At the new Wellstar Kennestone Hospital Emergency Department ribbon-cutting on July 16 are, L-R: Otis Brumby III, Wellstar Health System Board of Trustees Chair; First Lady of Georgia Marty Kemp; Governor of Georgia Brian P. Kemp; Candice L. Saunders, president and CEO of Wellstar Health System; and Mary Chatman, EVP of Wellstar Health System and president of Wellstar Kennestone and Windy Hill Hospitals.
On Thursday the new $126 million Wellstar Kennestone Emergency Center opens to the public, more than two years after construction began.
Last week Gov. Brian Kemp was on-hand for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the 263,000-square-foot facility, which can handle up to 600 patients a day and 220,000 patients a year.
Here are a few of the features of the new center:
Separate entrances and wings for pediatric and adult patients
A new, streamlined care initiation intake process
Private exam rooms instead of curtain dividers, with adjacent PPE don/doff rooms
Flexible spaces equipped to treat both high and low acuity cases
Planned spaces and processes for de-escalation, isolation and decontamination for patients who present with infectious disease, behavioral health, or chemical contamination issues
A second floor dedicated to behavioral health with 12 beds for specialized behavioral health and crisis intervention services
Three separate ambulance bays for different levels of patient severity, with parking for up to 17 ambulances
14 negative pressure rooms
Direct access to the high acuity/trauma care area from the rooftop helipad via an elevator
Improved vehicular access for patients and emergency vehicles, and an on-site underground parking garage for patient drop-off
Imaging rooms directly adjacent to trauma rooms
Additional critical care equipment, technology and more
The new center is one of three Level II trauma centers in metro Atlanta, and has 170 parking spaces. Access is from Cherokee Street. More information can be found here.
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We noted in late April about a review period for the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan that’s been in development for the last couple of years, and now public hearings have been scheduled in August.
The plan covers all aspects of community development, including land use, greenspace, transportation and stormwater management.
What’s called the JOSH Small-Area Plan (here’s a storymap produced for the review period) will be presented next month to the Cobb Planning Commission and the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which is set to adopt the plan.
The Planning Commission will hear the plan presentation at its Aug. 4 meeting. Like the zoning cases it hears, the board will make a recommendation to county commissioners, who also will hear the plan and are scheduled to vote on adoption on Aug. 25.
The master plan proposal for JOSH stresses the heavy single-family residential nature of the community, and provides several possible scenarios for the major developmental issue in the area—the redevelopment of the area around Maddox Lake, at the southwestern corner of the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford intersection.
That’s a 30-acre assemblage for rezoning that went before the Cobb Board of Commissioners as a proposed townhome and single-family residential development before the request was withdrawn in early 2017.
The options presented in the JOSH storymap include redevelopment as a community park and stormwater management facility, with multi-family residential and some retail and restaurant space.
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After the Cobb Board of Commissioners holds public hearings Tuesday night on the proposed fiscal year 2021 budget, they’ll consider several proposals for county CARES Act funding for small business grants and for homeowners.
The budget public hearing starts at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, and you can watch on the county government’s Facebook Live page or on Channel 23, Cobb TV, on Comcast.
The full agenda for the public hearings and other items can be found here.
The two public hearings will allow for public comment on the proposed budget and proposed millage rate.
Because the county is expecting additional revenues due to a rise in the Cobb tax digest and a “rollback” millage rate is not being proposed, that’s considered a tax increase and the public hearings must be held.
The proposed general fund budget of $473 million doesn’t include a merit raise for county employees and would use reserve funds and reduce capital expenses to reach a balance. The property tax millage would not go up.
After the hearings are concluded, commissioners will be considering items related to the federal CARES Act, money appropriated by Congress to local governments to address the economic fallout from COVID-19.
Cobb received $132 million in CARES Act funding, and has spent nearly $70 million of that total.
On Tuesday commissioners will consider two proposals by commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb to amend a memorandum of understanding for the business grants. Initially, recipients could not already have received funding through the federal Paycheck Protection Act.
But agenda item information indicates that of the 2,078 applicants for the county CARES funding, 72 percent of them have received some federal funding, either through PPP or Small Business Administration CARES Act funds.
Ott’s proposal would allow SelectCobb to award Cobb CARES grants to businesses who’ve received other federal money, and revise certain funding tiers. A list of businesses recommended for the additional funding starts on page 12 of the agenda.
Commissioner Keli Gambrill of North Cobb also is proposing to use $5.7 million in county CARES funding for one-time grants of up to $4,800 for homeowners who’ve gone back to work but need assistance making mortgage payments. For homeowners still out of work, she’s proposing a combination of financial and counseling assistance.
The grants would be administered by HomeFree-USA, a non-profit that helps people build and sustain home ownership.
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High school football teams planning to kick off their 2020 seasons in late August will have to wait until early September.
The Georgia High School Association’s board of trustees voted Monday to delay the start of the season by two weeks, to Sept. 4, due to precautions and safety measures related to COVID-19.
The standard 10-game regular season for teams will be maintained, along with the same five-week playoff format. Teams can begin their preseason conditioning workouts on July 27.
The trustees also ruled that seasons in volleyball, cross country and flag football, the other sports GHSA sponsors, can start on schedule.
Preseason practices in those sports and football can begin on Aug. 1.
The GHSA action gives also local school districts the authority to cancel sports seasons. According to the meeting minutes, there was discussion that Atlanta Public Schools might have called off all sports if there hadn’t been a delay.
A Walton High School parent, Amy Henry, addressed the trustees “about the importance of sports to kids in high school and how the benefits of playing sports outweighed the risks associated with Covid 19,” according to the minutes.
An initial vote not to delay the start of football season failed and another vote for a two-week delay was unanimous.
In announcing an online-only start to the school year, Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said last week that most extracurricular activities are being cancelled. But varsity athletics are continuing, and that he would be following guidance from the GHSA.
The football season was to have started on the weekend of Aug. 21. Instead, here’s how the opening weekend will look like for East Cobb teams:
Sept. 4: River Ridge at Lassiter
Sept. 4: North Atlanta at Wheeler
Sept. 4: Riverwood at Sprayberry
Sept. 5: Kell vs. Walton (Corky Kell Classic, Mill Creek HS)
The Pope football season was to have started on Aug. 28. Instead, the Greyhounds will play their season opener at Walton on Sept. 11.
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Two new restaurants at Parkaire Landing Shopping Center were in the planning stages as the COVID-19 outbreak unfolded, and those preparations are still continuing for what are forthcoming openings.
No dates have been announced as yet for the opening of the Flying Biscuit Cafe and McCray’s Tavern.
A Flying Biscuit representative told us that “we’ve had some construction delay due to Covid. We should have a tentative date soon.”
The Atlanta-based breakfast and lunch chain announced nearly a year ago that it was coming back to East Cobb, after closing its location at Woodlawn Commons in 2010.
The Parkaire Landing location, located next to Kroger, was to have opened in the spring, along with a few other new Flying Biscuit additions in metro Atlanta and Athens.
On the other end of the retail center, in the former Loyal Q/Loyal Tavern space, McCray’s Tavern is continuing opening plans, but there’s also no other timeline they’re reporting for now except to say it’s “very, very soon.”
It will be the East Cobb debut for the Atlanta-based tavern group, which recently opened Mac’s Chophouse in the former Shillings on the Square in downtown Marietta.
McCray’s is interviewing for all positions Wednesday and Thursday from 3-7 p.m. and on Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
More details about that on the restaurant’s Facebook page.
Andrew McDonough, the East Cobb restaurant’s general manager, told East Cobb News that training for staff members is continuing this week, along with additional hiring.
He said additional sanitizing, virus testing and safety training is part of the opening plans, but he wasn’t ready to say when a hard opening would take place.
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Cobb-based Tommy Nobis Center is a past winner of a Delta Community Philanthropic Fund grant, receiving $10,000 for its Early Youth Employment Services program, which offers job and life skills training to special needs students throughout metro Atlanta.
Submitted information and photos:
Delta Community Credit Union (www.DeltaCommunityCU.com), Georgia’s largest credit union with $6.8 billion in assets, has begun accepting applications for its 2021 Philanthropic Fund grant program.
Throughout 2021, the program will distribute a total of $125,000 to 20 non-profit organizations committed to the health and well-being of young people and financial literacy and education, including programs focused on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEM/STEAM).
Since its inception, the Delta Community Philanthropic Fund has invested $630,000 in 148 non-profit organizations that offer education, career training, and health and human services to tens of thousands of people in metro Atlanta.
“We have seen, first-hand, the positive impact these worthwhile organizations make in the lives of individuals, children and families,” said Delta Community CEO Hank Halter. “As our Philanthropic Fund enters its eighth year, we remain committed to investing in initiatives that support education and the physical and financial health of those who live in the communities we are privileged to serve.”
The application window for the 2021 Delta Community Philanthropic Fund closes Aug. 31, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. ET. Applications must be submitted via the online portal at www.DeltaCommunityCU.com/PhilanthropicFund.
In addition to its Philanthropic Fund, Delta Community invests in local communities through school sponsorships, scholarship programs, and support of chambers of commerce, industry partners and civic organizations.
Delta Community’s Hank Halter, CEO and Reina Short, Community Development Manager; Dave Ward, CEO of the Tommy Nobis Center; Monica Oliveiro, Nobis Center Development Specialist. Delta Community CEO Hank Halter and Community Development Manager Reina Short; MUST Ministries’ Dr. Ike Reigherd, Don Crampton and Yvonne Byars.
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Submitted information about Sharon Mason, an East Cobb resident who’s getting a three-year extension as president and CEO of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce:
Today [July 14], the Cobb Chamber Board of Directors announced to extend the terms of the organization’s President and CEO Sharon Mason employment agreement for another three years, through December 2023.
“Since her start as President & CEO in January 2018, Sharon Mason has been leading the Cobb Chamber to achieve its desired vision to be a catalyst for innovative solutions, and create healthy conditions for business. In just three years, Sharon has led the Chamber through the sale of its 35-year-old building and its move to the 10th floor of 1100 Circle 75 Parkway, the expansion of programming, including the launch of the International Council, Workforce Target Industry Councils, and Marquee Monday, a rebrand, and record membership growth,” said John Loud, 2020 Cobb Chamber Chairman and President of LOUD Security Systems. “I have worked closely with Sharon for the past 15 months, and I’ve never worked with someone so committed to their job, to the people they manage, and to the Chamber’s mission to nurturing an environment where businesses can prosper.”
As President and CEO, she leads the Chamber’s efforts to create jobs, strengthen the economy and quality of life for businesses and the community while building Cobb County’s reputation regionally, nationally and beyond. With the Board of Directors moving forward with her contract extension five months before it was set to expire is a vote of confidence regarding Mason’s outstanding job performance.
“Serving this Chamber and our community as its President and CEO is an honor,” says Sharon Mason, President and CEO of the Cobb Chamber. “I am so proud of what we’ve accomplished together with our Board of Directors and chamber team. Now, more than ever, Cobb’s businesses need our organization. We are here to help businesses find their way forward through this time of uncertainty and into the future. I look forward to continue working with our Board of Directors and staff to advance our economy forward.”
Mason has more than 18 years of chamber of commerce experience, including at the Cobb Chamber starting in 2005 and the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce prior. She has held varying leadership positions of increasing importance. Prior to her selection as CEO, Mason served as the Cobb Chamber’s COO in 2013 to 2017.
Mason is a Georgia native and an active member of the community including serving on the Regional Business Coalition Executive Committee, Council for Quality Growth Board of Directors, Wellstar Kennestone Hospital Regional Board, Children’s Healthcare Cobb Community Board, IgniteHQ Board, Cobb County School District Superintendent Advisory Committee, and the Georgia Chamber’s Resiliency and Recovery Task Force. In 2018, she was named by Governor Deal to the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority Board (GRTA) and continues to serve on this board. She also is a Marietta Rotary member and was Foundation Director in 2015-2016, is a past president of Friends for the East Cobb Park non-profit (2012-2013), and served on MUST Ministries Board of Directors from 2014-2019. Mason is a graduate of Chamber Institute for Organizational Management (2011), Leadership Cobb (2012), Regional Leadership Institute (2014), Honorary Commanders (2015), Leadership Atlanta (2018) and is active in these alumni associations.
In 2019 and 2020, Mason was named to Georgia Trend’s Top 100 Most Influential Georgians, Top 100 Most Influential Women in Georgia by Engineering Magazine and Atlanta 500 Most Influential list. In 2020, she was named by James Magazine to the Most Influential Georgians list. She was also named to liveSAFE Resources Academy of Women Leaders in 2015 and Atlanta Magazine’s Women Making a Mark in 2019.
Mason received her bachelor’s from Samford University. She lives in East Cobb with her husband and middle school daughter. They are active at East Cobb Church.
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The Cobb Board of Education has a adopted a tentative fiscal year budget of $1.3 billion that will not include pay cuts or furloughs for teachers and staff.
Chris Ragsdale, Cobb schools superintendent
It’s the first step toward formal budget adoption in August, three months later than usual.
That’s because of delays in state funding since the Georgia legislative session was delayed due to COVID-19.
Nearly half of Cobb County School District funding comes from the state, which is cutting that amount this year by $62 million.
“Now more than ever, our staff who have responded successfully and professionally to each obstacle they have encountered over the past several months, need to know that we are there to support them. They are our first priority because they make our students their first priority,” Cobb schools superintendent Chris Ragsdale said in a statement.
The school board also will be holding the property tax rate at 18.9 mills, which has stayed the same for nearly two decades.
The budget proposal would include using $31 million in reserve funds to help offset the state budget cuts. Funding under Georgia’s Quality Basic Education Act is expected to be $518 million.
Local property tax digest growth of 5.15 percent will yield an additional $48 million in revenue (for a total of ($541 million); therefore the district must conduct public hearings for what under state law is considered a property tax increase.
(More financials, including line-item details, can be found here in what’s called the budget popular report.)
Cobb schools also received nearly $16 million in CARES Act funding from the Georgia Department of Education, and this week was granted $8.1 million from the Cobb Board of Commissioners in more CARES Act funding for distance learning content.
Charisse Davis, one of three Democrats on the board and who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters, advocates revisiting the Cobb senior tax exemption and closing some loopholes.
On Thursday she asked for information not included in the budget proposal that revealed that this year the senior tax exemption is worth $132 million, up from $122.7 million in 2019, $111.9 million in 2018, and $101.1 million in 2017.
However, she’s been unable to get the board’s Republican majority to consider the matter. Some of them favor working to change the state’s educational “Fair Share” formula, under which school districts must send the amount of 5 mills from their local property tax revenues to the state.
The Cobb school district said for FY 2021 that Fair Share amount is $166 million.
The Cobb school board is to hold one more public hearing on the budget, on Aug. 20, the same day it formally adopts it.
In the meantime, the board also approved on Thursday a spending resolution to fund operations for the month of August, with revenues of $107 million and expenses of $111 million.
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Earlier this week organizers of the Corky Kell Classic announced that some of the games in the season-opening week of the Georgia high school football season will be moving away from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta.
That includes the East Cobb matchup between Kell and Walton that’s scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 22.
Instead of playing at the home of the Falcons, the Longhorns and Raiders would be squaring off at Mill Creek High School in Gwinnett County.
Corky Kell organizers made the change due to social distancing and sanitizing concerns at the NFL stadium.
We say “would” because the Georgia High School Association, which oversees high school athletics in the state, is monitoring preseason workouts that continue on Monday.
They’ve limited high school football teams according to social distancing and sanitizing guidelines. On Monday, teams will be allowed to practice with helmets, which must be sanitized before and after every practice.
The GHSA board of trustees is meeting Monday to discuss the opening of fall sports. In Georgia, those are football, volleyball, cross country, softball and flag football.
Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said Thursday that the school district will start the school year online-only, and many extracurricular activities are being cancelled. He said high school sports are still on for now, but he would be following GHSA guidance.
A total of 11 games at the Corky Kell Classic are scheduled over four days starting Aug. 19. The other locations are at West Forsyth High School, Dacula High School and Barron Stadium in Rome.
The Kell-Walton game is scheduled to kick off five games at Mill Creek on Aug. 22, with a start time of 9 a.m. The only other Cobb school involved, McEachern, will face North Gwinnett in the finale at 9 p.m.
For the last two seasons, the final slate of Corky Kell Classic games had been played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Last year, Walton rallied to defeat Norcross, and Kell edged Mays. For the first time, the Longhorns and Raiders slated to play each other in the event named after the late Wheeler High School coach and administrator.
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With the start of the school year going online-only, the Cobb County School District has added a way for parents to request devices for students who need them.
Parents are asked to go to the ParentVUE portal and log in, then click the “Back to School Choice” from the menu bar on the left. From there click “Full Remote” then “My child does not have access to a device, and I am requesting one.”
The district’s special website, Cobb Learning Everywhere, is providing updated information on all aspects of the reopening.
Earlier this week the district received $8.1 million in CARES Act funding from the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which will be used to acquire and develop digital curriculum and related content for the existing Cobb Teaching and Learning System portal.
The funds won’t be spent on purchasing devices for students. When school campuses closed in March, the district worked with the Cobb Schools Foundation to provide devices for students who needed them.
At a commissioners work session Monday, Ragsdale said some of the Chrome Books that were provided were not claimed.
But critics of the reopening plans said adequate technology was not provided to students in need, and worried that they would fall further behind.
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After failing to come to a consensus over a modified anti-racism resolution proposed in June, the Cobb Board of Education is tabling the matter once again.
This time it’s for 90 days, as the board agreed following a lengthy discussion at its work session Thursday.
Board member Randy Scamihorn presented a revised resolution but board members Charisse Davis and Jaha Howard said they could not support it and asked him to withdraw it.
Howard distributed his own version on social media earlier this week (you can read it below) that calls for the Cobb County School District to commit to “actively working against systemic racism and bias” and acknowledges that “systemic racism and racial prejudice” have left a “devastating legacy” in Cobb County.
He also wants the district to undertake “targeted anti-racist programs and policy.”
Scamihorn objected to the phrase “systemic racism” and said Howard’s resolution was “too stark” and not unifying enough.
“I’ve tried to build a positive document,” Scamihorn said, although he didn’t have his version available during the meeting. (We’ve asked for a copy and will post it when we get it.)
Both Howard and Davis, who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters are black Democrats; the board’s four-member Republican majority are white.
David Morgan, a black Democrat from South Cobb, kept pushing for a compromise that would get to a 7-0 vote. He said what Scamihorn revised “checked the boxes that would have had my support. I’m an African-American man and I want to get along with everyone.
“We need something to speak to that,” that speaks to all in a school district with 113,000 students and 18,000 teachers and staff.
“Mr. Morgan is optimistic we can come to a consensus, and good Lord, I hope he’s right,” Scamihorn said.
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Our Senior Citizen Council of Cobb County food drive held at the Cobb Senior Wellness Center on July 8 was a great success! We collected hundreds of pounds of food and paper goods for eligible seniors. Nearly 50 cars dropped off donations. We were pleasantly surprised that lots of people had full trunks to donate, not just one or two bags. The Senior Center said the donations were a godsend since they were running low on food to distribute.
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Send the body of your announcement, calendar item or news release IN TEXT FORM ONLY in the text field of your e-mail template. Reformatting text from PDF, JPG and doc files takes us longer to prepare your message for publication.
We accept PDFs as an accompaniment to your item. Images are fine too, but we prefer those to be JPG files (more than jpeg and png). PLEASE DO NOT send photos inside a PDF or text or any other kind of file.
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!
Based upon the Governor’s latest executive order and after consultation with public health officials, Cobb County is postponing the planned “soft” reopening of some senior centers on July 20th. Despite rigorous cleaning protocols and social distancing plans in place, the continued rise in coronavirus cases and the Governor’s extension of the Public Health State of Emergency prompted the delay. Senior Services will work with county leaders and Cobb & Douglas Public Health to determine when we may be able to move forward with reopening some of the centers.
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The Cobb County School District has announced it intends to acquire property near Walton High School, next to land designated for a new sports complex for the school’s varsity softball and tennis teams.
During a Cobb Board of Education meeting Thursday afternoon, Marc Smith, the district’s Chief Technology and Operations Officer, stated the board’s intent to purchase two land parcels.
They’re 3.5 acres at 1483 Pine Road for $2 million, and 1.2 acres at 3753 Providence Road for $650,000 (indicated by the blue stars on the map above).
The announcement was made after the board emerged from an executive session, where land matters are discussed.
Those parcels are located next to 15.2 acres on Pine Road that the district purchased in November for $3 million (red star), after threatening the property owner, Thelma McClure, with eminent domain.
Smith said the purchase of the additional property is scheduled to be finalized at the board’s August meeting, but he didn’t elaborate. There was no discussion by the board during the brief voting meeting, which followed a nearly-five-hour work session that included the announcement that the new school year would start online-only.
According to Cobb Tax Assessors records, the Pine Road property is owned by Harold and Joan Estes, and has a single-family ranch home built in the early 1960s.
The Providence Road land is owned by Maudelle Gilbert Gibson, and a single-family home there was built in the mid-1970s.
Since 2014, the Walton softball and tennis teams have competed at Terrell Mill Park, giving way to a new classroom building.
Walton softball parents had been lobbying for the new complex, and were considering legal action under Title IX, a federal education sex discrimination law, since the Walton boys’ baseball team has remained on campus.
Funding for the property acquisition comes from Cobb Education SPLOST V revenues. So will construction costs, but those have not been determined.
When it’s finished sports complex will be the final component of a comprehensive rebuild of the Walton campus.
The new classroom building opened in August 2017 at a cost of $48 million, and last fall a new gymnasium and performing arts theatre opened where the original classroom building once stood, with a price tag of $31 million.
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Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said Thursday morning that the Cobb County School District will be starting online-only, instead of with original plans to offer in-person classes and remote options.
At the start of the Cobb Board of Education work session, Ragsdale said that “this decision has been weighing on me for a while” and that his decision to go to online only was done in part because the district “could not provide any more information than the people asking the questions.”
The school year will still start on Aug. 17, and teachers will still report on July 26, Ragsdale said, but current public health data and guidance from the Georgia Department of Education “does not support opening” with classroom instruction possible.
Ragsdale did not say how long online-only learning would last, and that the district could later add classroom learning.
Ragsdale said public health data indicated that Cobb remains in a “high community spread” status for the COVID-19 virus.
“The sooner we can get out of the high spread the sooner we can return to face-to-face,” Ragsdale said in a question related to that subject by school board member Charisse Davis.
“Our teachers are awesome, and they will continue to do an awesome job virtually, but nothing takes the place of in-person instruction from our Cobb County teachers,” he said. “I am not setting a timeline for how long our students will engage in virtual learning. We will continue to monitor the data and work with public health officials so we can open for face-to-face instruction as soon as humanly possible.”
You can watch Ragsdale’s announcement in full below.
Ragsdale said while many on-campus events are not being scheduled, high school athletics is still on for now.
He said parents and teachers have had many questions about reopening plans, both academic and otherwise, and said that the health of students and staff “is our top priority.”
Here’s more from the district about the decision, with more details expected.
Parents had until next Wednesday to choose a classroom or virtual option for their children for the fall semester.
Parent and teacher groups had scheduled a protest later today at the CCSD central office to express concern about the original reopening plans.
Other metro Atlanta school districts have announced online-only starts, including Atlanta. On Thursday, after Ragsdale’s announcement, the superintendents of Marietta and Fulton County schools said they also would be starting virtual-only.
School board Jaha Howard praised the Cobb decision, saying it “was the right thing” to do, and said the district needs to be more transparent in its decision-making process.
Ragsdale said “this is a totally different environment” from the end of the previous school year, which switched to virtual-only after the district closed campuses in mid-March.
He said the district is still soliciting parental surveys to help in its decisions moving forward.
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The Cobb Board of Education is holding its monthly meetings starting Thursday morning, and at least two groups critical of reopening plans are staging a protest later in the day.
A group of parents calling itself School ROCS (Reopen Our Classrooms Safely) has called for a march to start at 5 p.m. Thursday at Larry Bell Park in Marietta, then to proceed to the nearby Cobb County School District central office.
On Wednesday, the Cobb County Association of Educators said it would join in, and asked its members to wear red to “protest the lack of information regarding returning to school and working conditions for employees.”
The school board is holding its work session, executive session and voting meeting in succession in virtual form starting at 10 a.m. Thursday. (Agendas here.)
The board hasn’t met in person or heard public comments since the COVID-19 outbreak shuttered schools in March.
Since announcing its protest, ROCS has blistered Cobb school district officials, primarily in social media forums, for its reopening plan.
The group thinks the district’s plans, which were revised last Friday, are not complete and have left parents, staff and students confused.
The start of the school year has been delayed by two weeks to Aug. 17, but ROCS said it wants a further delay for a “safe, realistic, comprehensive plan” that includes information on how it plans to respond to CDC guidance, contingency plans for what to do when students and staff test positive for the virus and to make masks mandatory.
The district is “expecting” staff and “strongly recommending” students wear masks, but is not requiring them.
ROCS, whose leaders including incoming school board member Tre Hutchins, also wants the district to lay out plans to assist low-income families who may need more digital resources as the school year goes along.
Hutchins was among those speaking this week at a Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting to protest the district’s CARES Act funding request that calls for online content acquisition only, and not funding to aid students already at a disadvantage.
Parents have until Friday to choose a classroom or remote learning option for their students. They will not be allowed to switch options until after the fall semester.
An East Cobb parent who’s been critical of the district on bullying issues has launched an online petition to make masks mandatory in Cobb schools.
Rob Madayag, who briefly was a candidate for the school board seat held by David Banks, said in a social media posting that he’s “still in disbelief that the Cobb County School District would think it’s fine to put an adult teacher in close proximity to 20 or 30 bioweapons factories the entire day without reducing the risk to the teacher by requiring kids wear masks.”
Madayag has long disputed Cobb school district discipline figures. Those will be one of the items to be discussed Thursday at the board’s work session.
The agenda also includes discussion of an anti-racism resolution that was delayed from last month, and another interim spending resolution until the board can finalize a fiscal year 2021 budget.
District officials are expected to present a budget proposal to the board in August. That’s been delayed due to the COVID-related delay in the legislative session, and Thursday’s meeting also calls for what’s called a tentative budget adoption.
Cobb schools gets around half of its $1.1 billion budget from the state, and is anticipating a $62 million shortfall due to state budget cuts.
A virtual budget public forum begins at 9 a.m. Thursday, followed by a virtual tax digest public hearing.
All of Thursday’s meetings can be viewed online here on the Cobb school district’s website, or on Comcast Cable Channel 24.
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Manav Shah, a student at Wheeler High School, sends along the following information and photos about his work with young refugees in Clarkston, and the “Liberated Voices” initiative he started to address issues they face in adapting to American society.
“As Manav interacted with youth at the refugee enclave in Clarkston, Georgia (called the Ellis Island of South), he realized that they faced an uphill battle during the resettlement process in United States. Manav’s further interactions led him to understand the various xenophobic experiences refugees faced on a daily basis resulting in drug abuse and even violence amongst these youth. To help refugee youth cope with these stressful conditions and combat discrimination, Manav started an initiative called “Liberated Voices” that engages youth in critical conversations regarding identity, racism and discrimination. He uses art as a vehicle of communication, because it is independent of language and literacy, and could be the portal into youth’s minds and what they have witnessed. His workshops features artists like Ai WeiWei and Bansky who have ignited social and racial change in local communities by creating ‘protest art’.
Manav Shah
Amina, a participant of these workshops had lived in the United States for more than 5 years, but she was still very anxious to start high school. Amina and her family had left Somalia after the civil war broke out and were forced to live in refugee camps in Kenya. They were amongst the few who got a chance to move to the United States and have been in living in Clarkston, GA for the past few years. She was mocked at and called names like “penguin” as she would wear a hijab at her middle school. She was very worried that she would not fit in her high school.
Amina has been participating in workshops offered by LiberatedVoices and says that these workshops offer a safe environment for her to engage herself in critical conversations regarding identity, racism and discrimination with other refugee youth. She learned about ‘protest art’ and was able to sketch her own experiences with racism and persecution. Amina was able to explore what constitutes “American” identity, and how to be proud of her culture and religion.
Besides Clarkston, Manav has worked with Yazidi refugees in Lincoln, Nebraska and the Rohingya refugees in Chicago, Illinois, empowering about 500 middle-and-high school refugees and minorities. Manav’s honor comes with a $1,000 prize, which he plans to reinvest in his protest art workshops this summer. He has already been able to expand his workshops in Kenya with about 250 children and is in active conversations with refugee communities in Nepal, Belgium and Iraq. His other experience in race relations includes starting a Diversity Club at his school and an internship with Columbia University for research in refugee policies.
“This is what really motivated me – this almost unbreakable cycle of distress peers my age were facing helped me realize that things needed to change,” Manav said. “I’ve learnt so much and been so inspired by my young mentees! One of the biggest things that’s even applicable to my life is that even the smallest changes can make a huge impact. I’ve realized that everyone can change and re-engage in their communities in good ways! That really goes to anyone – especially high school students who want to get involved with improving race relations within their communities. Youth have the power to create any change they want to see if they are passionate. Just go for it!”
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Submitted information and photos about three East Cobb students—two from Pope and another from Wheeler—who took place in the 6th Congressional District Art competition:
Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Marietta) has announced the winners of the 2020 Sixth District Congressional Art Competition. McBath recently hosted a virtual reception and awards ceremony with the participants and their families.
“I was so impressed by the talent and creativity of these high schoolers,” said McBath. “I am so grateful to each and every one of our participants for sharing their gifts with our community. These days, it is so important that we celebrate and uplift artists and the beauty they bring to our lives.”
The winners of the Sixth District 2020 Congressional Art Competition are:
First Place:“Puebloan Memories of the Past and Present” by Connor Johnson (Centennial High School)
Second Place:“Stranger” by Evelyn Armstrong (Pope High School)
Third Place:“This is I” by Elisa Xia (Chattahoochee High School)
The first place winner of the competition will have their work displayed in the Cannon Tunnel at the U.S. Capitol. The second place winner will have their work displayed in Rep. McBath’s Washington, DC office. The third place winner will have their work displayed in Rep. McBath’s Sandy Springs District Office.
In total, twenty students competed in the 2020 Sixth District Congressional Art Competition. High schools represented in the competition included Pope High School, Chamblee Charter High School, Milton High School, SKA Academy of Art and Design, Northview High School, Centennial High School, Chattahoochee High School, Johns Creek High School, Wheeler High School, and Cambridge High School. To view a virtual gallery of all submissions for this year’s competition, pleaseclick here.
Founded in 1962, the Congressional Art Competition celebrates and promotes the arts in high schools across America. Over 650,000 students have participated in this competition since its inception. This is Rep. McBath’s second year hosting the competition for the Sixth District.
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!
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Runoffs will be taking place in several primary elections in Cobb County, next month, including the Cobb Board of Commissioners District 2 Republican race.
The runoff elections are on Aug. 11, and early voting starts next week.
From next Monday, July 20, through Aug. 7, voters can go to the Cobb Elections and Registration Office (736 Whitlock Ave., Marietta) from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and cast their ballots.
Early voting also will take place at additional locations, including the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road), from Aug. 3-7 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
There will be no early voting on Sundays, Saturday, Aug. 8, or Monday, Aug. 10.
On Election Day, Tuesday, Aug. 11, voters must go to their assigned polling locations, open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can check your voting status and view a customized sample ballot at the Secretary of State’s My Voter Page.
Cobb Elections officials are saying that lines are expected at all locations, long lines will be expected and that social distancing measures will be followed.
The District 2 commission GOP race is down to East Cobb resident Andy Smith and Vinings resident Fitz Johnson in what was a close three-way race in the July 19 primary.
The winner will face Democrat Jerica Richardson in the November general election.
That’s the only Republican runoff election in Cobb. There’s a Democratic runoff for Cobb Superior Court Clerk between Nancy Syrop and Connie Taylor.
Two non-partisan judicial runoffs also will be taking place. For Superior Court Judge, Jason Marbutt will be facing Greg Shenton. A State Court Judge seat will be decided between Tricia Griffiths and Diana Simmons.
Cobb Elections is seeking poll workers for the runoffs. They must be at least 16 years of age and be U.S. citizens who can read, write and speak English. They also must be Cobb residents with no prior felony convictions for at least 10 years.
All new workers will be trained and will be paid. An online application can be found here.
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The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday voted to approve an $8.1 million request from the Cobb County School District for resources to bolster online learning, but not after another testy discussion for the second day in a row.
By a 3-2 vote, commissioners signed off on funds from the federal CARES Act so the district can purchase content to add to its Cobb Teaching and Learning online portal that could accommodate the full 113,000-student enrollment for remote instruction if necessary.
The county received $132 million from the federal government to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, and commissioners have spent $50 million for small business grants, as well as funding for non-profits for emergency food supplies and to help tenants work with landlords to pay back rent and avoid eviction.
Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said the majority of the funding the district was seeking would be spent on content from a variety of sources. In March Cobb schools switched entirely to remote learning, but Ragsdale has said the district needs a “more robust” portfolio of digital materials should classes go 100 percent online.
The Cobb school district has pushed back the start of classes to Aug. 17 to prepare for in-person and online options that parents are choosing this week.
Three other metro Atlanta school districts have said they are holding fall semester classes online only.
Ragsdale told commissioners another superintendent asked him if Cobb would be going to online-only, and he said that “it’s a rumor, but no decision has been made.”
After Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce and Commissioner Lisa Cupid clashed at a Monday work session to hear the district’s proposal, Cupid blistered Ragsdale when she asked whether he had run the request by the Cobb school board.
Ragsdale said that the CTLS project has been in development for several years, and that he had discussed the CARES Act request at school board’s June meeting.
At that point, she interrupted him, saying she’s heard from multiple school board members who’ve said they’ve never been presented with the funding request.
Cupid also said teachers have been e-mailing her about the matter.
“I cannot support anything that my peers on the BOE have not authorized,” said Cupid, of South Cobb, who is facing Boyce in the November election for chairman.
She told Ragsdale that due to the way he presented the funding request, “my intelligence is being undermined.”
Cupid didn’t identify the board members, but she continued expressing concerns from Monday about students lacking access to technology, and implored him to “not let these students fall further behind.”
Several citizens spoke during the commissioners’ public comment session Tuesday in opposition to the district requesting CARES Act funds only for technology. Some identified themselves as Cobb school teachers and a former Cobb school counselor, and said that students in need still need laptops, and teacher and staff need personal protective equipment.
They said they were coming to commissioners because the school board has not heard public comments since going to virtual meetings in March.
The speakers included incoming school board member Tre Hutchins, who also wants the district to regularly provide students with masks, which aren’t in the reopening plans. Staff will be provided masks, although neither they nor students are required to wear them.
Cupid and Keli Gambrill voted against the school district’s funding request; commissioners Bob Ott and JoAnn Birrell of East Cobb supported it, as did Boyce.
Boyce said before the vote that Ragsdale’s request federal guidelines for CARES Act distribution.
While he said that “I acknowledge all the issues” commissioners heard, “the real issue” is that the district is facing a $62 million budget deficit.
While CARES Act funding can’t replace all of that, Boyce said the “request reflects the sentiment” of the superintendent and the school board.
Commissioners are delaying a CARES Act request from Marietta City Schools until July 28.
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