During his monthly remarks to the Cobb Board of Education Thursday, Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale lashed out at a county elected official for school-related comments she made at a recent public event.
His target wasn’t any of the seven board members seated around him, but the head of Cobb County government.
Ragsdale was in attendance earlier this month at the Cobb Prayer Breakfast when Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid spoke, giving a mini-county update from her perspective that included a passing reference to schools.
“We have top businesses here and excellent schools for most of us,” Cupid said near the end of the May 4 prayer breakfast, but did not elaborate on the latter.
Cupid, who served two terms as the District 4 commissioner in South Cobb before her election as chairwoman in 2021, has homeschooled her two children.
Ragsdale called the comments “derogatory” and added that some on his staff asked him if he would respond.
“I do not believe that such negativity, especially at a prayer breakfast, deserves a response,” he said, reading from a prepared statement, and referenced Cobb high school valedictorian grade-point average differences from 2022.
“That being said, I will pose this question: Do you know what the difference is between the valedictorian at, stay, Pebblebrook and the valedictorian at Allatoona? About 0.3. . . .
“Or say the valedictorian at South Cobb and the valedictorian at Walton? That would be about 0.23. With one going to Georgia Tech and one going to Duke.
“These are just small examples that show that all of our schools provide an excellent education to all of our students,” Ragsdale said.
“Perhaps instead of hijacking a prayer breakfast to issue a politically-charged statement, one should just remember to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
UPDATED, MONDAY, MAY 22:
We got this response late Sunday evening from Cupid:
“I am grateful Superintendent Ragsdale shares commitment to the success of our county which includes ameliorating existing disparities where data and observation may indicate opportunity for improvement. I have been and will continue to be a champion and partner where our interests overlap.”
According to Cobb real estate records, shortly after her election as chairwoman in early 2021, Cupid and her husband purchased a home with a Mableton address but that is in the Vinings Estates area of the city of Smyrna, the Campbell High School cluster and Cobb commission District 2.
They previously had been living in a home in Mableton, not far from Six Flags and in the Pebblebrook cluster, according to real estate records.
In recent months, Cupid has brought several former antagonists of Ragsdale and the Cobb County School District into county government.
She hired former Mableton Elementary School counselor Jennifer Susko for a short-term diversity role earlier this year, and appointed former school board member Jaha Howard to the Cobb Transit Advisory Board.
Susko resigned her job with the Cobb school district in 2021 after being highly critical of the Cobb school district’s handling of various racial issues, including the school board’s vote to ban the teaching of critical race tbeory and the district’s refusal to take up “anti-racist” and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives.
Related:
- Cobb school board adopts FY 2024 budget; Banks votes present
- Georgia changes English Language Arts standards
- Walton senior named a U.S. Presidential Scholar
- East Side ES students win Delta Credit Union essay contest
- Cobb Library System’s ‘Vision to Learn’ Partnership expanding
- Golden K Kiwanis, East Cobb UMC volunteer at Powers Ferry ES reading challenge
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The article states where Cupid lives lives. Where does Ragsdale live?
This article speaks about where Cupid lives. Where does Ragsdale live?
Do better: “former antagonists” to describe a dedicated school counselor and an elected school board member? Did Ragsdale write this article for you?
Great students make great schools, not the other way around. Cupid knows this, but she’s just being a demagogue.
It’s called protected speech and just because you got butthurt doesn’t mean a damn thing. The Supreme Court has affirmed, many times, we have a right to speak out using whatever language we desire, including profanity, in any public forum to express our opinion of a PUBLIC official. I would say to you sir, your reaction to Cupid’s remarks was childish, and representative of what’s wrong with this school district and county as a whole. Get over it, shut your damn mouth, and do your damn job that we the tax payers, who are being gouged, are paying you to do. Man I really can’t stand public servants who forget they are public servants and have no regard for a citizens right to free speech, which includes criticism. Before someone comments about, he has a right to free speech too, let me remind you a public servant acting in an official capacity is restricted in their public comments and conduct, so NO he does not have the same protections as we the tax paying citizens do!!
I was going to propose the same for a follow-up article by the ECN. Perhaps it is time for another rare editorial.
Hey Chris, what was the difference between the mean GPAs of the graduating classes of those schools? Don’t tell us the difference between the best student at each school. Ragsdale likes to use the wrong data when trying to prove a point.
Hey Clark, what was the difference between the demographics of those schools? That might clue you in a bit. Have you compared the level of gang activity between South Cobb and Pope or Lassiter? Have you reviewed the violent and drug crime levels between the two regions?
The “mean GPAs” are only relevant if the goals and ambitions of the two sample groups are identical – and that is far from reality. What the top GPAs at each school demonstrates is that those who want to excel, can. Stop blaming the schools.
Hey IceDogg, forgive my ignorance but isn’t South Cobb under the same school board as the rest of say….. Cobb County?? Unless there’s a completely separate governing body for south Cobb and the rest of Cobb I would say the “two region” nonsense has no bearing on the goals and ambitions of the school district as a whole. Stop using the “two region” excuse to draw attention away from the true issue facing south Cobb, the lack of parenting. The crime and gang violence can be 100% linked to broken homes and poor parenting. So to get back to your comment, the mean GPA’s between the schools are very relevant and parents who care about their children’s education, and safety, ought to have the opportunity to send the children to any of our schools in the district to get them out of those negative environments. I would say that is the true issue, school of choice with the necessary resources provided by the grossly overfunded Cobb county school district. I think we can figure out a way to trim a bit of the 1.4 billion dollar budget to improve the district as a whole.
Sorry IceDogg, I did not mean to confuse you with using math terms. Crybaby Ragsdale was trying to make the point that the schools were all the same because the best student at each school had the same GPA. I will concede that one motivated student at a poor performing school can excel. I don’t think anyone including Cupid would disagree. This is where Ragsdale is trying to say if the top student at each school has the same GPA then to quote him “These are just small examples that show that all of our schools provide an excellent education to all of our students.” If he meant to say that CCSD only cares about the top performer at each school then he is correct.