Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale has sent a note to Cobb County School District employees in response to requests by two school board members for anti-racism measures.
Last week board members Charisse Davis and Jaha Howard wrote to Ragsdale, urging him to undertake steps to address racial inequities in the district, including bias training for employees and “nontraditional solutions” to increase teacher diversity.
Ragsdale didn’t address those matters in his e-mailed note, but said that board member Randy Scamihorn is proposing an anti-racism resolution at the board’s June 25 meeting.
“Board member [David] Morgan has also placed an item on the agenda regarding ‘Moving Forward.’ I will be making a statement during the meeting as well,” Ragsdale said.
Davis and Howard have been pressing the district on equity issues for several months, but protests and other events in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis in police custody, have triggered a new wave of efforts to prompt action by Cobb schools.
Cobb is Georgia’s second-largest school district, with nearly 114,000 students, a majority of them from minority groups. According to district data, 30 percent of all students are black, 22 percent are while and six percent are Asian.
“To say that we are hurting is very much an understatement,” Ragsdale wrote, “but it does convey that we all have a part to play in moving forward. Philonise Floyd, George Floyd’s brother, made a statement that said ‘You can do your job and still maintain respect for others.’
“We should all take that statement and live by it. As we all work together to move forward, we will continue to maintain and improve upon an environment free from hate of any type. We are very successful as a school district, because we work together as One Team. Let us be the example to others of how to come together and work together for a common goal.”
Some Cobb school parents have wanted Cobb schools to respond in a fashion similar to Marietta City Schools, which in late May issued a lengthy statement from Superintendent Grant Rivera. His “call to action” highlighted steps that district is taking to address diversity issues, including a cultural fluency project at Marietta High School.
A school board candidate from East Cobb has also weighed in on the matter.
Julia Hurtado, who won last week’s Democratic primary for Post 5, wrote to Ragsdale saying “this delayed response sends a message of apathy and indifference to those who have been demanding progress for some time.
“Why did our families have to wait over a month [since Floyd’s death] for CCSD leadership to commit to a mere conversation, let alone solutions?”
She urged that Ragsdale “take steps to address systemic racism that can be found in every school system, including ours.”
In November, Hurtado will be facing Republican incumbent David Banks, who has said the district has adequately handed racial concerns in the schools.
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Cobb County is a diverse community that is behind in making changes in the area of inclusion and funding. I’m proud to say my children were in the Wheeler Cluster, one of the most diverse areas at the time. All three embody similar values and are successful in their education and careers. We intentionally selected a HS where they would have opportunities to know and forge friendships with students from all over the globe. The same was true of a majority of their teachers, support staff and leadership. We took on this concern in the 1980’s with the help of 3 amazing women who were part of a Cobb County initiative to encourage sensitivity and acceptance of others. It is unfortunate their positions were eliminated . If you look at this year’s Valedictorians & Salutatorians as well as our community at large it is a clear sign that it is time for new policies and initiatives.