Cobb school board candidate profile: Laura Judge, Post 5

Laura Judge has said that her son inspired her run for the Cobb Board of Education more than a year ago.

As early voting gets underway in the 2024 general election, Judge reiterated that kids—her own and well as others—remain the focal point of her campaign.

“The [school board] representative didn’t match what was in our home,” Judge said, a reference to retiring school board member David Banks.

Running to succeed him, she added, is “being that role model for them.”

A Democrat and first-time candidate for public office, Judge is seeking the Post 5 post, which comprises most of the Walton and Wheeler and some of the Pope attendance zones.

Her daughter is in 5th grade at Mt. Bethel Elementary School and her son is a freshman at the School for International Studies at North Cobb High School, a magnet program.

Judge, who runs a content marketing company with her husband, will be facing Republican John Cristadoro, also a political newcomer and Walton-zone parent. Neither candidate had a primary opponent.

The winner will follow retiring four-term Republican Banks, who’s been a lightning rod during his tenure on the board.

The Post 5 seat is one of three on the seven-member Cobb school board currently occupied by Republicans, who hold a 4-3 majority.

While the East Cobb-based seat is in one of the remaining Republican strongholds in Cobb County, Democrat Charisse Davis represented the area when Post 6 still included the Walton and Wheeler zones.

In recent years, partisan differences have become more pronounced on the board. In announcing her candidacy last year, Judge said she doesn’t want “radical change,” and reiterated that point in a recent East Cobb News interview.

“This should be about our kids,” she said. “My platform—I don’t think these are partisan things.”

You can visit Judge’s campaign website by clicking here; East Cobb News has interviewed Cristadoro and will be posting his profile shortly.

“I want our district to stay the beacon it is but make improvements along the way so everyone can feel included,” Judge said.

Her three priorities would address fiscal, literacy and communications issues she said can be better in the Cobb County School District.

Finances

A former member of Watching the Funds-Cobb—a citizens group that scrutinizes Cobb school district finances—Judge said a decision by the board in July to cancel plans for a $50 million events center exemplifies spending and communications concerns.

Superintendent Chris Ragsdale strongly pushed the center as a venue for graduation ceremonies, but the district didn’t release a detailed site plan.

Watching the Funds was opposed from the beginning, and released those plans shortly before Ragsdale recommended the project be scuttled. The plans included an arena-style facility and expanded meeting space.

“It should have come to someone leaking the plans to see what they were doing,” Judge said.

She said she heard from parents who wondered what the value was and how it boosted students’ education.

“We don’t do things sight unseen,” she said. The special events center “was sight unseen.”

Literacy

Judge got involved with literacy issues after her daughter’s struggles with reading.

She said the Cobb school district has made strides with post-COVID literacy initiatives, but she still has “not seen measurable goals.”

Judge supports new programs along those lines that include more dyslexia screening, among other things.

Right now, she said those issues are largely undertaken at the school level, but “I would like to see this addressed as a district.”

She said 75 percent of Cobb students are reading on grade level, and that number hovers around 85 percent at schools in the East Cobb area, but she would like to see those numbers go up.

Communications

Cobb school district and school board critics have complained for several years that there’s not enough transparency on key issues, including meeting agendas and the budget.

Cobb posts meeting agendas roughly 48 hours in advance of meetings, the minimum for doing so for in Georgia school districts.

Judge would like to see those agendas posted even earlier, to give the public more time to digest what’s coming up.

The same goes for public budget hearings that are required by law. But she said the schedules for those hearings need to be made “more responsive,” and not right before the budget is adopted in the spring.

Judge also would like to see the Cobb school district revive the parent advisory councils that were at schools.

She said that the Cobb school district’s success may have prompted some defensiveness in response to some of those critics.

“My impression is they don’t like criticism,” she said. “When you’ve done well for so long, I can understand that.

“People come here for the schools, and when [the distict is] questioned, it’s a defense mechanism.”

She added that “we can work with constructive criticism. It gives us an idea of how we can improve.”

Safety

Keeping students in a safe environment is “not just about shootings,” Judge said.

The recent deadly shooting at Apalachee High School prompted a number of threats in Cobb, including Dickerson Middle School, and Walton High School, that the Cobb school district has said are not actual threats to those campuses.

“I know our district takes every threat as a serious threat, and I believe we have really good security,” she said, referring to the district’s police department.

“But what I miss is a conversation with the parents. The community just needs the reassurance.”

At the September board meeting, Ragsdale said he would be making a security presentation when the board meets again later this week.

Judge said other safety issues concern those students who don’t feel secure due to such matters as anti-Semitic threats. The Cobb school district has done away with a “No Place for Hate” program prepared by the Atlanta office of the Anti-Defamation League.

Book removals

Judge has been among those parents questioning Ragsdale’s removals of books in school libraries he said contain sexually explicit content.

“I believe that our superintendent thinks he is keeping our kids safe,” Judge said. “What I can’t entirely agree with is the superintendent’s unilateral decision to remove books he has deemed
inappropriate. True parental involvement and choice means having a transparent process allowing parents or caregivers to review and challenge book removals.”

Judge said the Cobb school district should use the expertise of media specialists “to make sure that our students are reflected and educated properly. Their voices in this process are also important. This ensures a balanced approach respecting all viewpoints.”

“What happens if a book removed reflects our community’s values? Some of these books that have been removed have been on our shelves for years, why did the district just find out about them? How do we need to address our operational or procurement policies as a team focused on our students? Both our board and district policies must reflect a wide range of perspectives, ensuring educational content meets the needs of our community and follows state standards, while fostering a respectful dialogue among all stakeholders.”

Leadership challenge

In summing up her campaign pitch, Judge said that “I want our leadership to match the stellar schools that we have.”

She said that she’s “not going to be someone that’s going to pick fights. Our kids should be able to see us working together. We agree on a lot more than we disagree, because it’s not just about my kids, but all of our kids.”

Related:

• Cobb early voting wait-time maps for 2024 general election
• East Cobb early voting guide for 2024 general election
• Prominent Cobb business leader opposes transit tax referendum
• How Cobb commissioner district maps look post-‘home rule’
• Cobb launches transit tax website for November referendum
• MORE: Visit the East Cobb News Politics & Elections Page

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