Cobb schools report continuing drop in COVID-19 cases

Reported COVID-19 case rates in the Cobb County School District are continuing to fall after the fall break.

The district reported on Friday that there are 262 active cases in the 112-school system, the lowest single-week tally since 185 cases the first week of the current 2021-22 school year.

Only four schools are reporting double-figures in active cases, including 11 at Tritt Elementary School in East Cobb. The others are Dowell ES (12), Teasley ES (21) and Osborne HS (11).

There are nine cases each at Eastvalley ES and Simpson MS.

A number of schools have no active cases, including Bells Ferry ES, Garrison Mill ES, Kincaid ES, Nicholson ES, Powers Ferry ES, Daniell MS, Dodgen MS and McCleskey MS in East Cobb.

Friday was the first reporting date since the fall break the last week of September. On Sept. 24, there were 394 cases.

The district’s figures are staff and students combined and do not include individuals under quarantine.

Since the start of the school year, reported cases rose sharply in Cobb, to 1,033 the week of Aug. 27.

The entire fifth grade at East Side Elementary School was sent home to learn remotely for nearly two weeks due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

Parents demanding Cobb schools mandate masks were met by counter protestors. But Superintendent Chris Ragsdale didn’t budge from maintaining a masks-optional policy, even after the Cobb Board of Health—of which he is a member—issued a position statement in favor of a mandate.

But in September, those numbers began falling nearly as rapidly.

At the September Cobb Board of Education meeting, Ragsdale defended the masks-optional policy further, even as nearby districts maintained their mandate.

Four Cobb school parents filed a federal lawsuit against the district last week, saying its COVID-19 protocols, including a masks-optional policy, are preventing their medically fragile children from getting a proper education.

The district is facing a deadline to respond next week to a motion from the plaintiffs seeking a temporary injunction to require masks.

A Fulton County judge this week sided with the Fulton County School System after parents challenged its mask mandate.