Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said Thursday the Cobb County School District will unveil updated protocols related to COVID-19, including revised quarantine guidelines, next week.
He wasn’t specific about those measures except to reiterate that the district will have a masks-optional policy for students, teachers and staff.
“Our intent is going to be to back normal as much as possible,” he said during a Cobb Board of Education work session.
“But it’s not going to be back to normal.”
He cited continuing virtual learning options for students whose parents do not wish for them to attend in person “as we look forward to a more traditional school year.”
Ragsdale said the updated protocols will go out via e-mail, social media and other regular district communications channels by the middle of next week at the latest.
The Cobb 2021-22 school year begins Aug. 2, one of the earliest returns for a school district in metro Atlanta.
Ragsdale said Cobb wants to work in tandem with other school districts about the measures.
Some nearby districts are continuing mask mandates that they used all of the last school year, including Atlanta, Clayton Decatur and DeKalb, regardless of vaccination status. Fulton and Gwinnett have announced masks-optional policies.
Cobb had a mask mandate for most of the 2020-21 school year, dropping the requirement for “fully vaccinated” individuals in the final weeks.
That was also as Ragsdale announced that masks would be optional starting with the summer session.
Students and staff who wish to wear masks on campuses will be allowed to do so.
The Cobb school district was briefly sued by parents opposed to the mask mandate but they dropped that suit when the masks-optional policy was announced.
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- Special review of Cobb school district slated for August
- Cobb school budget, social media and comments policies approved
- New principal appointed at Simpson Middle School
- Cobb school board bans teaching on Critical Race Theory
- Timber Ridge Crystal Growing Competition winners announced
- Cobb schools to continue summer meal distribution service
- Masks optional in Cobb schools for summer, 2021-22 year
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It’s messages like the one from Mrs. Ramsay that are wildly infuriating and totally misinformed leaving our child susceptible. You’re worried about the germs from a mask more than a child contracting a deadly virus. That’s the more irrational statement I’ve seen on the internet.
We feel fortunate that we live in a place where freedom to decide on masks is a thing.
So much disinformation and manipulation by various government entities and political and media hacks… glad the CCSD can see the truth and isn’t afraid to stand for it.
To parents that haven’t seen the nasty germs report on your kids’ masks, you need to find it and start realizing masks are not protecting your kids, but putting them at risk for more illness.