East Cobb Schools Archives

Golden K Kiwanis Club honors student with Silver Pen Award

February 16, 2021 4:08 PMFebruary 16, 2021 12:57 PM by Wendy Parker

Golden K Kiwanis Silver Pen Award

Submitted information and photo:

The Silver Pen Award is presented by the Kiwanis Club of Marietta Golden K to an elementary school student in Cobb County for completing and submitting a creative writing response to a writing prompt. The 2020 Silver Pen winner is Jeremiah Perry from Rocky Mount Elementary School with the Cobb County School District in Marietta, GA. Jeremiah won the award last year when he was a 4th grader, but the pandemic delayed the recognition ceremony until February 2021.

As explained by Jim Perry, Past President of the Kiwanis Club of Marietta Golden K (no relation to the winner), “The Silver Pen Award is designed to encourage creative writing.” Students read the beginning of an interesting short story, create an engaging end to the story, then submit it to their 4th grade teacher for review. Each homeroom teacher selects the top three entries from the class and the Assistant Principal chooses one finalist from each class. The four finalists are given “a numbered score” by former educators who are now members of the Kiwanis Club of Marietta Golden K. All the stories are submitted without names throughout the selection process, so the judges do not know which student wrote the story.

Jeremiah received the following special gifts: A Kiwanis Club Pen, a Silver Pen, twenty one-dollar coins, and an engraved plaque from the Kiwanis Club of Marietta Golden K recognizing Jeremiah for his writing accomplishment.

Jim Perry spoke for all present (at the socially-distanced, outside awards ceremony on February 10, 2021) when he told Jeremiah, “We hope you will take that writing skill and put it to use throughout your life, because our whole purpose is to encourage good writers to be better writers. You did well.” Assistant Principal Dr. Sage Doolittle added, “Rocky Mount is so proud of Jeremiah! We are thrilled that he has embraced a love for creative writing and that writing passion will serve him well in the future.”

Pictured above representing the Kiwanis Club of Marietta Golden K are: Jim Perry (Past President), Jim Farley (Past Kiwanis District 15 Lt. Governor), Aimee Mendel (President-elect), Margy Rogers (President), and Gene Schumacher (Committee Co-chair). Also pictured are: Dr. Sage Doolittle (Assistant Principal at Rocky Mount Elementary); Shani Childress (Jeremiah’s Teacher at Rocky Mount Elementary) and Marika Perry (Jeremiah’s mother). Not pictured is John Kone (Club Vice President).

Cobb schools COVID-19 case rates drop to pre-holiday figures

February 13, 2021 1:46 PMFebruary 13, 2021 10:14 AM by Wendy Parker

As the COVID-19 case rates have declined dramatically in Cobb County, they also have gone down significantly in the Cobb County School District.

The district’s weekly COVID update on Friday reported 232 newly confirmed cases of the virus among students and staff. That’s the lowest single-week tally since there were 106 new cases the week of Nov. 20, right before the Thanksgiving holiday.

For the first time in many weeks, any schools that reporting cases have 10 or fewer, even in high schools, which have had occasional double-digit numbers over the last few months.

The schools in East Cobb with the highest number of cases this week are Addison Elementary School and Walton High School, with 7 each.

Since July 1, there have been 3,731 cumulative COVID cases reported in the Cobb school district, which doesn’t break down numbers among staff and students.

High schools have the most total cases, led by 98 at Walton and North Cobb.

Since students returned for a phased reopening of in-person classes in October, weekly case rates climbed steadily, to 470 the week of Jan. 15, after the start of the spring semester.

The following week, all classes were held online, and two Cobb teachers who had been hospitalized with COVID died, including Cynthia Lindsey, a paraprofessional at Sedalia Park Elementary School.

This week’s figures were a steep drop from the 331 reported last week, which had been the lowest since mid-December.

COVID cases in Cobb have been falling since February. This week there have been 829 cases reported according to date of report, with only Thursday having more than 200 cases.

According to date of symptom figures, there have been 337 cases in Cobb, as some of those daily numbers are falling below triple digits for the first time since late October.

Earlier this week Dr. Janet Memark of Cobb and Douglas Public Health was encouraged by those figures, as well as community spread numbers that show a declining 14-day average of 371 cases per 100,000 people. That number had been above 1,000 per 100,000 last month.

Public health officials said 100 cases per 100,000 is considered “high” community spread.

They also say anything below a 5 percent test positivity rate is ideal. In Cobb that metric also has been falling, to a current 7-day moving average of around 9 percent. That number had been 17.8 percent on Jan. 1.

Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale urged students, parents and staff to take precautions during the winter break week next week to continue to reduce the spread of the virus.

Cobb schools to seek SPLOST extension referendum in November

February 13, 2021 1:13 PMFebruary 12, 2021 4:32 PM by Wendy Parker

Eastvalley ES parents — *A portable classroom at Eastvalley ES, which is slated for a replacement facility in the current Cobb Ed-SPLOST V collection period.*

Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said Thursday he will be seeking an extension of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax with a referendum in November.

What would be Cobb Ed-SPLOST VI would begin in 2024 and for five years would continue to collect a one-percent sales tax for school facility, maintenance and technology expenses.

Local legislation will be required this year to call for a referendum, which would take place in a light election year.

Ragsdale said a project list, called a “notebook,” and details about the process throughout this year will be coming soon.

That process includes public hearings about the project list. A total estimated cost of the five-year collection period, which would also raise funds for similar needs for Marietta City Schools, is to be announced.

At a Cobb school board work session Thursday, Ragsdale said there will be an even higher emphasis on technology, given the expanded remote learning options the Cobb school district has been providing this year due to COVID-19, and that figures to continue on a long-term basis.

“The pandemic has brought a new focus on technology,” he said.

That may include what Ragsdale calls a “one-to-one” initiative for devices, which Cobb students have received since the end of the last school year for remote learning.

The current SPLOST V collection period began in January 2019. The major facility projects include a new campus for Osborne High School and a rebuild of Eastvalley Elementary School in East Cobb.

An architect was hired last February to design the new Eastvalley campus, which will be relocated to the former site of East Cobb Middle School on Holt Road. A construction timeline has not been announced.

The process of developing a SPLOST notebook—with public as well as staff and school board input—will take place throughout the rest of the year, leading up to a referendum.

“No other district creates a notebook like we do,” Ragsdale said. “It’s about prioritizing needs.”

The current $797 million SPLOST V was passed in March 2017. This year, the only elections in Cobb County are in its six municipalities.

“This District could not survive without Ed-SPLOST because that is what allows us to build the school buildings, school improvements, athletic fields, and technology our students and staff need,” a Cobb schools spokeswoman said in a statement to East Cobb News.

Divided Cobb school board extends superintendent’s contract

February 11, 2021 8:41 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb school superintendent honored

Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale received a new contract extension Thursday night.

But the vote wasn’t unanimous as it has been in the past.

After an executive session and by a 4-3 party-line vote, the Cobb Board of Education approved the extension for Ragsdale, taking his contract into 2024.

A year ago, Ragsdale got a 7-0 vote to extend his contract and a salary increase to $350,000 a year.

On Thursday, the four votes in support of an extension were from the board’s Republican members—David Banks and David Chastain of East Cobb, Randy Scamihorn of North Cobb and Brad Wheeler of West Cobb.

The three Democratic members of the board—Charisse Davis of East Cobb and Smyrna, Jaha Howard of Smyrna and Tre’ Hutchins of South Cobb—voted against.

Board members didn’t discuss the extension before voting. Since they were elected two years ago, Davis and Howard have taken issue with Ragsdale on several issues, including equity matters and the district’s response to COVID-19.

In December, they opposed his recommendation to spend $12 million for special UV disinfecting lights hand sanitizers and other COVID-related safety equipment, saying that was a lot of money to spend from the district’s reserve funding for measures they said were proven.

Last month, Howard was blocked from asking Ragsdale about the district’s COVID response, which wasn’t on the board’s agenda despite the deaths of three teachers from the virus since Christmas.

Hutchins just began his tenure on the board, being elected in November to succeed three-term Democratic member David Morgan, who did not seek re-election.

Ragsdale, named Cobb superintendent in 2015 after serving as deputy superintendent and in other capacities, initially received a three-year contract, the maximum under state law. Since then he has received extensions without objections.

After the vote Thursday, Ragsdale thanked the board and said he looked forward to continue working “as one team.”

In a release issued by the district, board chairman Randy Scamihorn said that “as a Board, we are grateful to have a Superintendent and staff who provide steady, consistent leadership at the helm of one of the largest districts in the country. The common-sense approach to the challenges we face, along with consistently making decisions that prioritize our students and staff, makes our entire county better.”

The release cited improved test scores, improvements to teacher and staff salaries and technology initiatives to accommodate remote learning and enhance school security.

Cobb schools to offer virtual learning option for 2021-22

February 11, 2021 8:45 PMFebruary 11, 2021 3:18 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb K-5 reopening plans — *A demonstration of a virtual student completing classwork in real-time from home. Source: CCSD*

Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said Thursday a virtual learning option will be offered in the Cobb County School District for the 2021-22 school year.

He made the announcement at the Cobb Board of Education work session Thursday afternoon, and said revisions to the current remote and in-person options are being revised.

“That is emphatic and definite,” Ragsdale said of continuing a virtual option.

He said hopes to have the modifications finalized by the end of the current school year in May.

He did not elaborate on what those changes may entail, except to say that “we are learning from mistakes” and “seeing the impacts” a dual learning system has had on students and teachers.

“We recognize the extreme level of difficulty for all team members this school year,” Ragsdale said.

While students have had a choice of how to learn, teachers have been required to teach from their classrooms, and to teach their in-person and remote students simultaneously.

That has led to complaints from teachers for instructional and health reasons. Following the COVID-related deaths of three Cobb school teachers since Christmas, some have renewed calls to allow teachers with health issues to work from home.

Ragsdale didn’t specify those matters in his remarks at the school board work session.

More than two-thirds of Cobb’s more than 107,000 students opted for in-person learning for the spring semester, a higher figure than slightly more than 50 percent in the fall.

But while Ragsdale said he is hopeful that COVID “will be in the rear view mirror” someday, that time is not now.

“I don’t know if the virtual option is not here to stay,” he said. “Some students excel in that environment.”

Parents of Cobb school district students have until the end of February to change their child’s learning option for the rest of the current school year.

Cobb schools to hold all 2021 graduations at McEachern HS

February 8, 2021 2:50 PM by Wendy Parker

After conducting socially distanced outdoor graduations for the Class of 2020 in July at McEachern High School, the Cobb County School District is doing the same thing for the Class of 2021.

The district has announced its graduation schedule, which goes from May 24 to June 4, and could extend to June 5 for weather reasons.

The district chose McEachern’s Cantrell Stadium last year because it has the largest football stadium seating capacity in the 17-high school district.

That plan was created after parents balked at original plans to have student-only graduations at Wheeler and Harrison high schools.

Before COVID-19, Cobb schools held most of its graduations indoors, at the KSU Convocation Center and some churches. Wheeler had been holding its graduations in Wildcat Arena.

This year’s schedule at McEachern is similar to 2020, and some details are still up in the air:

“Ceremonies are not scheduled on Sunday, May 30, or Memorial Day, Monday, May 31. Ceremonies are only scheduled for mornings and afternoons to avoid the heat of the afternoon.

“Tickets will be limited due to public health guidance. Specifics about ticket allocations and distribution will be provided by the individual high schools in late March. To accommodate family and friends who are unable to attend, each ceremony will be streamed live.

“More detailed information about the ceremonies including public health measures, venue information, parking, and streaming links for live viewing will be available through this web page by early May.”

Here’s the graduation schedule for the six high schools in East Cobb:

Tuesday, May 25: Lassiter High School, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, May 26: Pope High School, 7 p.m.
Friday, May 28: Walton High School, 9 a.m.
Saturday, May 29: Wheeler High School, 9 a.m.
Wednesday, June 2: Kell High School, 7 p.m.
Friday, June 4: Sprayberry High School, 7 p.m.

Cobb schools to open choice window from Feb. 15-28

February 5, 2021 4:46 PM by Wendy Parker

On Friday the Cobb County School District said it would open another choice window for parents between in-person and remote learning from Feb. 15-28.

The options families choose will begin starting March 15 and will continue through the end of the 2020-2021 school year.

Students whose parents do not make a choice during the latest window will continue learning as they began with the spring semester in January.

The district announced in November another window would become available, given the uncertain status of COVID-19 in the county. Nearly 66 of Cobb’s 107,000 students reported for in-person classes for the spring.

But one week in January was all-remote due to growing COVID-19 case numbers and staff and students in quarantine.

On Friday the Cobb school district reported 339 new confirmed cases, the lowest figure since mid-December.

Here’s more from what the district released on Friday:

To make your classroom selection, families should follow the steps below:

1. Make sure the adult who first enrolled each student (the enrolling adult) completes the choice process. Attempting to complete the process as another adult will not work.

2. Use your preferred computing device to navigate to ParentVUE by clicking HERE or by opening the ParentVUE app on your mobile device.

3. Log in with your username and password. If you have forgotten your password, click the Forgot Password link on the login page.

4. Once you are signed in to ParentVUE, direct your attention to the left-hand side menu and select the Back to School Choice menu item.

5. On the Back to School Choice page, find each of your registered students listed, along with the two learning options (FACE-TO-FACE or continue FULL REMOTE) for each.

6. Choose the option that best fits the needs of your student(s) and family.

Cobb schools report 331 new COVID-19 cases; 18 at Walton HS

February 8, 2021 2:56 PMFebruary 5, 2021 1:30 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb ACT results — *Walton has reported 99 confirmed COVID cases since last July, the most in the Cobb County School District.*

As COVID-19 case rates drop in Cobb County, so have the numbers of confirmed new cases in the Cobb County School District—but only slightly.

The district reported on Friday 331 new cases, the lowest one-week total since 470 were confirmed the week of Jan. 15.

Since the district began reporting cases last July 1, there have been 3,499 cases among students and staff. Most have come since students returned for in-person classes in October.

Walton High School in East Cobb had 18 of this week’s new cases, the most for any school in the 113-school Cobb district.

Since last July, there have been 99 cases recorded at Walton, 85 at Lassiter, 83 at Pope and 74 at Kell. At Walton, 64 of those cases have been reported since Dec. 18.

Near the end of the first semester in December, 23 cases were reported in a single week at Walton, before the district announced classes would finish all-remote.

The Cobb school district does not break down the number of students and staff who get COVID, nor does it disclose how many individuals are out due to quarantine.

For a week in January, classes went all-remote due to what the district said were high absence rates for those testing positive and in quarantine.

That also came after the deaths of three Cobb school district teachers since Christmas, and pleas from other teachers to stay virtual.

Nearly two-thirds of the district’s 107,000 students are taking in-person classes during the spring semester that began Jan. 6.

Metro Atlanta school board members and superintendents, including from Cobb, have asked Gov. Brian Kemp to consider moving teachers up in line to receive the COVID-19 vaccines.

But on Wednesday, he said during a press conference in Marietta that the state is running extremely short on vaccine supplies for everyone, including seniors.

“We want to expand the criteria, but it’s just not feasible now,” Kemp said.

The seven-day moving average of COVID-19 cases has fallen in Cobb County from 576 on Jan. 12 to 275 on Thursday, according to the Georgia DPH daily status report

The level of community spread also has dropped significantly in Cobb, to a 14-day average of 562 cases per 100,000 people. In January, that figure was over 1,000.

Cobb reported 268 new cases on Thursday and seven deaths, following 11 deaths reported on Wednesday. Since the COVID pandemic began last March, there have been 51,668 cases in Cobb County and 723 deaths.

Cobb schools: ‘Brief lockdown’ lifted after tech malfunction

February 2, 2021 12:20 PM by Wendy Parker

The Cobb County School District said Tuesday that all schools in the 113-school district were placed on a “brief lockdown” due to a systemwide issue with its AlertPoint emergency alert system.

In a social media message posted around noon, the district said that the lockdowns were lifted and “there was no threat to students or staff at any time. Teachers are teaching and students are learning.”

The message didn’t indicate how long the lockdowns lasted.

In 2017 Cobb schools began implementing AlertPoint, which allows each employee within a school—including administrators, teachers and other staffers—to activate a device should an emergency occur. This includes fires, active shooters and other intruders, physical altercations and medical emergencies.

When an AlertPoint device is activated, alert information is relayed via computer and mobile devices to school-level administrators and security personnel, as well as at the school district office, within seconds.

The location and identity of the person sending the alert also is transmitted. When a “Code Red” alert is triggered, flashing lights, beeping sounds and voice messages ring out, and the intercom system indicates a lockdown situation is underway.

The AlertPoint system is patterned after existing school fire emergency procedures.

Bells Ferry Elementary School in East Cobb was one of the first schools to use AlertPoint during a proof-of-concept period.

AlertPoint is one component of the district’s CobbShield emergency and safety program that has been developed in recent years.

Cobb schools revise quarantine guidance for close contacts

January 29, 2021 1:53 PM by Wendy Parker

The Cobb County School District is reducing the quarantine period for asymptomatic staff and students who are considered “close contacts” of those with COVID-19 from 14 to 10 days, effective Monday.

In a statement issued Friday, the district said the decision was based on guidance from Dr. Janet Memark, the director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health.

What that means is that individuals who show no symptoms after 10 days of isolation and who have not been tested can return to school.

You can read the full statement by clicking here; the district noted that the Centers for Disease Control is still recommending 14-day quarantine period for asymptomatic people exposed to those with COVID-19 “to be safe.”

The district statement said that if an asymptomatic person experiences even one symptom of fever, chills, shortness of breath, coughing or loss of taste and smell and two symptoms from the following conditions: sore throat, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, chills, muscle pain, extreme fatigue, a severe or very bad headache, new nasal congestion or a stuffy or runny nose, they should follow symptomatic guidance.

Cobb schools returned to classes this week after going all-virtual the week before, due to what the district said were high COVID case counts and high numbers of students and staff being out due to quarantine.

Also on Friday the district updated its weekly COVID case totals to include 384 new cases for the past week. Since last July 1 there have been 3,168 confirmed cases of the virus, with the vast majority coming since students returned to campuses in October.

The Cobb school district does not break down the number of students and staff who get COVID, nor does it disclose how many individuals are out due to quarantine.

Earlier this week three Cobb school board members sent a letter to Gov. Brian Kemp asking for teachers to be prioritized for the COVID vaccine, and two days later Cobb superintendent Chris Ragsdale joined other metro Atlanta superintendents in asking for the same.

But Kemp’s spokesman said there aren’t enough vaccines as it is for the current phase, which includes seniors and first responders.

At an emotional Cobb school board meeting last week, following the deaths of three of their colleagues, teachers asked to remain all-remote or to allow teachers with health issues to teach from home.

Since in-person classes resumed in October, teachers have been required to teach from their schools.

Wheeler student expanding virtual outreach tutoring program

January 28, 2021 2:27 PM by Wendy Parker

Wheeler student virtual tutoring program — *Wheeler senior Ishaan Chaubey in a tutoring session with a student from India.*

Wheeler High School senior Ishaan Chaubey began what he calls the Virtual Outreach Tutoring (VOT) program at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last spring, and is looking to expand the program to help fellow students on a longer-term basis.

He wrote in to explain how VOT—website link here—developed, who’s been involved, and what’s next for the organization:

In March of 2020, after my school had become fully virtual, I saw that many of my peers were struggling in their academics due to the huge transition from in-person learning to a virtual learning setting. As a tutor for an after-school club before COVID-19, I also wondered how those students, who had struggled in their everyday academics, were coping with this new learning method as well.

One night, in a video call with friends, many of them complained that the mass-cancellation of so much in the community had eliminated any opportunity for their community service requirements. Hence, I decided to create an organization named Virtual Outreach Tutoring (VOT), which would provide free virtual tutoring to all elementary, middle, and high school students in a wide variety of subjects and also give high school students several opportunities for community service.

Currently, the VOT administrative team consists of myself, Jahnvi Bhagat (Senior at Wheeler High School) who is the lead administrator for Wheeler High School tutors, Rohan Mathur (Senior at Campbell High School) who is the lead administrator for Campbell High School tutors, Yasmin Sharifian (Senior at Lassiter High School) who is the lead administrator for tutors from Lassiter and other United States schools, and Jack Turbush (Senior at Wheeler High School) who helps in designing various promotional flyers for VOT. As for the number of tutors in our organization, we have approximately 120 tutors who help students in various subjects.

Today, my service initiative has greatly expanded, and my team and I have been able to help over 150 students across the United States and some from India and Germany. This initiative has also acquired significant recognition that it was recently featured on the Cobb County School District website and made an official tutoring option in the CCSD. In addition, various honor societies such as the Wheeler National Honor Society and the Campbell Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society have decided to make our virtual tutoring organization their official tutoring option.

Furthermore, with the help of several nonprofit organizations such as the United Way of Greater Atlanta, this virtual tutoring initiative has also inspired students to join as tutors from different states, such as New York, Texas, Florida, and Virginia, to help their communities. Today, along with providing free virtual tutoring, my team and I have conducted several Group AP Review sessions in the spring of 2020, aided students in SAT/ACT preparation, and produced a virtual musical performance to recognize the hard-work of healthcare workers fighting against COVID-19 for the AG Rhodes Health and Rehab Center in Marietta, Georgia.

For the production of the virtual musical performance, my team consisted of Charles Yu (Editor), Keaton Kotarba (Editor), Joseph Nguyen (Performer- Violin), Hannah Lee (Performer- Violin), and myself (Performer- Piano).

As time progresses, my team and I plan to continue this successful service initiative into college, and we also plan to appoint a new administrative team to lead and manage the tutoring service at the school level after our graduation. Finally, our collective vision for VOT is to remain persistent in helping numerous students by further expanding this initiative across the world and ensuring that each student has the necessary resources to genuinely succeed in their academic endeavor.

Ishaan says students at any level can get tutoring from VOT by going to the website, and that’s where any interested potential tutors can also sign up.

*Hannah Lee working with a student in Marietta.*

*A VOT group review session for AP chemistry.*

East Cobb church issues ‘For Our Teachers’ COVID pledge

January 27, 2021 3:48 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb UMC

An East Cobb church that’s been a site for COVID testing in recent weeks posted a message Wednesday urging support for teachers and efforts to reduce the spread of the virus.

On its social media channels, East Cobb United Methodist Church called for a “For Our Teachers” initiative following the deaths of three Cobb school teachers.

Last Thursday, nearly 100 teachers protested outside Cobb Board of Education meetings to demand all-virtual learning. Last week the district went fully remote but this week returned to face-to-face instruction.

A school employee chided two board members and Cobb County School District Superintendent Chris Ragsdale to wear masks during an emotionally-charged public comment period.

The board did not discuss COVID response at those meetings and Ragsdale only briefly mentioned the dead teachers by name during those meetings. Neither he nor board members David Banks and David Chastain of East Cobb put on masks.

Following “the blatant disrespect for teachers’ health and safety at last week’s school board meeting, silence for us is no longer an option,” said the East Cobb UMC message, which continues:

For our teachers, we listen.

They are saying this is the “craziest, most difficult, most frustrating school year” of their careers, and they feel “unsupported and unacknowledged” (a direct quote from a long-time county educator).

For our teachers, we pray.

We ask God to grant all educators the strength and perseverance needed during this difficult year.

For our teachers, we give thanks.

Thank you for the endless hours you have spent reworking the curriculum to fit modified and hybrid classrooms. Thank you for the extra time spent scrubbing desks and sanitizing markers. Your care and creativity do not go unnoticed.

For our teachers, we wear a mask.

Not just once-and-awhile, but every time we leave the house. We must #StopTheSpread.

For our teachers, we get the vaccine when we can.

Ultimately, this is the only way the dreadful pandemic will ever end.

For our teachers, we advocate.

We will contact our school board representatives and implore them to take the same actions we pledge to take.

For our teachers, we do better.

After all, our children would not have an education if it was not… For Our Teachers.

Add the “For Our Teachers” frame to your profile picture and join us in solidarity with educators everywhere: https://tinyurl.com/xz1n4lp2

Along with this, we invite you to post a tangible way you will support teachers in your community. You may model ours or create one of your own. #ForOurTeachers

In November, East Cobb UMC became a pop-up site for COVID testing by a private company, and that part of the church parking lot has been busy ever since. The public can drive up without an appointment to get a test. There are no out-of-pocket costs and insurance is accepted.

On Monday three Cobb school board members signed a letter sent to Gov. Brian Kemp demanding more safety measures at schools, including prioritizing vaccines for teachers.

On Wednesday, the Cobb school district announced that Ragsdale had signed a similar letter from metro Atlanta superintendents.

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.

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