia Park Elementary School.

Their deaths prompted a protest by more than 100 teachers outside the Cobb school district offices Thursday during school board meetings.

Several of them addressed the board, demanding all-remote learning due to high COVID case counts and teacher absences.

The board didn’t discuss COVID during their meetings, and when Howard asked Superintendent Chris Ragsdale to comment, he declined. When Howard pressed him for an answer, board chairman Randy Scamihorn cut him off.

Among those addressing the board was a school counselor who asked Ragsdale and two board members not wearing masks—David Banks and David Chastain of East Cobb—to wear them in honor of Patrick Key.

He was an art teacher at Hendricks Elementary School who died of COVID on Christmas Day.

But Ragsdale, Chastain and Banks did not put on masks, and the incident has made national headlines.

Face-to-face classes resumed in Cobb on Monday, after all instruction was remote in the school district last week.

During that week, however, the Cobb school district reported 383 new COVID-19 cases. They include 13 active cases each at Dickerson Middle School and Pope High School, 11 at Lassiter High School , 10 at Walton High School and 9 at Bells Ferry Elementary School.

You can read the board members’ letter to Kemp by clicking here.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The haunting silence of the Cobb school board

January 1, 2022 1:03 PMJanuary 23, 2021 2:18 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb school board

On the darkest day in the Cobb County School District since the COVID-19 pandemic began, neither the superintendent nor the school board had much to say about it.

As the board was in session twice Thursday for their monthly meetings, two teachers in the school district died of COVID-19.

Superintendent Chris Ragsdale did mention them by name during the meetings: Dana Johnson, a first-grade teacher at Kemp Elementary School and Cynthia Lindsey, a paraprofessional at Sedalia Park Elementary School here in East Cobb.

The perfunctory “thoughts and prayers” from Ragsdale were all that were even referenced about their deaths and the district’s ongoing pandemic response.

With classes being all-virtual this week, I figured Ragsdale would provide an update. Are case numbers easing off? Is there ample staffing available for in-person learning? What about the schools that closed early last week?

It was his decision to shut down in-person learning this week due to increasing COVID cases in the schools and teachers absent due to quarantine. It has been his decision to offer parents a choice of face-to-face or remote instruction.

During these months of uncertainty, he’s explained his thinking about these matters in some detail. While not everyone has been happy with the decisions, he’s been above-board in laying out the difficult task of reopening, establishing safety protocols and providing dual learning environments.

This week, with concerns about the safety of students and staff rising along with a case count that’s higher than ever, there was nothing on the board agenda to discuss the COVID response.

Even though Dr. Janet Memark, the director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health who’s advised Ragsdale, continues to urge students and adults to stay home as much as possible.

At both school board meetings, teachers and their advocates urged that all-remote learning continue. They were mourning the loss of their colleagues, and emotions were also rising high.

Face-to-face learning resumes on Monday, and with tensions and case numbers growing, Ragsdale had nothing to say about it.

At a Thursday afternoon work session, school board member Jaha Howard wanted Ragsdale to comment on the COVID-19 situation in the schools, but board chairman Randy Scamihorn put a halt to the inquiry.

“Would you be open to a dialogue?” Howard asked Ragsdale. “There are a lot of concerns out there [from the public] and we’re about to move on.”

“That’s it,” Scamihorn said.

Scamihorn had more than the power of the gavel at his disposal. The Cobb Board of Education, at least at its public meetings, has chosen to censor itself.

In 2019, before the pandemic, the board’s Republican majority voted to ban public comments from board members at their own meetings.

It was a contentious time marked by the additions of Howard and Charisse Davis, first-term Democrats whose elections in 2018 trimmed a 6-1 GOP advantage on the school board to 4-3.

Howard in particular has ruffled feathers, sometimes eagerly so, making regular accusations about racial disparities in the district, and he has used his comment time at board meetings to denounce Republican elected officials elsewhere.

His grandstanding can be over the top, but the attempt to silence him and Davis was absurd. Partisan bickering since then has grown even worse, and members of both parties are to blame. There’s no spirit of compromise at all, even with the serious business of navigating a pandemic.

So on Thursday, we saw one board member cutting off another who wanted ask the superintendent about the most important subject in the second-largest school district in Georgia.

Board members can put items on the agenda, but a policy change pushed through last month by Scamihorn on a party-line vote now requires the approval of a board majority.

Given the deep partisan divide, anything that Howard, Davis and newly elected Democratic board member Tre’ Hutchins want to bring up needs at least one Republican vote. There’s no budging going on in the slightest.

With anxiety heightening and parents wondering how their children might be learning in the coming weeks, the public was owed much more than petty parliamentary maneuvers.

The policy to muzzle unwanted speakers and topics also stifled any comments from elected representatives to the Cobb school district about a very sad, grim day.

At the end of the public comment period Thursday night, Scamihorn thanked the speakers for being “informative and succinct,” but to paraphrase him, that was it.

On Friday, Davis offered some school-related public health guidance on her Facebook page “in the absence of ANY COVID-related discussions or presentations from the superintendent at our board meeting. . . . These are difficult times, but like many of our teachers tell their students: we can do hard things.”

While Cobb County government and public health leaders carved out dedicated time this week to help frazzled citizens navigate the COVID-19 vaccine process, the Cobb school board and superintendent offered nothing of reassurance on the one day of the month they have to come before the public.

Their silence was as damning as it was haunting.

After 2 teacher deaths, Cobb schools begged to stay remote

January 21, 2021 8:42 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb schools teacher deaths

After two of their colleagues died Thursday from COVID-19, educators in the Cobb County School District pleaded to keep classes remote.

At a Cobb Board of Education meeting Thursday night, a coordinated effort by several teachers and other district staff calling themselves members of “one team” seeking “team trust and accountability” demanded answers about the district’s response to the ongoing pandemic.

They didn’t get any.

Cynthia Lindsey, a paraprofessional at Sedalia Park Elementary School in East Cobb, and Dana Johnson, a teacher at Kemp Elementary School, died Thursday after being hospitalized with COVID-19 and pneumonia.

Cobb schools this week have reverted to remote learning, but those students who chose face-to-face learning for the spring semester are scheduled to return to their schools on Monday.

“There are a lot of people out there,” said Cobb County Association of Educators president Connie Jackson, referencing to the parking lot outside. Only one speaker at a time is allowed inside the board’s meeting room at the district office in Marietta due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“They’re mad, and they’re scared, and they’re angry, because they don’t think anybody cares,” she said.

Jackson said after the two deaths on Thursday, “this needs to be a topic for the school board. This needs to be publicly talked about . . . We need you to hear you discuss it and make us feel like it matters to you.”

But other than Superintendent Chris Ragsdale offering condolences to Lindsey, there was no discussion. Speakers at the board’s Thursday afternoon work session also asked that classes stay remote, but an attempt by board member Jaha Howard to raise the topic, and to discuss the district’s pandemic response, was cut off.

Board members are prohibited from making comments at their meetings after a 2019 policy change that Howard and member Charisse Davis said was aimed at silencing them.

The decision by Ragsdale to go remote was based, he said, on growing cases (nearly 500 across the district last week alone) and high numbers of teachers and staff in quarantine.

He didn’t say anything on Thursday about the return to face-to-face learning next week.

(You can watch replays of both of Thursday’s meetings by clicking here.)

Jennifer Susko, a counselor at Mableton Elementary School, told board members Thursday night she was offended by Ragsdale’s letter that went out to district staff on Christmas Day, when Hendricks Elementary School teacher Patrick Key became the first district in the teacher to die of COVID.

She said Ragsdale’s brief mention of Key in that message was “dismissive” and she admonished him and two board members who weren’t wearing masks. In his obituary, she said, Key had asked the public to wear masks.

“We see where your priorities are,” said Susko, who was critical of what she said was “false gratitude” for district staff.

Teacher Trish McNally asked the board to consider hiring more counselors and support staff to address social and emotional learning needs that she said should be a top priority.

As for teachers, she said, “we are burning out.”

Another educator, Justin Julian, said that teachers should have the same choices as parents and be able to teach from home.

Teachers have been required to teach at their schools, although they’ve been doing that remotely this week.

“Be the leaders who unite rather than inflame,” Julian said.

Anna Clay said that in Cobb County, “we are in a worse COVID situation than we were last week” and she doesn’t feel safe returning to school on Monday.

According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, there were 383 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Cobb County. The 14-day average of cases per 100,000 is 867, well above the “high community spread” threshold of 100 per 100,000.

Only one speaker, Kelly Crutchfield, was in favor of keeping the face-to-face choice available.

She said that “when we suffer heartbreak, it is easy to let emotions cloud our judgments.”

She said that “schools are essential” and they “are not super spreaders” of COVID and that children are not transmitting the virus.

Forcing the entire district into all-remote learning, Crutchfield said, “is unscientific and dangerous.”

Roughly 66 percent of all Cobb students are in face-to-face learning for the spring semester that began Jan. 6.

Updated: Sedalia Park ES paraprofessional dies from COVID-19

January 21, 2021 6:58 PMJanuary 21, 2021 1:56 PM by Wendy Parker

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.

Sedalia Park parapro COVID

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.

Cobb schools to go remote next week, report 470 new COVID cases

January 15, 2021 12:31 PMJanuary 15, 2021 11:14 AM by Wendy Parker

The Cobb County School District on Friday announced that all classes next week will be done via remote, due to “high numbers of staff and students recently informed to quarantine.”

The district has been shifting some schools to remote learning this week, including Simpson Middle School and McCleskey Middle School in East Cobb.

In a release sent Friday morning, the district said face-to-face learning would resume on Monday, Jan. 25.

Next week is a shortened one with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday being observed on Monday.

Here’s more from the district’s statement Friday:

This decision comes as a result of daily consultation with local and state public health officials regarding the high numbers of staff and students recently informed to quarantine. This break will provide our families and staff an opportunity to quarantine and work together to fight COVID-19 from our homes by limiting large gatherings, enforcing social distancing, wearing a mask when social distancing is not possible, and regularly washing our hands. According to the Center for Disease Control and Department of Health guidelines, it is crucial that students and staff who display COVID-19 symptoms quarantine and do not report to school or work.

In recent remarks made by Dr. Janet Memark, Director for Cobb & Douglas Public Health, parents are being encouraged to consider remote learning, if possible, while commending the school District for continuing to offer face-to-face classrooms for those who need that option.

The separation period will allow our staff and students to return on January 25 after a time of quarantine, better prepared to teach and learn in face-to-face and remote classrooms to honor the instructional delivery models our families have chosen.

The district didn’t specify numbers in the release, but in its weekly COVID update on Friday, 470 new cases were reported, a single-week high.

Last week the district began showing the number of active cases at each school. This week, there are 22 active cases at Lassiter High School, along with the 21 active cases reported at McCleskey last week.

Another 14 active cases are being reported at Dodgen Middle School, 12 active cases each at Pope and Walton high schools, 10 at Mabry Middle School, 8 at East Cobb Middle School and 7 at Simpson Middle School.

The district does not break down staff and student case figures, and it does not indicate how many others may be in quarantine.

Cobb’s decision to go all-virtual for next week follows similar decisions by Gwinnett, Fulton and Cherokee public schools.

McCleskey, Simpson middle schools to finish week all-remote

January 14, 2021 4:11 PMJanuary 14, 2021 2:54 PM by Wendy Parker

Two middle schools in East Cobb are conducting classes in an all-remote setting Thursday and Friday, after five others in the Cobb County School District switched to online-only instruction earlier in the week.

McCleskey Middle School and Simpson Middle School families were notified Wednesday of the changes, with nearly identical messages posted on each school’s website.

Also switching to all-remote learning for Thursday and Friday were seven other schools, bringing the total number to 14 schools that are finishing the week online-only.

According to the school district’s most recent figures, there are 21 active COVID-19 cases at McCleskey, the most for any single Cobb school. There was only 1 active case at Simpson.

On Tuesday, the district announced that Hillgrove High School, Nickajack Elementary School, Clay Harmony Leland Elementary School, Barber Middle School and Lindley Middle School would be going all-remote for the rest of the week.

The district didn’t specifically explain its decisions for each school, nor did it respond to a question from East Cobb News about the case numbers at McCleskey.

A district spokeswoman issued the following statement Thursday in response to a request from East Cobb News for more information about the additional schools switching to remote learning:

“This decision has been made based on student, staff, and school needs and will allow us to offer a face-to-face classroom option as soon as possible. At this time, the schools will remain remote through the end of this week. Each school will continue to be evaluated on a day-by-day, school-by-school basis. If that timing changes, it will be communicated to those students, staff, and communities directly.”

The other schools going all-remote with McCleskey and Simpson for Thursday and Friday are Baker, Bullard and Hayes ES; Campbell, Griffin and Smitha MS and Campbell HS.

A district spokeswoman on Tuesday refuted social media postings saying the entire district would be going all-remote, saying the school system “remains committed to face-to-face and remote classroom options for students and parents.”

The district released updated figures Wednesday showing that 66 percent of enrolled students began the spring semester last week in a face-to-face setting.

But other school districts in metro Atlanta have been switching to all-remote learning. Next week, Gwinnett County schools, the largest in Georgia, and Fulton County schools will go fully virtual.

Cherokee schools have been closed to in-person classes this week due to a high number of teachers who are out due to COVID infection or who are in quarantine.

Atlanta and DeKalb schools were all-virtual for the fall semester and their plans for reopening campuses are still on hold.

Cobb schools reported 351 new COVID cases last week, but the district does not break down how many of those are students and staff.

According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, there have been new 594 cases of COVID in Cobb County among ages 5-17 over a 14-day period through Jan. 7, with a 14-day average case rate of 450 per 100,000 people.

Social media postings in the last week from Cobb teachers and staff have expressed exhaustion and concern over staffing levels at schools.

With its update last week the Cobb school district revealed active case numbers for the first time.

North Cobb High School has 17 active cases, there are 14 at Awtrey Middle School, 12 at Lassiter High School, 11 at Walton High School and 10 at Kell High School.

In addition, there are 8 active cases each at Bells Ferry Elementary School and Wheeler High School in East Cobb.

All of those schools remain open for classroom instruction.

Dr. Janet Memark, director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health, said Tuesday that parents who are “able to have your children go virtual at this point [if] this is something that if you can do it, it is recommended.”

But Memark has not recommended that all Cobb schools go fully remote.

66 percent of Cobb students in face-to-face for spring semester

January 13, 2021 2:57 PM by Wendy Parker

Pope High School, Cobb SAT scores — *Nearly 70 percent of Pope students chose face-to-face for the spring, second among Cobb high schools.*

The day after emphasizing that it is not going to full-time remote learning, the Cobb County School District on Wednesday updated its data to show an increase in the numbers of students choosing face-to-face instruction for the spring semester.

In early December, the initial sign-ups for face-to-face for the spring were around 52 percent of all district students.

With the spring semester having started last week, the number of students choosing face-to-face is at now 65.9 percent.

The district issued this release that includes a spreadsheet for each individual school, as well as all three grade levels.

As was the case in the fall, the percentage of elementary students whose parents chose face-to-face was the highest, at 72.4 percent. More than 66 percent of middle school students are back in classrooms, and for high schools that figure is at 57.2 percent.

That reflects a student enrollment of 106,978, which is down from 107,379 in October.

When Cobb schools were closed to in-person classes due to COVID-19 in March, the district’s enrollment was 111,707.

Those figures come from the Georgia Department of Education.

The district’s release Wednesday included comments from parents who “once again expressed appreciation for the choice model.”

On Tuesday, the district said five schools were going remote for the rest of this week for reasons that were not specified.

That came after social media postings and other media reports quoted teachers and staff expressing concerns about safety measures, low staffing and community spread of COVID-19, which continues to surpass record levels.

A Cobb schools spokeswoman told East Cobb News Tuesday the district has not been recommended to go all-virtual. However, Dr. Janet Memark, director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health, on Tuesday encouraged parents to go virtual if possible.

The district has not explained why some schools are going all-remote, nor did it provide information on 21 active COVID-19 cases at McCleskey Middle School in Northeast Cobb.

That’s the highest number of active cases at any of the district’s 113 schools.

The percentage of East Cobb schools with students choosing face-to-face for the spring semester ranges from 85.3 percent at Keheley Elementary School to 46 percent at Wheeler High School.

Only one of the district’s 17 high schools—Harrison, in West Cobb—has more than 70 percent of students on campus. Pope has 69.9 percent and Lassiter 68 percent.

The district said there will be another choice window in mid-semester, but hasn’t announced any dates.

Cobb schools COVID update: 21 active cases at McCleskey MS

January 12, 2021 4:48 PM by Wendy Parker

There are 21 current active cases of COVID-19 that have been reported at McCleskey Middle School in Northeast Cobb, according to Cobb County School District data.

That’s the highest number of active cases at a particular school in the district, which began its spring semester on Thursday.

However, several other schools in East Cobb also have double-digit active case numbers, and the district on Tuesday said several other schools were going to all-virtual instruction for the rest of the week.

The district previously had reported only cumulative case numbers at each school. Now, the active number of cases is included in its weekly update, which is posted every Friday.

In that update are 351 new cases in the Cobb school district, and there have been 1,200 since Dec. 4. Since last July 1, when the Cobb school district began reporting COVID cases, there have been 1,921, but they are not broken down between students and staff.

North Cobb High School has 17 active cases, there are 14 at Awtrey Middle School, 12 at Lassiter High School, 11 at Walton High School and 10 at Kell High School.

In addition, there are 8 active cases each at Bells Ferry Elementary School and Wheeler High School.

The return to classrooms comes after a Cobb school district teacher died of COVID on Christmas Day, and as an online petition was formed to urge Cobb to go online-only, as is the case in other metro Atlanta school districts.

Cobb Board of Education member Jaha Howard posted a message on his Facebook page early Tuesday afternoon that the entire district was moving to all-virtual for the rest of the week.

But that was later corrected to report that Hillgrove High School, Nickajack Elementary School, Clay Harmony Leland Elementary School, Barber Middle School and Lindley Middle School will be going all-remote.

A Cobb school district spokeswoman did not respond to specific questions from East Cobb News about the active case numbers at McCleskey and other schools, and whether they were being considered for possible all-remote instruction. Here’s her statement:

“As part of our ongoing commitment to student and staff safety and based on student, staff, and school needs, the District is making school-by-school closing decisions on an individual basis.

“Despite social media posts to the contrary, the District is NOT transitioning to remote learning and remains committed to face-to-face and remote classroom options for students and parents.

“We are committed to announcing any future closings as soon as decisions are made. Cobb Schools continues to partner with the Cobb & Douglas Public Health Department to make decisions concerning our district’s response to the pandemic. Whether face-to-face or in fully remote classrooms, Cobb teachers will continue to teach, and students will continue to learn, from everywhere.”

At a Tuesday meeting of the Cobb Board of Commissioners, Dr. Janet Memark, director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health, said that parents who are “able to have your children go virtual at this point [if] this is something that if you can do it, it is recommended.”

The Cobb school district spokeswoman said that Memark has not recommended that Cobb schools go all-virtual.

According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, Cobb’s community spread data reached new heights on Tuesday, with a 14-day average of 923 cases per 100,000 people.

Another 427 cases were reported in Cobb on Tuesday, following a single-day record of 96 last Thursday.

The Cobb school district said another “choice window” for parents to choose face-to-face or remote learning options will be announced during mid-semester, but no dates have been announced.

Cobb school board swears in members; elects 2021 officers

January 8, 2021 1:54 PMJanuary 7, 2021 1:54 PM by Wendy Parker

David Banks, Cobb school board member — *David Banks was sworn in for his fourth term representing the Pope and Lassiter clusters on the Cobb Board of Education.*

During a brief and unusually uneventful organizational meeting Thursday, the Cobb Board of Education elected officers for 2021 and four newly elected members were sworn in.

The seven-member board also passed its 2021 meeting calendar unanimously.

The board has a 4-3 Republican majority, and that majority voted along partisan lines for third-term member Randy Scamihorn to serve as chairman, and David Banks of East Cobb to serve as vice chairman.

Their duties include presiding over board meetings and representing the board in an official capacity.

Scamihorn, whose Post 1 includes the Allatoona, Kennesaw Mountain and North Cobb high school clusters, was re-elected in November.

Banks, who represents the Pope and Lassiter clusters, is beginning his fourth term and his second year in a row as vice chairman. Banks, Scamihorn, outgoing chairman Brad Wheeler and new member Tre’ Hutchins were sworn in individually before the board elections.

For the third consecutive year, Democrat Charisse Davis of the Walton and Wheeler clusters was nominated for board chair, but failed to gain a majority in a party-line vote.

Hutchins, of South Cobb, was nominated for vice chair, but only gained the votes of his two fellow Democrats. Before graduating from Pebblebrook High School, he attended Brumby Elementary School.

Unlike the two previous years, there were no discussions about the board elections, although Davis and Democrat Jaha Howard asked to give comments. They were turned down by Wheeler.

In November, Howard accused the Republican members of “systemic racism” for voting to abolish a committee to examine school name change policy and to require a board majority for members to place items on meeting agendas.

He and Davis have protested repeatedly in their two years in office that the GOP members are trying to silence them. In 2019, the Republican majority also voted to bar members from making comments during board meetings.

Later Thursday, Davis posted a response on her Facebook page:

“It was pretty obvious that the superintendent didn’t want Brad Wheeler to allow a request I made for chair nominees to make some remarks. Why bother? They already knew they had the votes to make Randy Scamihorn, chair and David Banks, vice chair.

“While this is my 3rd time being nominated and subsequently not receiving the support of the board majority, we nominated our newest board member, Leroy Tre’ Hutchins (a former student of Mr. Wheeler) for vice chair. But the board majority chose Mr. Banks, again. This is just getting silly at this point.

“If I had been allowed to make my remarks, I would have said:

“Cobb is a large and diverse school district and all of our board posts have their own distinct character and needs. Sharing leadership opportunities strengthens our board, and subsequently, the district. I do not believe it best serves the district to recycle leadership opportunities amongst the same couple of people.

“Regarding my experience, I taught for 15 years as both a classroom teacher and media specialist and have a Specialist in Education degree in Media with a focus on Instructional Technology. I have two sons that attend our schools and so have been a very committed school volunteer serving on PTA, parent foundations, and local school councils. I am entering my 3rd year as a board member, and while my experience might be questioned, I will remind everyone again that there have been board members, including Mr. Scamihorn, who became chair in their very first term or served without any experience in education.

“Much of this was included in an email I sent to the entire board before the chair vote in 2020, and I never received a response from any members of the board majority. Keep in mind it’s not a requirement that anyone have any teaching experience or anything when seeking the chair or vice chair positions, but Brad Wheeler told me in 2019, I ‘don’t have the experience.’ “

The board holds its first work session and business meeting of the new year on Jan. 21.

Cobb schools return amid COVID-19 spread, teacher’s death

January 5, 2021 7:54 PMJanuary 5, 2021 2:46 PM by Wendy Parker

The Cobb County School District spring semester begins Wednesday with community spread of COVID-19 continuing to grow, along with safety concerns following the death of a teacher over the holidays.

Wednesday’s start to the new semester will be like other Wednesdays during the current school year—a remote learning day—followed by face-to-face classes starting on Thursday for parents who chose that option for their children.

The final two days of the fall semester ended online-only as the “community spread” metric for COVID-19 in Cobb County reached its highest point—a 14-day average of more than 600 cases per 100,000 people—and has continued to rise since then.

As of Tuesday, that figure was 727 per 100,000, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. “High community spread” is anything more than an average of 100 cases per 100,000 people over a two-week period.

On Christmas Day, Patrick Keys, a teacher at Hendricks Elementary School in Powder Springs, died after being hospitalized with COVID-19.

In a message sent out to district parents and staff following his death, Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said that “I am asking for you to maintain your commitment to your students in a very actionable way.”

He said the district “will continue to take every possible step to keep our hallways safe, our classrooms healthy and our schools open both remotely and face-to-face.”

But a group of parents has begun an online petition requesting an all-online return for the start of the spring semester, saying the conditions at schools are not safe for anyone.

That petition has more than 4,000 signatures, including Karin Lefler of East Cobb, who told East Cobb News that going virtual is needed “in order to save lives and teachers’ jobs.”

The community spread figure was one of nine points made in the petition, along with reduced local hospital capacity, risk of transmission from students to staff and the arrival of vaccines.

“Cobb schools are just not safe enough as it relates to Covid,” the petition states.

The Cobb school district has prepared a daily wellbeing checklist for parents regarding symptoms, contacts and other health measures.

A slight majority of Cobb school parents have chosen the face-to-face option for the spring semester, and Ragsdale has said there may be another choice window for parents over the winter.

For the six months from July 1 to Dec. 31, 2020, there were 1,570 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Cobb school district among students and staff, with 1,283 coming after a phased-in return to face-to-face classes began in October.

Those cases weren’t broken down further, and the district has not provided information on how many more individuals had to undergo quarantine due to exposure or possible exposure to someone with the virus.

East Cobb teachers receive holiday ‘Gift Blitz’ surprises

December 23, 2020 1:50 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb teachers holiday 'Gift Blitz' — *Kristin Muller of Shallowford Falls ES gets a visit from the Ed Voyles Automotive Group.*

Before the fall semester wrapped up last week, several teachers in the Cobb County School District got personal surprise gifts and visits from members of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce and other business and community leaders.

They were chosen because they were teachers of the year at various schools in the district, and two of them come from schools in East Cobb—Karen Smith of Murdock Elementary School and Kristen Muller of Shallowford Falls Elementary School.

Here’s more from the district about what was behind these special presentations and the “Gift Blitz” packages:

“In years past, the community has been able to celebrate the District’s top teachers at a Teacher of the Year Pep rally, honoring the top teacher from every school in Cobb. This year, however, the pep rally is not possible due to the ongoing fight against COVID.

“Nevertheless, the Cobb Chamber of Commerce and local community organizations still wanted an opportunity to thank some of the District’s top teachers for all that they do for Cobb students.

“They came bearing gifts and holiday cheer for the teachers of the year at five schools. The sponsors included Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Elf on the Shelf, LGE Community Credit Union, Ed Voyles Automotive group, and Superior Plumbing.”

Said Sharon Mason, president and CEO of the Cobb Chamber:

“Our goal for our 2020 Give Our Schools a Hand program was to show as much support and appreciation for our Teachers of the Year as we can,. With the support of our Give Our Schools a Hand Doctorate Sponsors, we organized individual gift baskets filled with items to support these teachers during one of the most challenging times of their careers. Each basket was personally delivered by a team of volunteers and staff members.”

The other teachers of the year at East Cobb schools for 2020 include the following:

Addison Elementary School, Kara Jorgensen
Bells Ferry Elementary School, Peter Boomhower
Blackwell Elementary School, Karlie Caulk
Brumby Elementary School, Justine Heath
Daniell Middle School, Kevin Vernie
Davis Elementary School, Darleen Johnston
Dickerson Middle School, Brooke Whalen
Dodgen Middle School, Kimberly Clark
East Cobb Middle School, Jennifer Katz
East Side Elementary School, Amy Cardwell
Eastvalley Elementary School, Sandra Magee
Garrison Mill Elementary, School Victoria Moller
Hightower Trail Middle, School Katie O’Ryan
Keheley Elementary School, Cindy Gropp
Kell High School, Amelia (Amy) Sanders
Kincaid Elementary School, Rhonda Stanley
Lassiter High School, Meredith (Dayle) Koester
Mabry Middle School, Michelle Gottenberg
McCleskey Middle School, Janni Benson-George
Mt. Bethel Elementary School, Jennifer Sigmund
Mountain View Elementary School, Ashley Gilbert
Murdock Elementary School, Karen Smith
Nicholson Elementary School, Margaret McMurtagh
Pope High School, Bradley Klink
Powers Ferry Elementary School, Dana Maghribi
Rocky Mount Elementary School, Alecia Beddard
Sedalia Park Elementary School, Priya Aiyer
Shallowford Falls Elementary School, Kristen Muller
Simpson Middle School, Valerie Johnson
Sope Creek Elementary School, Kelli Buckner
Sprayberry High School, Annie Thielen
Timber Ridge Elementary School, Amy Lee
Tritt Elementary School, Tiffany DeMeester
Walton High School, Tobie Hendricks
Wheeler High School, Raymond Furstein

Walton student gets perfect score in SAT and subject exams

December 23, 2020 8:28 AM by Wendy Parker

Abhinav Kona, Walton student, perfect SAT score

Sirisha Kona, the very proud mother of Walton High School junior Abhinav Kona, got in touch to let us know about her son’s perfect score of 1,600 in the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

He also got perfect scores in the subject SAT exams, an 800 in chemistry and 800 in math 2.

Here’s more from Sirisha about Abhinav’s involvement in academic and other activities at Walton and where he’s looking to attend college:

“He’s interested in neuroscience and plans to apply to many medical programs and colleges such as Northwestern, Stanford, Harvard, Brown, and the University of Michigan. He is actively involved in Walton’s math team, math and science honors society, science Olympiad, and Protein Modeling Club. At school, he enjoys playing the double bass and participating in chamber and GMEA’s all-state orchestra.

“Outside of the classroom, Abhinav cofounded a non-profit organization named the American Assimilation Helpline (AAH) to tutor refugees, immigrants, and low-income family students and provide a fair opportunity for all students to achieve high academic success wherever they are. The program is dedicated to providing free, personalized one-on-one tutoring sessions weekly, integrating student and parental preferences to match teachers with students based on teachers’ specialties.”

Walton HS reports 23 confirmed COVID-19 cases this week

December 18, 2020 5:08 PM by Wendy Parker

Walton student charged

The final week of the fall semester resulted in a new high for the Cobb County School District for reported COVID-19 cases.

On Friday the Cobb school district updated its COVID case count to show 346 new confirmed cases for students and staff.

For the first time, multiple schools reported more than 10 cases in a week, including Walton High School in East Cobb, where 23 new cases were confirmed by Cobb and Douglas Public Health.

That’s the highest single-week total for any school in the district since it began keeping a tally on July 1. And that’s with a shortened week of in-person learning.

Earlier this week Superintendent Chris Ragsdale announced that Thursday and Friday instruction would be online-only, due to rising COVID counts in Cobb County.

At a Cobb Board of Education meeting Thursday, he said the switch was being made “to prevent us from becoming a spreading environment.”

Since July, there have been 1,570 cases reported in the district. Before this week’s total, there were 241 and 252 cases in the previous two weeks.

Other schools with more than 10 cases this week include Kemp ES (17), Hayes ES, Vaughan ES (13) and Hillgrove HS (13). Wheeler High School in East Cobb and Campbell High School reported exactly 10 cases this week.

Another 81 schools reported 10 cases or less, including the following in East Cobb:

Elementary Schools: Bells Ferry; Blackwell; Brumby; Davis; Eastvalley; Garrison Mill; Mt. Bethel; Murdock; Nicholson; Powers Ferry; Sedalia Park; Shallowford Falls; Tritt.
Middle Schools: Daniell; Dickerson; Dodgen; East Cobb; Mabry; McCleskey; Simpson.
High Schools: Kell; Lassiter; Pope; Sprayberry.

According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, the rate of community spread in Cobb County is at its highest point since the pandemic began in March, with a 14-day average of 554 cases per 100,000.

On Friday, 443 more COVID cases were reported in Cobb County, which for the second time in a week set a record for date of report case totals. On Dec. 10 there were 414 new cases, and on Thursday that figure was 411.

Cobb’s figures by “date of onset”—or when a case was confirmed by a county health agency—also has been rising in recent weeks, and steeply.

There were 331 cases reported on Nov. 30 in that category, and 338 on Dec. 2. The 7-day moving average of date of onset cases in Cobb was 270 a day on Dec. 4. By comparison, that figure was 156 on Nov. 26.

In his remarks at Thursday’s school board meeting, Ragsdale urged students, parents and school staff not to “let your guard down during this break.”

He said he’d like to see the 14-day moving average fall to near 200 cases per 100,000, but wasn’t very optimistic.

“I’m a glass half-full guy but my glass is empty right now,” he said.

The spring semester begins on Jan. 6, and a slight majority of Cobb school parents have selected face-to-face learning. Another selection period will take place during the spring semester, but details have not been released.

Kell football players sign with Robert Morris University

December 18, 2020 5:10 PMDecember 18, 2020 12:10 PM by Wendy Parker

Kell football players signing — *Seated L-R: Kell football players Jaylon Brown and Corbin LaFrance. Standing L-R: Longhorns head coach Brett Sloan and offensive coordinator Kevin Burnette.*

This week was National Signing Day for many high school athletes around the country, when they announce where they’ll be attending college to play sports.

At many high schools those events take place on campus, but COVID-19 restrictions in the Cobb County School District have prevented that this year.

So Kevin LaFrance, the father of Kell High School football quarterback Corbin LaFrance, decided to organize a signing day event for his son and another of his Longhorn teammates who will be heading to college together.

Corbin LaFrance and wide receiver Jaylon Brown have signed scholarship offers from Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, which plays in the Big South Conference, whose members include Kennesaw State University.

The Big South postponed its football season to the spring because of COVID concerns, and Brown and LaFrance may have an early homecoming game if the schedule holds up.

Robert Morris is scheduled to play at Kennesaw State on April 3, 2021.

The Big South is in the Football Championship Subdivision, which has a national playoff conducted by the NCAA. Georgia and Georgia Tech play in Football Bowl Subdivision.

Kevin LaFrance sent along these photos of the early signing event at the Gameday Fresh Grille in Woodstock, where he set up a banquet room for the boys and Kell coaches.

Kell football signings

Cobb school board argues over buying COVID safety products

December 17, 2020 10:05 PMDecember 17, 2020 4:54 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb schools COVID safety products — *UV disinfecting lights were introduced in 3 Cobb elementary schools during the fall semester. Source: Cobb County School District*

The Cobb County School District will be installing COVID-19 safety products in all 67 elementary schools after the school board approved an emergency request on Thursday.

The Cobb Board of Education voted 4-2 during a work session to spend up to $12 million to equip elementary schools with special UV disinfecting lights, hand sanitizers and other equipment from the district’s fund balance.

The district received earlier stimulus funding to provide safety equipment as a “proof of concept” measure at Argyle, Belmont Hills and Bryant elementary schools in South Cobb during the fall semester (see video at the bottom).

Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said the money is needed now, with the holiday break coming, and because additional stimulus funding from Congress that would pay for additional equipment hasn’t been forthcoming.

Congress could take action on a new spending package related to COVID-19 by Friday. The Cobb school district has set aside $15 million of its own funding for safety equipment, but Ragsdale intends for the new $12 million amount to be reimbursed from the federal government.

“We want to do everything we can to maintain a healthy classroom environment,” Ragsdale said, adding that the goal is to continue providing face-to-face learning when the spring semester begins in January.

Cobb schools are finishing the fall semester all-online due to rising COVID cases. Ragsdale said he would have liked to have had more schools equipped by now, and that might have prevented this week’s decision to go to remote learning.

Board members Charisse Davis and Jaha Howard voted against the spending, saying these were unproven projects and that there are more important priorities to keep students and staff safe that are being ignored.

The hand sanitizing machines, made by 30e Scientific and called “Iggy,” spray water with a small amount acqueous ozone to reduce bacteria, and will be placed in high-traffic areas of schools. The low-voltage UV lights, made by ProTek Life and called Cleanz254, disinfect classrooms daily after the school day is over. The process takes an hour overnight, and the vendor claims it kills 99.99 percent of all microbes in a classroom.

Howard said he hasn’t seen any data or evidence that the products work, and noted that the Cobb school district is the first client for the hand sanitizer manufacturer.

“I don’t understand why we’re making such a huge investment in something that’s secondary,” Howard said, calling the safety products “bells and whistles” and added that the board is being asked to spend “money we don’t really have.”

“We have some basic infrastructure that is not in place. This is a luxury,” Howard said. “How about that we make sure that all of our schools have masks?

Ragsdale said Howard was inaccurate with some of his comments, saying that while the hand sanitizing machines are new, acqueous ozone is not, nor are UV lights. The district also is providing masks and is taking steps to bring on more supply nurses.

Howard continued to press the issue, but board attorney Clem Doyle advised chairman Brad Wheeler to move on.

Board member Randy Scamihorn interrupted Howard, and said his colleague was doing little more than offering his opinion.

“I disapprove of us trying to get into the superintendent’s business,” Scamihorn said. “Our job is not to interrogate them on the companies.”

When Howard finally asked Ragsdale if he was “comfortable” recommending such a purchase, the superintendent said he wouldn’t have done so if he didn’t think the equipment was effective.

Cobb schools to close fall semester online-only

December 15, 2020 6:39 PMDecember 15, 2020 12:29 PM by Wendy Parker

The Cobb County School District announced Tuesday that the last two days of classes in the fall semester, this Thursday and Friday, will be online only due to rising COVID-19 cases.

The district said in a release that the decision was “based on guidance by Cobb and Douglas Public Health.” Here’s more from the district:

“The number of positive COVID-19 cases in our community continues to rise and we are taking every possible step, including using remote learning days, to keep community spread from becoming school spread.

“This was not an easy decision and we understand that this may be a difficulty for some of our families. Working collaboratively with Cobb & Douglas Public Health, this decision is intended to benefit our students, staff, and could help our entire community be safer and healthier over the holiday break.

“These two additional remote learning days will also give District and public health staff the time they need to effectively and efficiently contact trace existing cases.”

Another 351 COVID-19 cases were reported in Cobb on Monday, following last week’s single-day record of 404. The previous record of 363 was set only on Dec. 4, and these figures are similar to numbers recorded during a summer surge of reported cases in the county.

In another key metric, the 14-day average of cases per 100,000 people in Cobb continues to skyrocket. It was 521 on Monday, and has been sharply rising over the last month.

That’s much higher than the “high community spread” category of 100 cases per 100,000.

Last week Dr. Janet Memark, the director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health, issued letters to school parents urging them to limit activities during the holidays, noting that cases in the school district are coming from outside of a school environment.

Cobb schools provides updated COVID-related information at its Learning Everywhere page.

Cobb health director urges caution in letter to school parents

December 18, 2020 9:43 AMDecember 11, 2020 12:58 PM by Wendy Parker

*Dr. Janet Memark, director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health*

As the number of COVID-19 cases in the Cobb County School District surged past 1,000 since July, the director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health sent a message to parents urging them to continue to take precautions to slow the spread of the virus.

Cobb County set a single-day record for reported new COVID-19 cases with 375 on Thursday, and on Friday the Cobb school district reported 250 new cases over the last week.

In a letter that went out Thursday, Dr. Janet Memark said that she has “seen little in-school transmission, but we do see weekly increases in the number of cases coming back positive in the school system from out of the school.”

The full letter can be seen at the bottom of this post.

Those 250 new cases were reported in 81 schools, and according to the district’s weekly update, all of the schools reported 10 or fewer cases. All of the 16 traditional high schools in the Cobb school district reported cases this week.

Since July, there have been 1,212 cases in the district confirmed by Cobb and Douglas Public Health. The Cobb school district does not break down the totals between students and staff, nor do the figures indicate how many individuals may be in quarantine due to possible exposure to the virus.

The district also has said it has not closed any classes or schools since students began returning to campus in October.

In her letter—a similar version was also sent to Marietta City Schools parents this week—Memark said the rising cases are causing hospitalizations and ICU bed occupancy to be near capacity, although she did not provide numbers.

She said that more cases are coming into the schools via slumber parties, athletic teams, holiday parties and social gatherings. In addition to wearing masks and practicing social distancing Memark asked parents in the letter “to try to limit the amount of time that your family members have had with those outside of your immediate families. The case rate is too high to let our guard down.”

The fall semester ends next Friday; the spring semester starts Jan. 6, and the Cobb school district said Thursday that 54 percent of current students have chosen the face-to-face option.

There also will be another sign-up window over the winter for the spring semester.

In East Cobb, the following schools reported confirmed COVID-19 cases this week:

Elementary schools: Bells Ferry; Blackwell; Brumby; Davis; East Side; Garrison Mill; Keheley; Kincaid; Mt. Bethel; Mountain View; Murdock; Powers Ferry; Rocky Mount; Shallowford Falls; Sope Creek; Timber Ridge; Tritt
Middle schools: Daniell; Dickerson; Dodgen; East Cobb; Mabry; McCleskey; Simpson
High schools: Kell; Lassiter; Pope; Sprayberry; Walton; Wheeler

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