Lassiter High School’s 2019 graduation ceremony at Kennesaw State University.
Some high school principals in the Cobb County School District had sent out word in recent days about seniors picking up caps and gowns in hopes of having graduation ceremonies.
They told those members of the Class of 2020 that they were still waiting to hear the final word from the district about whether some form of commencement exercises would take place.
That decision has been released, and it’s not what anyone wanted to hear: There won’t be “in-person” graduation ceremonies in May, as had been scheduled.
A brief unsigned, undated note on CCSD letterhead went out to the “Cobb Schools Community” that due to continuing public gathering and other guidelines due to the Coronavirus crisis, those graduation events will be “postponed.”
The message said that regardless of what public health measures may be in effect in the near future, “we do know we will recognize and honor the graduating class of 2020 in a memorable way.”
Further details, the note said, will be announced by June 1, and that “virtual and in-person graduation alternatives are being considered.”
One of the Cobb principals who’s been regularly communicating graduation possibilities is Dr. Chris Richie of Lassiter High School.
On Sunday, his message to that school community said that “the District has indicated to principals their desire to have a traditional ceremony, but the ceremony may not look the same as it has in the past.”
Most Cobb high schools have had their graduations at the Kennesaw State University Convocation Center. Some, like Wheeler, have held commencement in their gyms.
East Cobb News contacted the CCSD’s communications department for further details about graduation, including possible alternatives, but a spokeswoman repeated the message issued below.
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Three East Cobb high schools—Walton, Lassiter and Pope—are listed among the best in Georgia in the latest U.S. News school rankings.
The annual public high school rankings were released last week (here’s the top of the Georgia list) with Walton 5th in the state, Lassiter 11th and Pope 24th.
Nationwide, those rankings are 187th, 321st and 702nd, respectively.
Wheeler comes in at No. 56 statewide, Sprayberry is at No. 70 and Kell No. 121 in Georgia.
The scores are based on a variety of data, including graduation rates, math and reading proficiency, Advanced Placement offerings and what U.S. News calls a College Readiness Index.
The rankings, in fact, are strongly skewed toward college-bound academic programs, and heavily favor those with ample AP course offerings. There’s no inclusion of vocational or other career-ready programs in the rankings.
The four schools in Georgia listed above Walton are all specialty schools: the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology, the Davidson Magnet School in Augusta, Columbus High School and the DeKalb School of the Arts.
All of them have higher or comparable AP participation rates to Walton’s 71 percent. Lassiter’s rate is 70 percent, and Pope’s is 55 percent.
U.S. News data also includes racial and ethnic minority enrollment figures, and details on economically disadvantaged students.
Georgia comes in at No. 22 in the state-by-state rankings.
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Four high school students from East Cobb—three from Walton and another from Pope—were named recipients of corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarships.
They’re among 1,000 high school seniors nationwide to earn the corporate scholarships, which range from $1,000 to $10,000.
Russell Emerine, Walton, Georgia-Pacific Foundation Scholarship. Probable career field: Computer Science;
Sanjeet C. Harry, Pope, James E. Casey Scholarship, United Parcel Service. Probable career field: Undecided;
Nidhi Manikkoth, Walton, Leidos, Inc., scholarship. Probable career field: Medicine;
Anant P. Rajan, Walton. Sogeti USA Scholarship. Probable career field: Neurosurgery.
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation will announce more winners in April, May and June and expects to award 7,600 students an estimated $30 million in scholarships.
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The Walton Ambassadors Program was created to help make students at East Cobb’s biggest high school feel more welcome on campus.
One of their main objectives is to help freshmen get used to being in high school.
But with the rest of the school year limited to online learning because of the Coronavirus, some current members of the Walton Ambassadors put together a video to salute those working on the frontlines of fighting the virus.
The video, which was posted on Monday, pays tribute to medical workers, first responders and those helping to stock stores with food and other essentials while Georgia is under a shelter-in-place order.
The video starts out with a Zoom message, then individual ambassadors record a personalized thank-you holding signs. The background music is from “Home,” a popular song written and performed Phillip Phillips, an American Idol winner.
The ambassadors also thanked Walton teachers for their efforts to teach classes online.
“For everyone else,” said one ambassador, “please stay at home!”
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The Cobb Board of Education on Thursday approved the appointment of several principals for the 2020-21 school year, including two at East Cobb elementary schools.
Jessica Appleyard, a longtime teacher and administrator at Mt. Bethel Elementary School, is leaving after seven years as principal to become the new principal at Pitner Elementary School in Acworth.
She will be succeeded by Tucker Smith, who has been the principal at Keheley Elementary School since 2015.
The new principal at Keheley will be former Shallowford Falls Elementary School principal Dr. Felicia Angelle. For the last two years she has been the director of instruction and innovation in the Cobb County School District’s academic division.
In 2016, Angelle was named the Outstanding Elementary School Principal of the Year by the Georgia PTA.
All of those appointments will be effective on July 1.
A longtime former East Cobb educator will be retiring on June 1. Robin Lattizori, a former principal at Mt. Bethel and Dodgen Middle School, among other schools, has been an assistant superintendent since 2013, overseeing elementary schools in west Cobb.
In a brief business meeting conducted via the Zoom teleconferencing platform, the board also approved $4.5 million in SPLOST V funding to be used for roofing projects at four schools in west and south Cobb.
At a work session Thursday morning, also on Zoom, board members heard superintendent Chris Ragsdale provide a briefing on the status of online digital learning through the end of the school year.
Cobb students will be in session through late May, but last week the district cut back the virtual instructional schedule to Monday-Thursday, with Friday designated as a catch-up day.
The district also has facilitated a program to deliver 600 electronic devices to students needing them to complete the school year. Selected students and their families were distributed the computers earlier this week after a fundraising effort by the Cobb Schools Foundation.
In April each year the school board is given a formal presentation of the next fiscal year budget.
That didn’t happen on Thursday, and there’s no word for now on when that might happen. That’s because Cobb, like all other public school districts in Georgia, was awaiting final legislative action on the state budget that includes education funding.
The legislative session has been suspended indefinitely due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
The Cobb school board typically adopts an operating budget in May, after holding three public hearings required by law.
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The return from “spring break” will come with a new digital learning schedule for Cobb County School District students starting on Monday.
For the rest of the school year, they’ll be on a Monday-Thursday schedule, with Friday set aside for catching up on homework, reviewing student progress and more.
“No new work or assignments will be presented to students on Fridays,” the district announced Friday morning:
“We have been actively listening to the experiences of our students, parents, and teachers. In an environment that has changed much in our day-to-day lives, we have heard many examples of an entire community that is supporting learning in exciting, creative ways. We are also committed to listening and learning from those experiences so student learning can best continue for the rest of the 2019-2020 school year.”
After in-person classes were cancelled for the rest of the year in Georgia public schools by Gov. Brian Kemp, Cobb schools issued academic guidance that includes pass/fail grading for students in K-8, and gives students the choice of accepting their grades as of March 13 (when schools closed) or continuing through the end of the school year.
Students on track to graduate as of March 13 also will be given credit for courses for which they were enrolled on or before that date.
The Cobb school district said it was exploring options on having some kind of graduation observance, but thus far hasn’t indicated anything beyond that.
Five full weeks of school remain, with the last day of classes on May 20.
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The district has been keeping a running update at this link, and the following are the important bullet points added about grades, etc., at all school levels:
No students’ grades at the end of the second semester can be lower than the grades received on Friday, March 13, 2020.
Give students a choice to accept their grades as of Friday, March 13, 2020 as final grades for 2019-2020 OR continue to earn grades for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year to improve their grade(s).
Report grades as pass/fail for all students in all K-8 courses. High school courses will be reported as grades for GPA calculation purposes.
Continue to provide academic, emotional, and social support for student needs for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.
Allow work submitted after March 13th to be used for grades or to measure what students know. Specific directions will be provided by your principal. Any work submitted will only have a positive impact on a student’s grade(s).
Allow any student who was on track to graduate on Friday, March 13, 2020 to receive credit for all courses for which they were enrolled on or before March 13th.
That guidance, the district said, is based on recommendations from the Georgia Department of Education.
Cobb Board of Education member Charisse Davis, who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters, said in her e-mail newsletter Friday that “our efforts to move school to home should not be additional stress for our families nor the teachers. Please just do your best and we acknowledge that that will look different for each family.”
The district also indicated it was “actively evaluating all options related to graduation ceremonies,” but didn’t indicate what those options might be.
Next week is spring break, and the district had announced earlier there will be no distance learning next week.
“We often wish that we could have school for the sake of learning and we now have an opportunity to have great discussions with our kids as you make decisions as a family on how to proceed in individual classes. Regardless of whether your child chooses to improve their grade(s) or take their grade(s) as of March 13, the skills, curriculum, and learning opportunities they are exposed to will benefit them in future courses. Teachers can notify your child of their grade as of March 13. All graded assignments added to the gradebook after that date will only benefit the student’s overall final average. Any assignment not submitted after March 13 will be left blank in the gradebook. We will continue to instruct and assess until grades close out on May 20.”
He said starting the week of April 13—when spring break is over—digital learning will be reduced to four days a week, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesdays are for students to catch up on classwork and for teacher planning.
He also expressed sorrow for the Lassiter seniors who won’t be having a traditional commencement exercise:
“How do we say goodbye to 500 plus seniors to let them know how much we all appreciate their work, their community service, and celebrate them as the graduating class of 2020? We all truly hurt for our seniors who were looking forward to so many awesome Lassiter senior traditions. How do we properly end the school year for our exceptional freshman, sophomore, and juniors and let them know how much we are all looking forward to their leadership next school year?”
One more thing he noted, and the district has stressed this as well, is to consult the Emergency Crisis Hotline for those having difficulties adapting not only to the new learning process, but in coping with the effects of the Coronavirus crisis.
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Gov. Brian Kemp announced Wednesday that public K-12 schools in the state of Georgia will be closed for in-person instruction for the rest of the 2019-20 school year.
He also said he would issue a statewide shelter-in-place order, effective Friday through April 13, to combat the spread of COVID-19.
UPDATED, Thursday, April 2: The details of the statewide shelter-in-place order can be found here, along with the extension of a state of emergency in Cobb County to April 24.
Shortly after Wednesday’s announcement, the Cobb County School District put out a notice that it would provide further academic guidance by the end of the day Thursday.
Cobb schools closed March 13, shortly before Kemp ordered a statewide closure at least through April 24.
The shelter-in-place order will formally be issued on Thursday, including more details about what those restrictions may entail.
Georgia is one of the few states that has not issued such an order. Other nearby states in the Southeast, including Florida, are starting to do so.
Earlier Wednesday, the Cobb Board of Commissioners heard recommendations by the top two officials of Cobb and Douglas Public Health to continue an emergency declaration until April 24 (it’s set to expire April 15) and to close “personal touch” businesses, like hair salons, barber shops and and personal care salons.
The emergency declaration limits the hours of non-essential businesses. Cobb and Douglas Public Health leaders also urged Cobb to keep parks and pools closed for now.
The number of Georgia’s confirmed COVID-19 cases have risen dramatically over the last week, to 4,638 as of noon Wednesday, with 139 deaths. Cobb is reporting 293 cases and 15 deaths, the fourth-highest total in Georgia.
Earlier this week, Kemp activated the Georgia National Guard to nursing homes, senior-living facilities and long-term care homes where COVID-cases have been confirmed.
On Monday the Sterling Estates senior community in East Cobb announced one of its residents had tested positive, and that all residents there are on lockdown.
During his press conference Wednesday, Kemp said state tracking models showed major increases in the rate of community transmission.
The same trends trends were occurring in Cobb, said Dr. Janet Memark of Cobb and Douglas Public Health, at Wednesday’s commissioners’ meeting.
The governor has been reluctant to order all but essential businesses across the state, since some areas of Georgia don’t have that many cases of the virus.
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In response to school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, the daily hours for availability of TutorATL’s online tutors expanded to 9 a.m.-11 p.m. TutorATL features personalized homework help and expert tutors in more than 50 subjects with bilingual offerings. On-demand access to tutors has doubled with morning and early afternoon sessions added.
Cobb County Public Library offers TutorATL for free to kindergarten-12th grade students with regular Cobb library cards or through Library Public Library Access for Student Success accounts. Library PASS accounts are offered to all Cobb County and Marietta City students. Student numbers are the keys to Library PASS access. For information, visit tutoratl.org.
Powered by Tutor.com, TutorATL is a service of ATL PBA and is made possible by the generous support of the Chick-fil-A Foundation.
Library PASS (Public Library Access for Student Success) accounts are offered to all Cobb County and Marietta City students. Student numbers are the keys to Library PASS access.
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The Cobb County School District on Friday issued its own updated Coronavirus guidelinesaccordingly, to note that digital learning will continue through the extended closure period.
The exception is the regularly scheduled week of spring break (April 2-6), and here are a couple of bullet points the district is emphasizing for those digital learning days:
All students will be considered present (no students should be marked absent);
No permanent grades should be posted while Cobb Schools are closed. Ongoing feedback, monitoring, and assessment of student progress is encouraged and can be used once Cobb Schools are re-opened and have been provided for all students.
On Wednesday, the Cobb Schools Foundation announced a fundraising drive to purchase digital learning devices for around 1,000 students who need them.
On Thursday night during a town hall meeting aired across Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp said he’s extending the closure period because “we want people to be comfortable sending their kids back to school” and “we want teachers to be comfortable being in that environment.”
Georgia’s number of positive Coronavirus cases has exceed 1,600, with 546 deaths. Cobb County has 110 positive cases, as of Thursday night.
Several states have cancelled classes for the rest of the year, including Alabama. In his order Thursday, Kemp said he would be making a decision about the fate of the school year in Georgia before the April 24 closure period ends.
Also on Thursday, the Georgia Board of Education approved recommendations by state school superintendent Richard Woods for waivers for local school districts from a number of requirements, including testing, teacher evaluations and course curricula.
The state also has suspended assessment windows for the Georgia Milestones and other mandated tests until further notice.
Cobb’s update Friday stated that “There are still many details regarding these issues that are unanswered at this time. The final resolution of some of those issues will likely need to wait until schools resume normal operation.”
Cobb schools also are continuing weekly student meal pick-up at eight of its campuses, including East Cobb Middle School.
Those pick-up times are Mondays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and include five days of breakfast and lunch for students, who must be present tor receive the food.
Food distribution will continue the week of spring break.
Read Cobb’s updating guidelines by clicking here. The school district also has a resource page for helping families in need.
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Distance learning will continue for students in the Cobb County School District and elsewhere in the state.
Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday extended his K-12 public school closure in Georgia through April 24.
He said in a release issued shortly before noon that while schools may be able to open on April 27, “we ask for continued patience and flexibility since circumstances may change, but we encourage families to stay strong and follow the guidance of federal, state, and local leaders in the weeks ahead.”
On March 12, Cobb schools announced they would be closing, the day after a positive Coronavirus test was reported at Kincaid Elementary School.
Kemp initially urged schools to closed without a mandate, but then declared a statewide shutdown through March 31.
Public colleges and universities in Georgia have closed for the rest of the spring semester.
The Georgia Department of Public Health totals of Coronavirus cases in Georgia was at 1,525 as of noon Thursday, with 48 deaths and 473 hospitalizations.
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Cobb school board members and top district officials met via teleconference Thursday.
Cobb County School District temporary employees who are out of work during the Coronavirus-prompted school closure will be getting paid through the end of May.
Those are what the district calls “non-permanent” workers—in the nutrition department and after-school program as well as substitute teachers.
The Cobb Board of Education voted Thursday to spend $3.4 million to cover payroll costs for around 2,500 of those workers, who are paid through a different part of the district’s $1.1 billion budget than other employees.
All of the district’s 18,000 salaried and hourly employees—teachers, administrators, bus drivers, nurses, counselors, cafeteria workers, paraprofessionals and others—also are being paid during the school closure, as their pay has already been budgeted in fiscal year 2020, which ends June 30.
Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said the substitute teachers eligible for the pay have been on board for the last three months.
“We have the ability to take care of our team members and our families and our communities,” he said.
He said district officials are not “taking knee-jerk action” in response to addressing the needs of those who work for the public schools, regardless of their employment status.
Having any sizable number of them without income would have a greater economic impact, since the district is Cobb County’s largest employer.
“I had zero hesitation about this,” Ragsdale said.
He was applauded by school board members who voted later in a 7-0 vote to approve the funding, which will come from the district’s general fund reserves.
The district has a $117 million reserve fund, and it’s not recommended to go below a month’s reserve, which is around $100 milllion.
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Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale announced Thursday that the Cobb County School District is working with MUST Ministries to provide breakfasts and lunches to any students who need them for the rest of the school year.
During a teleconferenced school board work session, Ragsdale said that students may pick up a week’s worth of those meals each Monday, starting this coming Monday, March 23, at one of eight schools in the district, including East Cobb Middle School.
Only the student will be provided the food, and each student must be present to receive the meals. Ragsdale said students will not have to show their IDs.
The meals will be prepared by the school district’s food services staff, and MUST Ministries volunteers will deliver the food boxes on a drive-through basis in front of the school buildings.
The pickup times are from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday at the following locations:
Acworth Elementary School (4220 Cantrell Road, Acworth)
Bryant Elementary School (6800 Factory Shoals Road, Mableton)
Campbell HS (5265 Ward Street, Smyrna)
Compton Elementary School (3450 New Macland Road, Powder Springs)
East Cobb Middle School (825 Terrell Mill Road, Marietta)
Garrett Middle School (5235 Austell-Powder Springs Road, Austell)
Osborne High (2451 Favor Road, Marietta)
Riverside Intermediate School (285 South Gordon Road, Mableton)
Those schools have more than 50 percent of their students receiving reduced or free lunches.
Future pickups will continue to take place each Monday at those same locations and during those same hours.
Cobb and other public school districts and universities in Georgia are closed until March 31 at the order of Gov. Brian Kemp.
During Thursday’s work session, there was no discussion about how long the closures may last beyond that.
But Cobb school officials are clearly preparing for it to be much longer.
Later Thursday the school board was being asked to spend $3.4 million from the general fund to pay after-school program and nutritional workers and substitute teachers through the end of May, when the Cobb academic year ends.
As for the upcoming student meal provisions, Ragsdale said Cobb schools food service workers will be in kitchens with 10 or fewer people, per CDC guidelines on social distancing. MUST volunteers will pick up the food at the cafeteria doors, then provide them to students curbside.
Volunteers for the school meal program are needed, and you can sign up here on the MUST Ministries website.
The food service program is a continuation of a partnership between Cobb schools and MUST Ministries, which have set up times for special family food boxes to be picked this week at several locations.
That food comes from 29 school pantries, which were open starting Wednesday.
On Friday, those needing food may come by the following locations in East Cobb between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m.:
Brumby ES (815 Terrell Mill Road);
Lassiter HS (2601 Shallowford Road);
McCleskey MS (4080 Maybreeze Road);
Sprayberry HS (2525 Sandy Plains Road);
Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church (4385 Lower Roswell Road).
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While the Cobb Board of Commissioners and other county elected and appointed bodies are postponing or rescheduling public meetings in the wake of the Coronavirus response, the Cobb Board of Education is carrying on with its scheduled monthly meetings on Thursday.
But they will be held remotely, via teleconference, for board members, Cobb County School District officials and the public.
The district has posted a message on its website that a virtual work session, followed by an executive session and a virtual voting meeting, will begin Thursday starting at 10 a.m.
You can follow the meetings on the CCSD livestream by clicking here.
Late Wednesday afternoon the district posted an agenda that includes a proposal to pay non-permanent employees (school bus drivers, cafeteria workers and the like) through the end of May due to the Coronavirus crisis.
Cobb schools closed on Monday and per Gov. Brian Kemp all public schools in Georgia are closed at least until March 31.
The agenda item, which will be discussed at the work session and voted on in the regular meeting, would use $3.4 million in general funding reserves.
The payroll supplements would include $1.675 million for defined active temporary employees, $1.5 million for the district’s after-school program workers and $225,000 for the school nutrition program.
During typical in-person school board meetings members of the public also have a chance to make public comments to board members, but that will not be the case Thursday.
A district spokeswoman told East Cobb News that “given federal and state guidance about avoiding groups larger than ten and the meeting happening virtually, public comment will not be available.”
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A total of 29 pantries will open as early as Wednesday at Cobb County School District and other locations, as part of the MUST Ministries Food Rapid Response Program.
That program was put together when the schools closed over the Coronavirus outbreak; CCSD also made food donations to MUST to help get it started.
(MUST and CCSD have been teaming up to open food pantries at a number of schools, including at Brumby Elementary School, which opened in late 2018.)
Since schools will be closed at least through March 31 (per an order issued Monday by Gov. Brian Kemp), this is going to be a long-haul effort, and here’s how the pantry schedule will start out.
In East Cobb, pantries will open on Friday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the following locations:
Brumby ES (815 Terrell Mill Road);
Lassiter HS (2601 Shallowford Road);
McCleskey MS (4080 Maybreeze Road);
Sprayberry HS (2525 Sandy Plains Road);
Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church (4385 Lower Roswell Road).
Rev. Ike Reighard of Piedmont Church, also the CEO of MUST Minstries, said that “we are grateful to have access to the food in our 29 Cobb County Schools pantries and be able to establish a base for distribution. Hungry families from throughout the county – even if their students attend a school without a pantry – will be welcomed to pick up a food box to last about two weeks.”
He said the food boxes will feed a family for two weeks, and that boxes also can be picked up Friday 10-2 at MUST locations at 1407 Cobb Parkway North in Marietta and 460 Pat Mell Road in Smyrna.
The Piedmont Church (570 Piedmont Road) also is accepting food donations on Tuesdays, between 3-7 p.m.
The needs are snacks, pasta, cereal, bread, peanut butter, jelly, rice, canned vegetables, oatmeal, spaghetti sauce, water and other non-perishable foods.
The public can bring food boxes from 9-5 Tuesday-Saturday at the MUST Donation Center (1280 Cobb Parkway North), and below is a list of what’s needed the most:
A couple other things passed along by Cobb schools as part of this effort. Its non-profit partner, the Cobb Schools Foundation, is also setting up to help families in need during this period of “social distancing.” Details can be found here.
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As the COVID-19 outbreak continues and many public schools are closed to ensure the safety of students and staff, State School Superintendent Richard Woods is suspending the following until further notice:
State assessment window/administration (including Georgia Milestones EOGs and EOCs, the Georgia Alternate Assessment/GAA 2.0, and all other required testing
Teacher and leader evaluation (TKES/LKES) requirements and reporting
State-level attendance-related consequences (including CCRPI, TKES/LKES, School Climate Star Rating, and make-up day requirements)
“Right now, schools’ focus needs to be on the safety of their students and staff,” Superintendent Woods said. “The focus should be first and foremost on health and safety, then on flexible and creative ways to keep learning and growing. It’s common sense: testing and accountability requirements should not place an additional burden on students, parents, and educators during this time, and they will not in Georgia.”
At the State Board of Education meeting on March 27 (which will be conducted via teleconference), Superintendent Woods will recommend the approval of a package of waivers, including suspension of the 20% course grade requirement for the Georgia Milestones EOC.
GaDOE previously announced that Georgia received waivers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to extend meal service flexibility, allowing schools to serve students’ meals through USDA-approved meal service options at state-approved sites within the community – similar to the way schools and districts offer student meals during the summer months. As of Monday morning, 102 school district applications had been approved by GaDOE’s school nutrition staff. Please check local school district websites and social media sources for information on how to access local sites.
We continue to post updated information, including student learning resources and a tracking tool for school closures, to gadoe.org/coronavirus.
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The Cobb County School District sent out this statement Friday afternoon:
To continue to support Cobb students while schools are closed, the Cobb County School District is pleased to announce that the District is partnering with MUST Ministries to provide food to our students in need.
By partnering with MUST Ministries, Cobb Schools will be able to extend the support to the entire family, not just those students who attend Cobb Schools.
“We are thankful for this additional opportunity to partner with MUST Ministries. Partnering to help our Cobb families in need is truly an example of the community coming together,” said Superintendent Chris Ragsdale. “During this unprecedented time, there may be more families in need than just those who receive free and reduced lunches. By partnering with MUST, we will also be able to help those families.”
The Cobb Schools Food and Nutrition Services kitchens are making large food donations to MUST Ministries, which MUST will use to feed Cobb families.
“We are always honored to partner with Cobb County Schools year-round when it comes to taking care of at-risk children and their families. Currently, we serve 70 schools through 32 Cobb County school locations called MUST Neighborhood Pantries,” said Dr. Ike Reighard, President, and CEO of MUST Ministries. “With the schools closing and no access to the pantries, we have created the MUST Food Rapid Response effort to continue to meet the needs and expand to other families in need. We anticipate partnering with satellite locations to distribute family food boxes. While this is a work in progress, we hope to have locations and times settled by early next week.”
Currently, MUST serves 1,500 families a month through Neighborhood Pantries and three main pantry locations. The MUST Food Rapid Response program will expand that reach.
For more information about the MUST Food Rapid Response program including pick-up locations, times, and other details will be available on the MUST Ministries website next week.
MUST has put together a list of what it’s going to need in particular while school’s out:
Beef stew
canned green beans
dry milk (carton)
pinto or baked beans
canned pasta
pasta bags
canned carrots
canned tuna
Chunky soup
canned corn
other beans;
canned potatoes
canned tomatoes
mac & cheese boxes
canned mixed vegetables
canned peaches and fruit
oatmeal bag/rice bag
These non-perishable food donations at 1280 Field Parkway in Marietta; you can also give financially by going to mustministries.com/give-help.
You can also buy food on the MUST list from Amazon by clicking here.
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The Cobb County School District announced late Thursday that all classes and activities will be cancelled starting on Monday as the second-largest school district in Georgia will be closing due to the Coronavirus outbreak “until further notice.”
The decision was announced at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, not long after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp urged public school districts and the state’s public universities to close for two weeks.
He said at a press conference that it wouldn’t be a mandate.
Marietta City Schools and Atlanta Public Schools announced Thursday that those systems would be closing for two weeks, also starting on Monday.
The Walker School announced earlier Thursday it would be closing, and East Cobb private schools Mt. Bethel Christian Academy and Eastside Christian School also are closing, in accordance with CCSD.
The Georgia General Assembly was also suspending the current legislative session.
Those closures comes on the same day that the state announced the first Georgia Coronavirus-related death, a 67-year-old man at WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta.
The Cobb schools announcement reads as follows, and this story will be updated:
The school closures include all school building activities, athletics/sports, extracurricular school activities, and trips.
While our school buildings will be closed, the education process will not stop. All staff will work remotely to best support students, including delivering digital and physical instructional resources to students while they’re at home.
We know that you may have questions regarding how the school closure will impact you, and we will work to provide you the answers.
We will continue to keep our community updated on the next steps during the school closure process as we turn to our digital learning resources.
More information will be communicated on Friday, March 13 to all our families and staff. Please continue to stay updated on www.cobbk12.org/covid/.
If you have any Coronavirus-related cancellations, changes or news to share with the East Cobb community, let us know. E-mail us: editor@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll include it in future posts.
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All programs and events at Cobb library branches are cancelled until the end of March.
A wide variety of cancellations and other measures relating to the Coronavirus response have been announced on Thursday in Cobb County.
The Walker School, a private school on Cobb Parkway and Allgood Road, announced Thursday it would be closing Friday “until further notice.”
A message released by the school said there were no Coronavirus cases there, but said the decision was made “based on our top priority to protect the health and safety of our students, families and employees and by our communal responsibility to slow the spread of COVID-19.”
Friday and Monday are professional development days for faculty and staff at Walker, which has nearly 900 K-12 students.
The Walker message further stressed, in all bold lettering, that “school closures will not be effective unless they are accompanied by social distancing strategies.”
Georgia’s first death due to Coronavirus was a 67-year-old man who had been treated at WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta.
State health officials said the man had other medical issues, and people like that, along with the elderly, are high-risk for contracting Coronavirus.
At The Solana East Cobb, a new senior living facility on Johnson Ferry Road, no visitors are permitted until further notice, with only limited exceptions or in the case of an emergency.
Health care providers coming there will be screened before being allowed on the premises, and residents must remain on the grounds except to receive medical care.
United Military Care, a veterans’ assistance organization on Old Canton Road, said Thursday that they aren’t taking walk-in clients for the time being since some of them are older and have “fragile medical conditions.”
A veteran with an emergency can contact the agency at 770-973-0014 and leave a voicemail with a return telephone number. UMC’s e-mail address is info@unitedmilitarycare.org.
“Our Veterans are precious to us; We do not want to facilitate the transmission of any potentially harmful viruses to those with underlying medical conditions or weakened immune systems,” said a UMC message.
“Please listen to medical experts on how to manage this virus and do not fall prey to rumors and unfounded nonsense.”
Faith communities respond
Several places of worship in East Cobb are communicating with their members about precautions they’re taking.
Starting Sunday at the East Cobb Church of Christ, “we will not be passing anything during communion.” Instead, worshippers can pick up a container when they enter that has a wafer and plastic cup of juice. “These will be used during communion until the fear of virus is over.” the church’s message stated. “Members will deposit the used cups in the holders on the back of the pews.”
Collection plates also will not be passed around, but will be available for deposits in the front foyer. The church is also making available sanitized wipes at various entries.
In his press conference Thursday, Gov. Kemp asked that elderly people not attend worship services for the time being.
Library events cancelled
The Cobb County Public Library System announced that starting Friday and continuing through the end of March, all programs and events at its branches will be cancelled.
This weekend’s Cobb Library Foundation book sale at the Cobb Civic Center and Census events at libraries also have been called off.
School events on hold
Some East Cobb schools have cancelled extracurricular events.
Thursday’s Magnet Accepted Student Showcase at Wheeler High School was cancelled. There are no known Coronavirus cases at Wheeler, but the decision was cautionary.
So was the cancellation of the March Madness Parents Night Out March 26 at Lassiter High School. The event was for parents to see a showing of the Lassiter Drama Club’s production of “Sweeney Todd,” while students entertained their kids.
A forum for candidates running for Post 5 on the Cobb Board of Education is still on, and will take place Sunday afternoon at Pope High School.
For those who can’t go due to self-isolation or other issues, a recording will be available later at this link.
Questions may be submitted as late as 10 p.m. Saturday by e-mailing popehscouncil@gmail.com.
Absentee ballot applications
Cobb Elections is encouraging voters concerned about Coronavirus to apply for an absentee ballot, which will be mailed to your home.
Complete an absentee ballot application at CobbElections.org, print it out and send an attached image of the application and e-mail it to: absentee@cobbcounty.org.
Send us your news!
If you have any Coronavirus-related cancellations, changes or news to share with the East Cobb community, let us know. E-mail us: editor@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll include it in future posts.
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The Cobb County School District said Wednesday it is closing Kincaid Elementary School in Northeast Cobb for 14 days, starting Thursday, due to a positive case of Coronavirus at the school.
The district statement did not indicate if the individual is a student, teacher or staff member at the school, and said it would not discuss specifics due to federal privacy laws and at the request of the Georgia Department of Public Health.
Nan Kiel, a district spokeswoman, said that within 48 hours of the closure at Kincaid, ”Cobb staff will thoroughly clean and sanitize the entire campus, including buses.”
She said that no other Cobb schools will be closed at this time. The Kincaid closure is the first in the Cobb district, which has 112 schools and is the second largest school districg in Georgia with nearly 112,000 students.
Kincaid is in the Sprayberry High School cluster, and other feeder schools include Daniell Middle School, Simpson Middle School, Dodgen Middle School and Walton High School.
In its statement Cobb schools didn’t mention whether other schools in the cluster or feeder schools that use the same buses as those serving Kincaid may be affected.
Kiel said that Kincaid students will be getting online instruction from their teachers “using a variety of digital platforms and tools.”
Piedmont Church in Northeast Cobb, whose members include families in the nearby Kincaid attendance zone, cancelled its Wednesday night activities.
Fulton County schools, with 94,000 students, have been closed since Tuesday due to a positive case of Coronavirus of a teacher at one of its schools. All but two schools in that district—two middle schools in south Fulton—will be open on Thursday.
More than 125,000 cases have been confirmed around the world, and more than 4,600 deaths, around half of those in China.
In the U.S., more than 1,100 cases have been confirmed, with 37 deaths, 24 alone in Washington state. Georgia has six confirmed cases, including one in Cobb. The number of “presumptive positive” tests has grown to 16, with six in Cobb.
Those test results still must be confirmed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
More than 100 passengers of a cruise liner off the coast of San Francisco have been flown to Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Cobb for quarantine, and more are expected. Cobb officials have said none of those individuals have tested positive for Coronavirus.
Also on Wednesday, changes were made involving many sporting events around North America. Among them are the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, which will be played, but fans other than family members will be banned.
The men’s Final Four scheduled for the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta April 3-5 may be relocated to a smaller arena in the metro area.
The popular St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Savannah also has been cancelled.
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