Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
A $45 million project to build a new ramp connecting Akers Mill Road with the Northwest Corridor Express Lanes on Interstate 75 in Cobb County opens Friday.
Local and state dignitaries held a media event Wednesday that included a groundbreaking ceremony organized by the Cumberland Community Improvement District.
When the new ramp opens for the Friday afternoon commute, it will be the 12th access point for the Northwest lanes, which opened in 2018 and cover 29.7 mile between an area just north of Akers Mill and Hickory Grove Road in north Cobb, and along I-575 in Cobb to Sixes Road in Cherokee County.
“The ramp will serve southbound express lanes users as an exit in the mornings and northbound express lanes users as an entrance in the evenings,” the Cumberland CID said in a statement.
The CID estimates that the ramp will provide daily access to the Cumberland area to around 100,000 motorists, serving six Class-A office towers around the Galleria.
The Ramp will be 24-feet wide for the reversible lanes plus break-down shoulders and will widen to 50-feet at Akers Mill. It will include a barrier separated entrance to the northbound managed lanes,” according to a project description (more info).
Here’s how the funding breaks down:
Cobb County SPLOST ($15 million)
Atlanta Regional Commmission ($10 million)
Cumberland CID ($6.3 million)
U.S. Department of Transportation ($5 million)
Georgia Department of Transportation ($4.4 million)
Georgia State Road and Tollway Authority ($3.5 million)
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In partnership with several nonpartisan organizations, Scout Troop 2700 and 312 will host a candidate forum for Cobb County’s District 2 Commissioner at the Atlanta Area Council offices. The event is free and open to the public.
The purpose of the forum is to give voters in Cobb County’s newly drawn District 2 an opportunity to hear and interact with candidates. The candidate forum will follow a nonpartisan, unbiased, and impartial format where candidates will receive questions from a moderator and answer written questions from the public.
Commissioner candidates:
Alicia Adams
Erick Allen
Dr. Jaha Howard
Tracy Stevenson
The forum is 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 1800 Circle 75 Parkway, Atlanta. Register for the forum by clicking here.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
After two doses of severe winter weather, some warmer temperatures will be coming to Cobb over the next week.
For the first time since Sunday, the high on Wednesday was above freezing—around 36 degrees.
But overnight lows for the next few nights will continue to be very cold.
On Wednesday night, lows are forecast to fall into the teens, meaning what precipitation fell in Cobb will freeze over.
The National Weather Service in Atlanta is continuing a hazardous weather outlook that calls for wind chills of 10-15 degrees Wednesday night in parts of Georgia. A cold weather advisory has been issued for parts of central Georgia, along a line roughly connecting LaGrange to Barnesville to Warrenton.
Local lows through the the weekend also will stay around the freezing mark for much of north Georgia and Cobb.
The sun returned to Cobb on Wednesday, as daytime highs will push into the 40s through Sunday.
Cobb government returned to normal operations Wednesday, and Cobb schools operated on a two-hour delay.
Cobb DOT said there were few roads that were impacted by the snow/ice that hit central Georgia hard, and spread to areas of eastern metro Atlanta.
But that bad weather line stopped just short of Cobb County.
Milder weather will gradually return to the Cobb area by early next week, with highs popping back up into the 50s starting on Tuesday.
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The Cobb Board of Education must hold three public hearings as a result, and they have been scheduled as follows:
Feb. 6, 11:30 a.m. and 6:05 p.m.
Feb. 13, 1;30 p.m.
The hearings will take place in the board room of the CCSD central office, 514 Glover St., Marietta. At a Feb. 13 voting meeting at 7 p.m., an agenda item will call for a vote to opt-out of the new law.
HB 581 was passed by the Georgia General Assembly in 2024, and state voters approved enabling legislation in a November referendum to establish a statewide floating homestead exemption.
Those exemptions apply to counties, school districts and municipalities, and would place a cap on property tax rates based on an inflation rate set by the Georgia Department of Revenue.
The law was passed following concerns about dramatic property tax rate increases due to soaring assessments during periods of high inflation.
Like Cobb government, however, Cobb schools have stated that its current exemptions are more beneficial to parents and taxpayers.
The biggest chunk of local property tax rates in Cobb are for school taxes. In Cobb, homeowners over the age of 62 (outside of the city of Marietta) can apply for a senior exemption from school taxes.
According to the Cobb Tax Commissioner’s office, “once approved, the homestead exemption is automatically renewed each year as long as you continually occupy the home under the same ownership. The only time you must reapply for an exemption is if there is a change in ownership, residence or you wish to qualify for a higher exemption.”
The current fiscal year 2025 Cobb school district budget is $1.8 billion, which did not roll back tax rates despite a spending increase from the previous year.
The district’s announcement last week claimed that it would lose an estimated $43 million under the new homestead exemption law, which “could force the District to cut teacher salaries, increase class sizes, or otherwise harm student learning.”
The district said that Cobb’s per capita spending is around $11,000 per student.
“To recommend any process that would most definitely result in the Cobb County School District losing funds, which would be used to educate Cobb children, would not be a responsible recommendation,” Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said at a Cobb school board meeting last Thursday.
“We have one of the best School districts in the nation – academically, athletically, musically, and artistically. We are consistently recognized in each of these areas. Parents expect a high-quality education when sending their students to a Cobb school; that is exactly what we will continue to provide.”
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The Cobb County School District said Wednesday classes will begin on a two-hour delay.
“Throughout the day, our police, maintenance, and transportation departments have reviewed both road and facility conditions in Cobb,” stated a district message that went out at 7:10 p.m.
All extracurricular and after-school activities, including sports, “will operate on a normal schedule.”
The district said the decision was made “in line with discussions with the National Weather Service Atlanta, Cobb Emergency Management, and Cobb Department of Transportation.”
ORIGINAL REPORT:
An rare winter storm that dumped several inches of snow along the Gulf coast reached metro Atlanta Tuesday.
By mid-afternoon, the National Weather Service in Atlanta expanded a winter storm warning to include Cobb County, as other parts of the metro region experienced significant amounts of snow and ice.
The warning extends through 7 a.m. Wednesday, as temperatures are once again expected to fall into the mid-teens Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning,
Shortly before 5 p.m., the Cobb County School District said it was monitoring weather reports and would decide on whether to cancel Wednesday classes and activities by 7 p.m.
“We continue to monitor conditions in Cobb during a very complicated winter storm,” a district message stated.
“Due to weather conditions that are shifting across the metro area, we are not yet able to announce a decision about tomorrow’s school day.”
School was closed on Tuesday in Cobb, Marietta and other school districts in metro Atlanta, as a storm that swept up through the Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida panhandle coastal areas moved inland.
Wet and snowy weather arrived early Tuesday afternoon, causing treacherous travel and shutting down Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Along the gulf coast, more than six inches of snow were reported in Mobile, Ala., and the first-ever snow blizzard alerts were issued in Louisiana, where New Orleans was also blanketed with several inches of snow.
Anywhere from 2-6 inches of snow has been forecast. The Cobb Emergency Management Agency said around 6 p.m. that parts of South Cobb have experienced some snow, with “a slight amount of accumulation near the I-20/Riverside area. Douglas County has experienced similar on their side of the line. Our DOT is reporting there are no travel impacts at this time, but this doesn’t mean to throw caution to the wind while driving.”
Cobb County government said county DOT crews were out Tuesday morning pre-treating main roads, and all county offices, services and courts closed at 12:30 p.m.
“So far (fingers crossed), most of the county’s roads are in great shape,” the county said on social media around 5:30 p.m Tuesday.
Tuesday night’s lows are expected to be the coldest yet in a winter weather wave that began on Sunday night, with lows around 12 or 13.
On Wednesday, temperatures will rise above freezing, to around 36, with sunny skies, then drop to around 20 on Wednesday night.
Thursday-Sunday weather is forecast to be sunny and in the 40s for highs,, and lows in the 20s.
The start of next week will be warmer, with highs back into the 50s.
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The Cobb County School District said that all classes and activities will be cancelled on Tuesday, “due to the Winter Storm Watch, including extreme cold and the potential for unsafe road and walkway conditions for students and staff.”
ORIGINAL REPORT:
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday declared a state of emergency as a second winter storm in as many weeks is sweeping through the state.
The National Weather Service in Atlanta has issued a winter storm warning for central Georgia and a winter weather advisory for parts of north Georgia, including Cobb County, from 10 a.m. Tuesday to 7 a.m. Wednesday.
The forecast indicates that up to three inches of snow could accumulate across the state, but the likelihood of snow in Cobb and the metro Atlanta area is unclear for now.
Cobb is at the northern edge of the advisory area, as temperatures are expected to remain below freezing into Wednesday.
The chances of hazardous weather are greatest in central Georgia.
Kemp’s declaration, which authorizes emergency resources to deploy across the state in an anticipation of snow and ice, means that state government offices in Atlanta are closed on Tuesday, and the Georgia General Assembly session will be cancelled.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Cobb County is included in an extreme cold watch issued for Monday morning by the National Weather Service in Atlanta.
The watch is being issued from 1 a.m. Monday to 12 p.m. Monday as subfreezing temperatures and high wind chill factors are converging over much of the Deep South.
The warm weekend we’ve been enjoying will quickly turn much colder on Sunday afternoon, with high temperatures expected only around 40 and wind gusts up to 20 mph in some places.
The NWS said in a Saturday afternoon forecast that temperatures Monday morning will drop into the teens, accompanied by wind chills that could make it feel like near zero.
Some areas could also have a wind chill factor of below zero, according to early forecasts.
The watch area includes most of metro Atlanta and the north Georgia mountains on a line extending east to around Gainesville and south to I-285 south of the city of Atlanta.
There’s also a chance of snow on Tuesday, as the winter storm could bring enough precipitation, combined with the colder temperatures, to make for a bone-chilling week.
On Monday, the wind gusts are forecast to be up to 20 mph in some places, with lows dropping below 20 Monday night.
Low temperatures through Thursday are also expected to get into the teens, with highs barely breaking above freezing if at all.
The chance of snow on Tuesday is 50 percent, mostly after 1 p.m., and continuing through around 1 a.m. Wednesday. according to the NWS forecast.
Wednesday should be sunny, with highs in the mid 30s and lows also in the high teens, and similar weather is in store for Thursday.
By the weekend, high temperatures will return to the 40s, with lows in the 20s.
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Cobb County NAACP hosts its annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration, Mission Possible: Protecting Freedom, Justice, and Democracy in the Spirit of Nonviolence365, 10 a.m. – noon Monday, Jan. 20 at the Jennie T. Anderson Theatre, 548 S. Marietta Parkway, SE, Marietta.
Austell – MLK Day of Service – Keep Cobb Beautiful Adopt-A-Mile – 8:30 a.m. at Riverside EpiCenter, 135 Riverside Parkway, Austell. Make an impact in the community by participating in a roadside cleanup with Keep Cobb Beautiful. High school students: Earn community service hours while making a difference. Bring your family, friends, and neighbors to this community volunteer event and help us create a cleaner, brighter environment for everyone. For questions, email yamos@riversideepicenter.com.
Kennesaw – Community Volunteer Day, 9 a.m. – noon at Smith Gilbert Gardens, 2382 Pine Mountain Road, Kennesaw. Garden entryway beautification project. Project coordinators will lead volunteers in cleaning up the front entryway off Pine Mountain Road into the Gardens and plant new annuals. Register here.
Marietta will celebrate the enduring legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a parade and ceremony organized by Cobb County Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Al Tariq Temple No. 245, and Al Tariq Court No. 228.
This celebratory parade will trace a route that allows participants to pay tribute to Dr. King’s vision of unity and equality. Participants will begin at 350 Lemon Street at 1 p.m. and march to the Marietta Square.
National parks – Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a free entry day at all national parks, including Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area and Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.
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Habitat for Humanity of NW Metro Atlanta is celebrating the life and service of President Jimmy Carter by inviting the public to sign a Memorial Door and Frame project erected at the Habitat ReStore located at 3315 South Cobb Drive, Smyrna, GA.
The affiliate covering Cobb, Douglas and Paulding counties joins Habitat for Humanity organizations around the globe in honoring the countless contributions President Jimmy Carter has made to the organization and to Habitat homeowners over nearly four decades.
“Raising a frame with a door symbolizes the many doors of opportunity that President Carter helped make possible through his life of service to others,” says Jessica Gill, CEO, Habitat for Humanity of NW Metro Atlanta. “He dedicated his long life to opening doors for others through affordable homeownership.”
The public is invited to pay personal tribute to President Carter by signing the wall and door with their name or personal message. The wood from the frame and door will be used to commemorate the life of former Governor of Georgia and President Carter in an upcoming Habitat home day build at Liberty Plaza in front of the Georgia State Capitol on March 5.
When: January 17-25, 10 AM – 5 PM Where: The Habitat for Humanity ReStore 3315 South Cobb Drive, Smyrna, GA
About Habitat for Humanity Driven by the vision that everyone needs a decent place to live, Habitat for Humanity found its earliest inspirations as a grassroots movement on an interracial community farm in southern Georgia. Since its founding in 1976, the Christian housing organization has grown to become a leading global nonprofit working in local communities across all 50 states in the U.S. and in more than 70 countries. Families and individuals in need of a hand up partner with Habitat for Humanity to build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. Through financial support, volunteering or adding a voice to support affordable housing, everyone can help families achieve the strength, stability and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves. Through shelter, we empower. To learn more, visithabitat.org.
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Joe Gavalis was named the 2021 Distinguished Older Georgian by the Georgia Council on Aging.
Joe Gavalis, a retired federal law enforcement investigator who spearheaded the East Cobb Cityhood movement from 2018-22 and volunteered on a number of county and state boards, has died.
In a column in The Marietta Daily Journal on Thursday, retired Marietta Police Chief Dan Flynn announced the news and wrote a tribute to Gavalis, who was “leaving behind a distinguished legacy of dedicated servant leadership, patriotism and laudable good citizenship.”
Gavalis, who was 77, lived in the Chattahoochee Plantation area, was a member of the Cobb Neighborhood Safety Commission and the Cobb Elder Abuse Task Force.
He also created the North Georgia Task Force on Elder Abuse to expand senior advocacy around the state.
The Georgia Council on Aging, which named Gavalis its Distinguished Older Georgian in 2021, said in a message on its website that “through his decades of stellar services and support of older adults, Mr. Gavalis worked tirelessly to establish and promote programs, taskforces, and conduct training of law enforcement officers and civilians in the areas of Elder Abuse, Exploitation, Fraud, and neglect.”
Gavalis began an effort to create a city of East Cobb in late 2018.
Working with G. Owen Brown, of Retail Planning Corp., which owns Paper Mill Village and other retail and commercial real estate, Gavalis started the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb, Inc.
But Gavalis was reluctant to speak publicly about the initiative, even during what eventually became an unsuccessful cityhood referendum in 2022. Initially, he didn’t want to divulge who was involved in the effort.
In his rare public comments, he said he was moved to pursue cityhood because “concerned citizens” had been asking about “the need for community zoning and variance issues to be determined by East Cobb citizens, and a growing dissatisfaction with the lack of police coverage.
“Indeed, there is a perception that county funds are not being spent prudently, and that public safety services and road improvements are not top priorities. If this concerns you in East Cobb, there is a solution. The answer is self-determination through cityhood!”
He also rarely spoke to the media, and brought on others to conduct public and town hall events.
The group also hired high-profile lobbyists to advocate for East Cobb cityhood in the Georgia legislature, but not all donors were revealed.
At the same time, Joe O’Connor, a member of an ad hoc review board appointed to review the proposed city’s financial feasibility study, resigned when he said Gavalis wouldn’t tell him who was all involved in the group.
At the end of 2019, the cityhood group said it would not be pursuing a referendum in the 2020 legislature.
But a new East Cobb cityhood group, the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood, formed in early 2021, again with Gavalis and Jones leading the way.
While Jones appeared in a pro-cityhood video, Gavalis remained in the background.
However, fierce opposition arose in the East Cobb Alliance, which engaged in debates and spoke against a referendum as a bill progressed in the legislature.
A May 2022 referendum passed the General Assembly, along with cityhood referendums in Lost Mountain and Vinings.
Gavalis continued his work on elder issues. In early 2022, he spoke frequently to seniors about protecting themselves from scammers, and from being victims of other crimes.
“Joe Gavalis had a larger-than-life attitude, an empathetic heart, and lived a life of service to Georgians, and the United States. Joe was dedicated to caring for and loving people, and for this we thank you,” the Georgia Council on Aging said.
In an AJC story in May 2024, Gavalis and Flynn were profiled, detailing the dozens of training sessions they held to assist law enforcement with combatting elder abuse.
In his MDJ column Thursday, Flynn wrote that “Georgia is a better place because of the love and dedication of Joe Gavialis. His legacy will live on in the hearts and minds of the thousands of lives he touched. He made them all better people, better guardians of the elderly and better Americans.”
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Second- and third-grade classes at Bells Ferry Elementary School will be temporarily relocated to Chalker Elementary School starting in August due to a construction project.
The Cobb County School District announced Thursday that parents of those students have been notified of the details of the relocation, and released renderings of the project.
The relocation is expected to take two years, to the start of the 2027-28 school year, as Bells Ferry will be undergoing a rebuild of its main campus building on Bells Ferry Road at Piedmont Road.
Like the rebuilt and relocated Eastvalley Elementary School, the new Bells Ferry campus will feature a multi-story main building.
A final construction price hasn’t been announced, but the contractor, Winter Construction Co. of Atlanta, was announced in June. The funding will come from the current SPLOST VI sales tax for Cobb schools.
During a Cobb Board of Education meeting Thursday, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said the relocation of the students is necessary due to space constraints at Bells Ferry, which opened in 1972 and has more than 750 students.
While the project is underway, there will be portable classrooms on the Bells Ferry campus.
The oldest portion of the building will be rebuilt, and the school will get upgraded technology and communications equipment, including new computing and interactive devices for classrooms, telephone systems and replacing two playground areas.
Ragsdale said transportation will not be affected for the Bells Ferry students relocated to Chalker. Their usual bus will pick them up and drop them off as they currently do for Bells Ferry.
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The Cobb Board of Education on Thursday approved a construction contract for a variety of renovations at Pope High School.
The $4.9 million project was awarded to MAPP, LLC of Atlanta and is expected to be completed by November
The funding comes from the current Cobb-Ed SPLOST VI and will be used for the following, per a Cobb County School District aganda item:
door and hardware replacements
media center and band room flooring replacements
front entry renovations
removing corridor lockers
renovating physical education and athletic locker rooms
replacing the concession building at the baseball stadium
baseball field improvements
The board approved a construction contract to refurbish the stadium at Sprayberry High School, at a cost of $937,363.
The contractor is Nix-Fowler Constructors of Mableton and the job includes improvements mandated by the federal Americans With Disabilities Act.
The expected completion date is May and SPLOST VI funds will be used.
Sprayberry is undergoing a major overhaul of its campus with the main classroom building getting a replacement facility that is expected to take three years to complete.
The board also approved spending $739,768 in SPLOST VI funds replace the coolers and freezers at Murdock Elementary School.
The contractor is Ward Humphrey Inc. of Marietta and the project is expected to be done by July.
The school will receive a new walk-in freezer and cooler, along with updated mechanical and electrical equipment. The kitchen staff locker room and restroom also will be renovated, according to an agenda item.
Ensemble Chaconne members (L to R): Peter H. Bloom, baroque flute; Olav Chris Henriksen, baroque lute; Carol Lewis, viola da gamba. Photo credit: National Music Museum, Vermillion, S.D.
Submitted information and photo:
Musical trio Ensemble Chaconne performs “The Glorious Ones—Treasures by the Late Baroque Masters” at 3 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, at St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church in Marietta, Ga. The free performance is part of St. Catherine’s Friends of Music Ministry’s annual community concert series.
Now in its 39th season, Ensemble Chaconne’s musical programs are designed to honor the great composers of the renaissance and baroque era in classical music using period instruments. Ensemble members Peter H. Bloom, baroque flutist, Carol Lewis, violist de gamba, and Olav Chris Henriksen, baroque lutist, have toured extensively in the U.S. and abroad.
The ensemble’s Jan. 26th musical program will include the following pieces:
Quatorzieme Concert (Royale) in D Minor by François Couperin
Concerto for Lute in D Major by Antonio Vivaldi
Sonata in G major, Opus 1, No. 5 by George Frideric Handel
Prelude and Muzette in A Minor by Sylvius Leopold Weiss
Fantasia 10 in E major for viola da gamba by Georg Philipp Telemann
Sonata in E Minor BWV 1034 by Johann Sebastian Bach
All Friends of Music events are free to the public and donations are accepted. General seating is first-come, first-served. No tickets are necessary. All concerts are held at St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church, which is located at 571 Holt Road. For more information, email stcats@stcatherines.org or call 770-971-2839.
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The Cobb Board of Commissioners will hold three public hearings by the end of February after announcing it plans to opt out of a new Georgia ad valorem homestead exemption law.
The county is one of several local jurisdictions—including the City of Marietta and Marietta City Schools—that is pursuing the opt-out.
HB 581 was passed by the Georgia General Assembly in 2024, and state voters approved enabling legislation in a November referendum to establish a statewide floating homestead exemption.
Those exemptions apply to counties, school districts and municipalities, and would place a cap on property tax rates based on an inflation rate set by the Georgia Department of Revenue.
In a release sent out Wednesday by Cobb government, the county said it declared its intent to opt out of the new law because the county “currently has a floating homestead exemption which provides a greater benefit to taxpayers.”
The statement did not elaborate. Cobb offers a floating homestead exemption to property owners that does not change as long as their own their home.
The rate on a floating exemption in the new law would be set to the previous year’s rate of inflation and locks in a home’s valuation for up to three years.
Local bodies can also impose an additional sales tax to make up for lost revenue from a capped tax rate under HB 581.
The law was passed following concerns about dramatic property tax rate increases due to soaring assessments during periods of high inflation.
HB 581 contains an opt-out clause for local jurisdictions, but they must adopt a resolution to do so after holding three public hearings that must also be publicly advertised.
They also must announce their intent to seek the opt-out by March 1. The Cobb County School District has not announced whether it may also seek the same process.
The biggest chunk of local property tax rates in Cobb are for school taxes. In Cobb, homeowners over the age of 62 can apply for a senior exemption.
In announcing its intent to opt-out of HB 581, Marietta City Schools said this week that “the legislation could result in significant funding reductions for local school systems, potentially impacting classroom instruction, teacher retention, and school programs. Opting out of the exemption will allow the Board of Education to continue making financial decisions that align with the needs and priorities of the Marietta community.”
The dates Cobb commissioners have set for those hearings are Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m.; Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 9 a.m. and Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m.
The board is scheduled to vote on the opt-out resolution at its regular meeting on Feb. 25.
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Both Cobb Police and the Cobb County School District said Thursday that the student remains in critical condition but did not offer many more details.
They did acknowledge that the student is a female, but did not offer a motive or other details.
They also did not say how she was able to get a gun inside the school campus.
Cobb Police Sgt. Eric Smith said that “no additional details about the victim or the circumstances surrounding the incident will be shared to protect the privacy of those involved and maintain the integrity of the ongoing investigation.
“The Cobb County Police Department and Cobb County School District Police remain committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all students, staff, and community members.”
ORIGINAL REPORT:
Cobb Police said Wednesday that a person was shot at Lindley Middle School in Mableton, and “that there was one victim” as the school went on a lockdown.
Few other details have been provided by police, except to say that the shooting was self-inflicted and that the school went on a Code Red lockdown for a time.
Police said in statement Wednesday that the campus was eventually secured and that parents were able to pick up their children from a nearby campus.
A message that went out to the school community from Lindley officials said that “one of our students used a firearm to commit a self-harm. The student is in critical condition, surrounded by family and loved ones.”
The message said that school administrators, along with a Cobb County School District police officer, “responded immediately and secured the weapon.
“Police have confirmed that there was no specific threats to fellow students and the code red was lifted as soon as the situation was resolved.”
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Graduation honors years of dedication and achievement, celebrating student success and their bright futures ahead. The Cobb County School District is pleased to announce the 2025 commencement schedule so students and their families can celebrate the milestone together.
Commencement ceremonies for Cobb’s Class of 2025 begin Monday, May 19, and continue through the evening of Saturday, May 24.
All district-hosted ceremonies will take place at the KSU Convocation Center. McEachern High School students will graduate inside the school’s Cantrell Stadium on the morning of Thursday, May 22. Allatoona High School graduates will march across the stage at Allatoona Stadium the following morning on May 23.
Cobb Horizon High School and the Cobb Online Learning Academy (COLA) will take the stage for the first commencement ceremony on May 19, followed by Hillgrove High School graduates turning their tassels a few hours later.
Additional information about each school’s ceremony, venue information including directions and parking information, access to live streaming broadcasts of the ceremonies, and video recordings ordering information will be available on the District’s Commencement page.
Here are the commencement details for high schools in East Cobb:
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“This fight was never about me but about protecting American values,” Commissioner Jerica Richardson said.
The day after filing a last-gap appeal to stay in office for a little while longer, Jerica Richardson took her familiar seat on the dais of the Cobb Board of Commissioners Tuesday.
After a Cobb judge ruled on Dec. 31 that she must vacate her seat, the District 2 commissioner got a reprieve on Monday when she appealed that ruling to the Georgia Court of Appeals.
That means that the ruling by Judge Ann Harris to vacate the seat is stayed during the appeal. The Georgia Court of Appeals has 30 days to decide whether to hear the appeal.
Richardson was appealing a decision by her colleagues last summer to vacate the seat after Harris ruled that she did not live within the boundaries of District 2 and therefore was ineligible.
On Tuesday, she cast votes from a short roster of agenda items and introduced a new assistant.
Richardson’s term expired on Dec. 31, as did the term of District 4 Commissioner Monique Sheffield. But special elections have been called after another court ruling invalidating 2024 primaries in those races after county-observed “home rule” electoral maps were ruled unconstitutional.
But a two-year drama over those maps, and who’s legally qualified to serve on the board now, continues.
At the board’s first meeting of the year Tuesday, all four district commissioners read from prepared statements.
Richardson, a Democrat who was drawn out of her East Cobb home in legislative maps passed in 2022, said she was continuing her legal battle because of “precedent”—Republican Cobb lawmakers pushing through maps not submitted by the county delegation—and for being reapportioned during the middle of her term.
The Georgia Constitution delegates county reapportionment only to the legislature. Cobb’s “home rule” claims to draw electoral maps, Harris ruled last fall, violated that Constitution.
Richardson labeled herself a “de facto commissioner” as the appeal continues, and with her successor to be determined by the end of April (She unsuccessfully ran for Congress last year).
“Some would say that’s unacceptable, to take this seat on the dais,” she said. “I would say that having 200,000 people not represented for nearly half the year is unacceptable. I would say that the right of the General Assembly to remove elected officials at any point in their term is unacceptable. I would say that overturning elections is unacceptable.”
She said that “this fight was never about me but about protecting American values.”
Richardson’s old District 2 included a portion of East Cobb. But most of East Cobb is now represented by District 3 Republican JoAnn Birrell.
While she still thinks it’s unfair that Richardson was redrawn out of her seat, Birrell said the court rulings have been clear that she’s no no longer eligible to serve.
“When will this stop? Enough is enough. Taxpayers should be furious of the time spent and the cost involved by the county in these actions.”
She said she didn’t it was right for Richardson to continue to serve past the end of her term and because the courts have ruled her to be ineligible.
“It’s time to put an end to ignoring the Constitution and the laws of this state and the county and go back to the real business of the county at hand.”
Republican Commissioner Keli Gambrill of North Cobb said “Welcome of Cobb County’s J 6″—a reference to the January date in 2021 when supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol to stop the Electoral College process.
Gambrill, whose initial lawsuit challenging the “home rule” maps was thrown out due to a lack of standing, objected to the Cobb County Attorney’s Office unilaterally concluding that one commissioner is “ruled de facto.”
“There are no laws that govern de facto status, those have only been awarded by judges based on legal challenges,” she said.
“Because of an unconstitutional home rule resolution, the chair of the Cobb Board of Commissioners is now extending the term of commissioners.”
Sheffield is a Democrat who won her primary in May and has qualified for the special election in District 4 in South Cobb.”
She said that during the two years of the home rule maps, commissioners made a number of important decisions, including the current fiscal year 2025 budget with improved salaries and benefits for public safety personnel.
“Were there any gaps in the efficiency of the county?” she said. “Were we able to move the county forward? For me that answer is yes.”
She disputed assertions that she was wrongfully occupying her seat past the end of her term, saying state allow allows for a continuation until a special election is decided.
“The role is temporary and tied to a proper transition,” in this case a special election meant to bridge a gap, Sheffield added.
Democratic Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, presiding over her first meeting since being re-elected in November, didn’t offer her thoughts, but said “the public was due an explanation as to why we are here the way we are today.”
You can watch all the comments on the issue on the video below, starting around the 20:00 mark.
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