East Cobb News

Timetables TBA for Eastvalley ES, Walton HS sports projects

March 24, 2021 1:32 PMMarch 24, 2021 12:30 PM by Wendy Parker

1495 Pine Road house, Walton HS campus expansion — *A former home site on Pine Road will be the new home for Walton HS softball and tennis teams. (ECN file)*

We’ve been getting occasional questions from readers in recent weeks about the status of upcoming projects for a new Eastvalley Elementary School campus and a new softball and tennis complex at Walton High School.

We checked with the Cobb County School District, whose spokeswoman told us this week that “we do not have projected timelines for either of those projects.”

They’re both slated to be built with funding from the current Cobb Education V SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax). That’s a projected $797 million that’s being collected through the end of 2023.

Some of the initial projects underway with SPLOST V revenues are replacement projects for Harmony Leland Elementary School and King Springs Elementary School in Mableton and the new Susan Todd Pearson Middle School in Smyrna.

Eastvalley Elementary School will be relocated to the former campus of East Cobb Middle School on Holt Road, across from Wheeler High School.

An architect for the Eastvalley project was approved by the Cobb Board of Education last February, right before the COVID-19 pandemic, at a cost of $1.6 million. The project is expected to cost $31.6 million.

At the same time, the school board approved spending $5.6 million to acquire property near the Walton High School campus for new facilities for the Raiders’ softball and tennis teams.

The land acquisitions come to more than 18 acres on Bill Murdock Road, Pine Road and Providence Road, and don’t include the cost of construction.

Walton’s softball and tennis teams were displaced in 2014 for the school’s new main campus building, and they have been playing home competitions since then at Terrell Mill Park.

The school board threatened a taking by eminent domain of 15 acres on Pine Road in November 2019 after gender equity issues arose under the federal Title IX law. While the Walton baseball team has been playing on campus, the softball team was not.

Last month, Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale announced that the district would be seeking a sixth SPLOST referendum in November.

A district spokeswoman said this week that “all details about the ED-SPLOST VI referendum will be available once the District has listened to the community and staff to determine needs in each of our schools.”

Three East Cobb principals to retire at end of school year

March 24, 2021 12:48 PMMarch 24, 2021 8:34 AM by Wendy Parker

At last week’s Cobb Board of Education meeting the retirement of three principals at East Cobb schools was announced, effective at the end of the current school year.

They are Susan Hallmark of Addison Elementary School, Lynn Hamblett of Murdock Elementary School and Laura Montgomery of Hightower Trail Middle School.

The retirements of Hallmark and Hamblett are effective June 1; Montgomery’s retirement begins on July 1.

They’re the among the first principals in the district to announce their retirements.

Their replacements have not yet been determined; when there are staffing changes at the principal level or above, the school board makes final decisions on those moves.

The district said last week that 98 percent of employees have renewed their contracts for the 2021-22 school year. A virtual hiring fair is ongoing now as the district seeks to fill more than 750 teaching slots in a hybrid learning program that will include expanded online options.

All Georgia adults eligible for COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday

March 23, 2021 7:48 PM by Wendy Parker

Georgia COVID vaccine eligible — *To read the latest Cobb and Douglas Public Health COVID briefing, **click here**.*

Starting on Thursday all Georgians ages 16 years and older will be eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines through the state Department of Public Health.

Gov. Brian Kemp made the announcement Wednesday.

More than 3.2 million vaccines have been distributed in Georgia since January, including more than 182,000 in Cobb County.

Dr. Janet Memark, director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health, said Tuesday that some vaccine appointments will be opened on Wednesday at her agency’s website for those in the current eligible groups, including people 55 and over, health care workers and first responders.

In a briefing to the Cobb Board of Commissioners, Memark said vaccine supplies would be coming to the state by the end of the week, and urged adults to get vaccinated.

“If we had flu vaccines that are this good, that would be awesome,” she said, mentioning the hesitancy of some people to get the vaccine.

She said even if people aren’t feeling symptoms, getting vaccinated can help slow the spread of asymptomatic transmission.

“This is what’s getting us to herd immunity,” Memark said. “We all have to do this together as a community to make this work.

Citizens do not have to get vaccinated in their county of residents. Memark said Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta has become an increasingly popular place to get vaccinated (you can book an appointment online here), and has been administering more than 6,000 tests daily.

She said the Georgia Department of Public Health website contains information on “super sites” controlled by the Georgia Emergency Management Association.

While Cobb’s COVID-19 metrics continue to fall, she said the rate of community spread remains high. The current 14-day average of 244 cases per 100,000 people is the lowest it’s been since the fall, but 100 cases per 100,000 is considered high community spread.

Cobb has had more than 72,000 cases since March 2021 and 891 confirmed deaths.

Cobb and Douglas Public Health is continuing to provide free COVID testing at various locations in the county, including Eastwood Baptist Church (1150 Allgood Road). More dates, times, location and sign-up information can be found here.

Attorney for East Cobb murder defendant seeks continuance

March 22, 2021 4:00 PM by Wendy Parker

Jake Horne, East Cobb shooting victim, East Cobb man indicted murder — *Home contractor Jake Horne died after being shot on a job at an East Cobb home in March 2019.*

The attorney for an East Cobb man charged with murdering a home contractor in March 2019 and badly wounding another worker is seeking a continuance in his upcoming trial.

Larry Epstein, now 71, has been ordered to go on trial in Cobb Superior Court in April, when jury trials are allowed to resume following lengthy COVID-19 delays.

But David Willingham, Epstein’s lawyer, filed a motion on Thursday seeking to delay the trial until August so his client can be vaccinated for COVID-19.

Judge Ann Harris issued an order on March 12 for Epstein to appear in person for his trial. Last week she also called for a psychiatric evaluation. In December, Willingham filed a motion seeking a plea of mental incompetence.

Willingham said in his motion last week that Epstein has not been offered an opportunity to be vaccinated at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, where he has been in custody for more than two years. During his incarceration, Willingham said, Epstein has faced several health issues and has been hospitalized twice.

Epstein is “in a high-risk category for complications should he contract COVID-19,” Willingham said in his motion. He said his client is “ready, willing, able and eager” to be vaccinated and develop antibodies “before he is physically compelled to be present in a public court room with a jury of his peers—strangers from the community whose exposure to COVID-19 and overall health, including the health of others, the Court has no way to properly vet.”

Judges and court staff have been eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine since last Wednesday.

Read the stories

Epstein was indicted in May 2019 for murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm while committing a felony in the death of Jake Horne, 21 of Kennesaw, and the shooting of Gordon Montcalm, then 37, of Buchanan, Ga.

They were finishing up their job as electrical contractors at Epstein’s home in the Wellington neighborhood off Johnson Ferry Road on March 6, 2019 when Cobb Police said Epstein shot them with a .220-caliber handgun, according to his indictment.

Police sealed off the neighborhood on Wellington Lane after getting a call for a possible active shooter, deploying SWAT units and its mobile command center to the scene.

Epstein surrendered peacefully a short time later, after Horne and Montcalm were rushed to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, police said at the time.

Horne was pronounced dead the following day from a gunshot wound to the head. Montcalm was shot five times and faced a long recovery.

During a court hearing in March 2019, police said video surveillance camera footage indicated Epstein was enraged about his pets being harmed, although they said couldn’t find any evidence of that.

In his December motion, Willingham said Epstein has a history of mental illness and suffers from paranoid delusions, including telling family members he tried to commit suicide in jail “when in fact he had not.”

Harris’ order calls for the psychiatric evaluation to indicate “whether or not the accused had the mental capacity to distinguish right from wrong” and “whether or not the presence of a delusional compulsion overmastered the accuser’s will to resist committing the alleged act.”

On Monday, Cobb deputy chief assistant district attorney Jesse Evans filed a motion to prevent the defense from introducing expert psychiatric witness testimony, saying it hasn’t received an expert report in timely fashion. Evans asked the court to impose an April 5 deadline for that report.

Willingham didn’t reference Epstein’s mental health matters in his motion for a continuance last week. He said that given the chance for further COVID-19 and other delays, his client “understands this case may not occur until well after August 2021.”

2021 Taste of East Cobb cancelled; Taste of Marietta delayed

March 22, 2021 1:31 PMMarch 22, 2021 12:15 PM by Wendy Parker

Taste of East Cobb

Food festival update:

The organizers of the Taste of East Cobb announced recently that the event is being cancelled for the second year in a row due to continuing COVID-19 safety protocols.

The fundraising event for the Walton High School band programs is now slated for May 2022.

Last year the Taste of East Cobb was initially delayed to last fall, then to May 2021.

This year’s the Taste of Marietta, which was scheduled for late April, is being rescheduled to Oct. 24, according to the Marietta Visitors Bureau, which organizes the event.

In a release issued Monday the MVB said that “the safety and health of the community, vendors, artists, guests, and staff is the festival’s top priority. The Marietta Visitors Bureau will be monitoring and following recommendations from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Governor Kemp’s Executive Orders.”

Another major event in East Cobb already has been canceled for September. For the second year in a row, there will not be an EAST COBBER Parade and Festival for the same reasons.

LAZ Parking hiring at Truist Park for 2021 Atlanta Braves season

March 22, 2021 1:14 PMMarch 22, 2021 8:08 AM by Wendy Parker

Submitted information:

LAZ Parking is holding hiring events for the 2021 Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball season at Truist Park in Cobb County. The remaining events will be held at the park:

10 a.m.-4 p.m., Wednesday, March 24

10 a.m.-4 p.m., Thursday, March 25

10 a.m.-4 p.m., Friday, March 26

9 a.m.-3 p.m., Saturday, March 27

Masks are required at all times and social distancing rules apply. Temperature checks at check-in. Truist Park is located at 2605 Circle 75 Parkway, Atlanta. For more information, contact Scott Fielder at sfielder@lazparking.com or Michael Craig at mcraig@lazparking.com. More information about the company can be found at lazparking.com.

Chattahoochee River trails management plan seeks public input

March 24, 2021 12:47 PMMarch 20, 2021 1:24 PM by Wendy Parker

Submitted information:

The Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (Chattahoochee River NRA) launched public commenting on a preliminary strategy for improving the park’s trail system.

Initial public commenting on the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area Preliminary Trails Management Plan will open from March 15 to April 15, 2021, and include opportunities to submit written comments and participate in public meetings.

“We are pleased to offer this opportunity for the public to provide early input on the future of the park’s trail system,” said Acting Superintendent Elisa Kunz. “We’ve used what we have heard from our trail users in the past and designed a system that should be both more sustainable and more enjoyable, but we now need feedback from the public and our stakeholders on our effort. This feedback helps us know if we are on the right track, and where improvements might be needed.”

Two virtual public meetings to discuss the trails plan and answer questions about the project will take place on Thursday, March 25 at 6:30 p.m. (ET), and on Friday, March 26 at 1:30 p.m. (ET). Links to join the virtual meetings may be accessed on the project website at parkplanning.nps.gov/CRNRA_Trails. During the virtual meetings, National Park Service staff will explain the plan process, showcase methods for public comment, and answer participants’ questions. The meeting presentations will be identical and interested parties are encouraged to attend the time most convenient.

Chattahoochee River NRA has developed two methods for submitting plan comments online. Written comments may be submitted by visiting parkplanning.nps.gov/CRNRA_Trails and selecting “Open for Comment” on the left menu bar and selecting “Preliminary Trails Management Plan.” There is also a second online platform that provides an interactive option for viewing trail proposals and an opportunity for the public to up

Written comments may also be submitted by mail to:

National Park Service Denver Service Center

Attn: CRNRA Trails Plan / Charles Lawson 1

2795 West Alameda Pkwy Denver, CO 80228

Written comments on the initial phase of the plan must be submitted online or postmarked by April 15, 2021 to be considered. Additional opportunities for commenting and public engagement will be offered throughout the project.

About the Trails Plan Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area Preliminary Trails Management Plan

Within the park’s boundary are approximately 65 miles of pedestrian and mixed-use trails. Most of the existing trail system consists of legacy social trails, relict roadbeds, and utility corridors predating the park’s establishment in 1978. These legacy trails were never intentionally designed for a positive trail experience. They lack connectivity to neighboring trail systems while potentially degrading water quality through erosion runoff and impacting plant habitat. Many of the existing trails are also difficult and costly to maintain.

To help address the issues, the National Park Service is developing a plan for design and maintenance of an improved pedestrian and multi-use trail system for the entirety of the Chattahoochee River NRA. After working with trail users and professional trail designers, the park has developed a set of preliminary trail design proposals for each of the park’s 15 land units.

The preliminary designs aim to improve the visitor experience on trails, improve the sustainability of the park’s trail system, and improve its connectivity to planned and existing regional trail systems – including the proposed Chattahoochee RiverLands Greenway (chattahoocheeriverlands.com).

The preliminary management strategies include programmatic actions, which would apply parkwide, and specific trail designs for each unit of the park. The unit-specific trail designs are best understood by reading the descriptions and viewing the maps in the Preliminary Comprehensive Trails Plan available for download on the project website (parkplanning.nps.gov/CRNRA_Trails).

After public comments are received, park staff will adjust the proposed strategies, as necessary, before developing the complete Trails Management Plan. There will be another opportunity to comment on the plan once it is in full draft.

Cobb schools detail learning options for 2021-22 school year

March 19, 2021 5:43 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb schools learning options 2021-22

A mixed system of in-person and virtual learning options for the 2021-22 Cobb County School District’s academic year includes an “exclusive” virtual program and a five-days-a-week instructional calendar for both.

The Cobb Board of Education heard more details Thursday from district officials, including Superintendent Chris Ragsdale, who said “virtual is here to stay” and not just in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic that has prompted online instruction for the last year.

More details will be provided Monday at the district’s Cobb Learning Everywhere vertical. Also starting Monday, registration for grades 6-12 will get underway and lasts through April 1.

Ragsdale and Chief Academic Officer Jennifer Lawson presented grade-level plans that include an “exclusive” online learning environment for grades 6-12.

For students from pre-kindergarten through 5th grade, there will be local school-based online learning. Ragsdale said many of those options will be “school by school specific,” with no singular district-wide program.

The plans also call for some online elementary learners from several schools in a geographic cluster to be taught by a singular teacher. That model is designed for semester and year-long enrollment.

Registration for PreK-5 starts April 19 and continues through May 1.

High school learners will have a block schedule and supplemental classes. Those high school and middle school students in the virtual option will be enrolled through the Cobb Online Learning Academy.

Most online learners will be taught by full-time teachers certified in online teaching. For online high school students who wish to be enrolled through their home high school, they can learn independently through the district’s Cobb Virtual Academy.

The district is in the process of filling more than 750 teaching positions for the next school year, and is conducting a virtual job fair later this month.

“This is good stuff, this is cutting edge stuff,” Cobb school board chairman Randy Scamihorn said at Thursday’s learning options presentation.

“We have a fantastic staff that can make this happen.”

East Cobb food scores: Brazilian Bakery; Roll On In Sushi; more

March 19, 2021 4:27 PMMarch 19, 2021 12:17 PM by Wendy Parker

Brazilian Bakery, East Cobb food scores

The following East Cobb food scores for the week of March 15 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:

Brazilian Bakery Cafe
1260 Powers Ferry Road, Suite A
March 15, 2021 Score: 91, Grade: A

Jameric
3349 Canton Road, Suite 201
March 17, 2021 Score: 81, Grade: B

Marco’s Pizza
2986 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 100
March 19, 2021 Score: 100, Grade: A

Roll On In Sushi & Burrito Bowls
1100 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 365
March 19, 2021 Score: 98, Grade: A

Starbuck’s Coffee
3629 Sandy Plains Road
March 19, 2021 Score: 92, Grade: A

Taco Bell
2971 Shallowford Road
March 19, 2021 Score: 96, Grade: A

Cobb school board hires Atlanta law firm on interim basis

March 20, 2021 1:39 PMMarch 19, 2021 9:48 AM by Wendy Parker

Clem Doyle, Cobb schools legal counsel — *Clem Doyle*

UPDATED, SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 1:40 P.M.

The school board voted Saturday to hire the Atlanta law firm of Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough to represent the Cobb County School District on an interim basis.

The vote was 6-1 with board member Jaha Howard against, saying he wanted more time to process the recommendation from Supertintendent Chris Ragsdale.

Howard made a motion to delay the decision, but it failed 1-6.

Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough provides legal services to the Atlanta and Fulton school systems and will start work with Cobb immediately.

ORIGINAL REPORT:

After voting to terminate its association with its longtime law firm, the Cobb Board of Education on Thursday announced it would hold a special called meeting on Saturday to consider recommendations for interim legal counsel.

By a 4-3 party line vote, the board voted to end its association with Gregory, Doyle, Calhoun & Rogers of Marietta, but did not explain why.

During its Thursday work session, board member Jaha Howard asked whether the matter could be discussed publicly, but was told it would be done in executive session.

After that executive session, the board held a voting session, with Howard, Charisse Davis and Tre’ Hutchins, the board’s Democratic minority, opposing the measure to seek new legal counsel.

There was no further discussion during that meeting.

A late addition to the board’s meeting agenda indicated only that “the Cobb County School District requires legal counsel with resources allowing it to consistently, reliably, and timely respond to the District’s complex legal needs. The increasingly complex legal environment requires solutions incorporating policy guidance, governance training, intergovernmental cooperation, and external accreditation services.”

On Saturday at 10 a.m., the board will hold a special called meeting, for which Superintendent Chris Ragsdale “is directed to identify law firms possessing the expertise, size, experience, and capacity to immediately and competently serve as interim general counsel for the Cobb County School District.”

That meeting can be seen by the public on the district’s website.

The agenda item also states that the board has a year to identify a permanent legal counsel, and that Gregory, Doyle, Calhoun & Rogers will provide assistance during the transition.

Partner Clem Doyle is present at board meetings and executive sessions, serving as a parliamentarian and conducting public comment sessions.

He also did not speak about the decision to change legal services on Thursday.

The decision comes as the Cobb school district is the subject of a preliminary investigation by the Cobb District Attorney’s office into school equipment and technology purchases, and as a citizens’ financial watchdog group has been scrutinizing and publicly critical of some of that spending, including for COVID-19-related safety supplies.

East Cobb parent wants Cobb schools to drop mask mandate

March 18, 2021 4:31 PMMarch 18, 2021 2:01 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb parent drop mask mandate — *Amy Henry was a leader pushing for in-person learning in Cobb schools last fall.*

An East Cobb woman who has four children in public schools said the Cobb County School District’s student mask mandate should be dropped after teachers get vaccinated.

Amy Henry, who has two children at Walton High School and two others in grade school, said at a Cobb Board of Education work session Thursday that “we’re putting on a show and denying our children in the process” by requiring students who attend classes in person to wear masks at all times.

“They need to have a normal childhood,” Henry said. “We’re teaching them that they’re dirty. We’re creating a fearful environment that for these kids cannot be normal.”

While several school districts in metro Atlanta make masks optional for students, Cobb is among those that requires mask-wearing for students, teachers and staff on campuses.

Henry said “there’s no data that says kids are spreading” the COVID-19 virus.

COVID-19 case rates in the Cobb school district have been steadily dropping in recent weeks, but the district does not break down those figures between students and staff.

Teachers in the Cobb school district are eligible to get vaccinated through Cobb and Douglas Public Health. Optional vaccinations took place on Wednesday and more are scheduled for next week and two dates in April.

Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale initially planned to “encourage” but not require mask use at the start of the school year. But after ordering schools to start all-online, Ragsdale said masks would be required when students returned to campus in October.

They have been mandatory ever since, although efforts by Cobb school board members Charisse Davis and Jaha Howard to make them part of the student dress code were unsuccessful.

Henry was a leader of a group called “Let Parents Choose” that advocated for in-person schooling. After the all-virtual decision was made, she enrolled her younger children in private schools, and they now attend Sope Creek Elementary School.

She told East Cobb News in an August interview that she initially supported measures such as mask-wearing, “but at some point we have to ask what kind of damage we’re doing to kids in the long run.”

On Thursday, Henry told board members she still hasn’t been able to visit her kindergartener’s classroom due to COVID-19 restrictions.

This is a virus, she said, “with a 99.97 percent survival rate.” She suggested that those parents and students who have concerns over the virus can choose the virtual option.

Board members don’t respond to public commenters. Later in the work session, Ragsdale said no decision had been made about whether masks will be required for next year.

He was asked by Davis during a discussion about virtual learning options. Ragsdale said the Cobb school district will “continue to follow the guidance” of Cobb and Douglas Public Health.

“At this point in time, we’re not able to say either way,” he said.

For the spring semester, around 66 percent of the Cobb County School District’s 107,000 students chose in-person learning.

In January, after the deaths of three teachers due to COVID-19, several teachers and parents pleaded with the Cobb school district to return to all-virtual. They also scolded Ragsdale and board members David Banks and David Chastain of East Cobb for not wearing masks.

Another parent who spoke at Thursday’s work session, John Hanson, told board members that students “should have a choice to wear a mask just like everyone in this room has a choice.”

Cobb schools go remote Thursday due to severe weather threat

March 17, 2021 6:38 PM by Wendy Parker

The Cobb County School District said late Wednesday afternoon that Thursday classes will be remote due to impending severe weather.

The district said in a release at 6:20 p.m. that the decision was made “to protect students and staff who would be traveling to school during the worst weather conditions.”

The National Weather Service in Atlanta issued an advisory Wednesday afternoon indicated that a severe thunderstorm system making its way through Mississippi and Alabama was expected to reach Georgia overnight, and in metro Atlanta in particular between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. Thursday.

“We often talk about the safety of Cobb students and staff being our highest priority. Avoiding the dangers associated with severe weather when students are riding buses and staff are driving to work is an example of that priority,” the district statement said.

The severe weather advisory includes the possibility of tornadoes, high winds and hail as well as flooding.

There have been tornado warnings in most of Alabama and Mississippi on Wednesday, and reports of hail.

A tornado warning was in effect late Wednesday afternoon in Birmingham and central Alabama, and a confirmed tornado in Chilton County, Ala., near Montgomery.

Severe weather threat for Cobb includes overnight storms

March 17, 2021 4:11 PM by Wendy Parker

Updating yesterday’s story about stormy weather moving in:

The National Weather Service Wednesday afternoon issued a hazardous weather outlook that includes severe thunderstorms overnight, including the possibility of tornado weather.

The outlook, issued shortly before noon, calls for heavy rains across much of north and western Georgia, starting Wednesday night and overnight into Thursday morning.

That threat includes Cobb and metro Atlanta, generally from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. Thursday.

The NWS Atlanta office said that “the primary risk will likely be with an area of storms pushing eastward late tonight into Thursday morning. The main threats will be tornadoes (some of which could be significant or longer tracked), damaging winds over the primary risk will likely be with an area of storms pushing eastward late tonight into Thursday morning.

“The main threats will be tornadoes (some of which could be significant or longer tracked), damaging winds over 60 mph, large hail, and flash flooding. mph, large hail, and flash flooding.”

Georgians are being asked to prepare to move to safety, including signing up for alerts, finding a safe place in their homes

A tornado watch was issued for much of Mississippi and Alabama Wednesday afternoon, and there are some portions of Alabama under a tornado warning.

That storm front is expected to move into Georgia and metro Atlanta later this evening. Here’s the NWS briefing.

Cobb County government issued the following information shortly before 4 p.m. Wednesday:

“Cobb EMA will be monitoring the system, and we do have a robust network of tornado sirens in the county. However, you should not rely on these sirens as a warning device in your home because in tree-laden Cobb County these sirens can often be hard to hear inside a house.

“Cobb DOT has crews on standby tonight to respond to any reported storm damage or road closures and to deal with isolated road flooding that could occur.

“If conditions are dangerous before sunrise, please avoid venturing out on the roads.”

Wednesday’s low is expected to be in the high 50s, with the chance of storms dropping to 50 percent by Thursday afternoon and highs in the high 60s. Lows will be in the mid 40s as the storms clear through.

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 school board agenda includes virtual learning options

March 16, 2021 4:03 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb school board

The Cobb Board of Education on Thursday will hear a presentation by Superintendent Chris Ragsdale about virtual learning options for the 2021-22 school year.

He’s also expected to provide an update on the district’s purchase of aqueous ozone hand sanitizing machines as a COVID-19 safety measure.

Those items are included on the agenda for the school board work session that starts at 1 p.m. Thursday. An executive session is to follow, and voting meeting starts at 7 p.m.

You can view the agendas by clicking here.

Last month Ragsdale said there would be virtual learning options as there are for the current school year, and “that is emphatic and definite.”

What had to be worked out, among other things, is how teachers would teach. This year they’ve been required to teach students in-person and remote simultaneously.

Ragsdale said at the time that “we are learning from mistakes” and “seeing the impacts” a dual learning system has had on students and teachers.

“We recognize the extreme level of difficulty for all team members this school year,” Ragsdale said then.

For the spring semester, around 66 percent of the Cobb County School District’s 107,000 students chose in-person learning.

An Indiana company called 30e is the manufacturer of the hand sanitizing machines that are being installed in elementary schools, after a proof-of-concept at three schools in the fall semester.

Those were part of a $12 million purchase of COVID-19 safety products that included special UV lights at elementary schools.

But earlier this month the district announced it was cancelling that contract, with Kennesaw-based ProTek Life, after a malfunction at a school.

The safety spending was opposed to two school board members and a parents’ watchdog group, Watching the Funds Cobb, called it into question.

Board members have brought agenda items about a recovery plan for academic gaps caused by COVID-related changes and updates from the Georgia legislature, which will soon finalize its state budget.

The Cobb school district gets nearly half of its $1.2 billion annual budget from the state.

Among the action items on the school board’s agenda Thursday is a request for $2.389 million for HVAC modifications at Addison Elementary School in East Cobb.

Cobb approves rezoning for subdivision on Childers Road

March 16, 2021 3:15 PMMarch 16, 2021 12:55 PM by Wendy Parker

Childers Road rezoning

A 2.24-acre infill lot on Childers Road that’s the site of an older ranch home will soon contain five single-family homes.

The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved by a unanimous 5-0 vote a delayed request by Galaxy Childers Land to redevelop the property at a higher density level for single-family use (revised site plan here).

Childers Road is located off Shallowford Road, near the Johnson Ferry Road intersection in northeast Cobb.

The request had been continued since December after some neighborhood opposition surfaced over density and stormwater issues.

Harry Joseph, the Galaxy Childers Land applicant, said the five homes are necessary to make the project feasible.

He said the R-15 category he was seeking (from R-30) would come close to the density of the nearby Coventry Green subdivision and is the same as that and other neighborhoods.

Among the stipulations presented by commissioner Jerica Richardson require the developer to maintain what would be a private road in the subdivision.

Other stipulations cover stormwater detention, tree replacement, landscape buffers and the creation of a homeowners association.

This was one of the few zoning cases in East Cobb that came before commissioners Tuesday.

The county continued the “JOSH” redevelopment plans for a church, townhomes and retail until April. Earlier this month, the Cobb Planning Commission voted to continue the Sprayberry Crossing rezoning case, also to April.

Both have been continued several times already. In moving to table Sprayberry Crossing, new planning commission member Deborah Dance said it was with the understanding this would be the final delay.

Cobb’s St. Patrick’s Day will be soggy as temperatures drop

March 16, 2021 2:38 PMMarch 16, 2021 9:24 AM by Wendy Parker

Cobb St. Patrick's Day weather

The warm sunny weather we enjoyed over the weekend will come back later in the week, but the next few days in Cobb County will be wetter and colder, including through St. Patrick’s Day on Wednesday.

The National Weather Service in Atlanta is projecting between 1.5 and 2 inches of rain for the Cobb area by Wednesday morning, as rainy weather moves into metro Atlanta Tuesday.

The chance of rain in the area is 100 percent by mid-afternoon Tuesday, tapering off to around 30 percent overnight.

The high Tuesday is expected to be only in the high 50s, after overnight temperatures fell into the mid 40s.

Lows Tuesday will reach into the low 50s, and Wednesday’s highs will be in the mid 60s. There is an 80 percent chance of rain during the day Wednesday and severe thunderstorms are in the forecast from Wednesday night through Thursday morning.

Thursday’s lows are expected to be in the mid 40s.

By Friday, the sun will return with highs near 60 and lows in the low 40s. Saturday’s weather is expected to be the same, with warmer weather returning by the weekend and into next week.

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 school district opens registration for virtual hiring fair

March 15, 2021 4:18 PM by Wendy Parker

The Cobb County School District announced Monday it’s holding a virtual job fair in late March to fill more than 750 new certified teaching positions.

The hiring fair takes place from March 23-25, and registration is underway now through March 21.

The district said in a release that the fair “puts teachers face to face with school administrators in a relaxed and personal setting.”

Amanda Shaw, the district’s assistant director of employment, said that “all schools will be attending the Hiring Fair, so, it’s an ideal time for potential teachers to
make a great first impression on principals.”

Nearly 98 percent of current teachers with contracts have chosen to re-up for the 2021-22 school year.

More information can be found by clicking here.

East Cobb resident appointed to Cobb Board of Ethics

March 13, 2021 7:39 AM by Wendy Parker

Winter Wheeler, Cobb Board of Ethics

Submitted information and photo:

Chief Magistrate Judge Brendan F. Murphy has appointed Winter Wheeler, Esq. to the Cobb County Board of Ethics. The vacancy was created by the appointment of Alyssa Blanchard, Esq. to the Magistrate Court bench.

“With her deep knowledge, extensive experience, and ethical reputation beyond reproach, I know Ms. Wheeler will serve with distinction,” said Judge Murphy.

Wheeler is a talented attorney and mediator and active member of the legal community. After graduating from Georgetown University and Tulane Law School, she built a career as a top civil litigator at prominent midtown Atlanta law firm. Finding her niche as a problem solver, Wheeler currently serves as a Mediator and Arbitrator at a highly-regarded Atlanta firm.

She is passionately engaged in the legal community. She provides leadership on the boards of the Women Lawyer Division of the National Bar Association, the Women in Dispute Resolution Committee of the American Bar Association, and the Georgetown Club of Metro Atlanta. A member of the Lawyers Club of Atlanta, Ms. Wheeler serves as the Co-Chair of its Membership Committee and as a member of the Long Term Planning Committee. She is also a member of the National Bar Association, American Bar Association, Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys, Gate City Bar Association, and Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

Wheeler has been previously recognized by the National Black Lawyers as a Top 40/Under 40 and as a Top 100 for 2020. She resides in east Cobb with her family.

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COVID update: Cobb schools report 132 confirmed new cases

March 12, 2021 6:25 PM by Wendy Parker

*Cobb COVID cases by date of onset. To view more data, **click here**.*

The Cobb County School District said Friday there were 132 confirmed new cases of COVID-19, a little higher than last week but still reflecting a steep decline in recent weeks.

The district’s weekly update showed a total of 4,132 cumulative cases since last July 1. Last week’s 106 cases among students and staff were the fewest since November.

For the second week in a row all schools reporting cases had 10 or less. The most this week were 8 each at Wheeler High School and Still Elementary School.

Of the 11 schools in the district, 51 did not report any new cases this week.

The district’s data does not break down numbers of cases between students and staff, nor does it indicate how many other people may be out due to quarantine for possible exposure to the virus.

The falling numbers in the Cobb school district are in line with similar trends in Cobb County and much of Georgia.

There were 120 new cases reported in Cobb Friday in the date of report category, with a 7-day rolling average of 81.1. That’s the lowest since late October.

In the date of onset category (in the chart above), Cobb’s 7-day moving average as of Feb. 26—the last day before a current 14-day window—was 98.6 cases, the lowest that figure has been since late October.

Cobb’s community spread metric also is dropping close to what it had been in the late fall, after last summer’s surge and before a winter surge.

As of Friday, the 14-day average of cases per 100,000 in Cobb was 179 for PCR tests, the first time it’s been under 200 since October.

Combined with Antigen tests, Cobb’s overall community spread is now in the 300-350 range, according to Dr. Janet Memark, director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health.

In a message sent out Friday, she said that “we continue to have a growing problem with the UK and the South African variants in Georgia. If these variants take hold before we have enough people vaccinated, we may suffer another tremendous surge and more loss of life. Continued preventive measures like wearing masks, physical distancing and washing hands still need to be taken during this time.”

She also referenced remarks made by President Joe Biden of having a goal of Americans returning to “normalcy” by July 4.

“How beautifully fitting would it be for our country to celebrate its independence in this way? To meet that goal, we all need to work together,” Memark said. “Please get vaccinated with whatever vaccine that you can and protect each other by not gathering without masks or socially distancing if you aren’t vaccinated. We look forward to the day when we can all be together again.”

EAST COBBER Parade and Festival cancelled for 2021

March 12, 2021 5:10 PMMarch 12, 2021 1:42 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobber parade cancelled — *The annual East Cobber parade and festival features dozens of community participants.*

For the second year in a row, the EAST COBBER Parade and Festival has been cancelled due to COVID-19 issues.

Publisher Cynthia Rozzo said in a message in the current March-April issue of the magazine that public health compliance concerns prompted the cancellation of the event, which had been slated for Sept. 18.

Although initially hopeful due to the arrival of vaccines, she said that “under current CDC guidelines for community events and large gatherings we could not figure out how to keep participants and guests safe.”

The logistics include several months of planning and involve many community groups and organizations. “Those planning steps have been hampered by the outbreak and the uncertainty about it,” Rozzo said.

This was to have been the 25th anniversary of the parade, which travels down Johnson Ferry Road from Mt. Bethel Elementary School to Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, where a community festival follows.

Rozzo started the free community magazine in 1993, publishing 11 times a year. But after the COVID-related business closings last year, she has reduced publication of the EAST COBBER, which is mailed to more than 22,000 subscribers, to six times a year.

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