Cobb Board of Education election results last week ensured that a 4-3 Republican majority will continue for the next two years.
But critics of the board and the Cobb County School District, including a Democratic candidate who ran for a seat in East Cobb, vowed that they will continue to speak out.
Following public comments at board meetings Thursday, Cobb superintendent Chris Ragsdale delivered another broadside at those whom he accused of having a political agenda, including school book removals, spending and finance matters, school board redistricting and school safety.
“I would ask this of our critics,” Ragsdale said in reading from prepared remarks. “The election is over. Perhaps you could take a break from the political rhetoric and false allegations for just a bit, allowing us to perform the duties Cobb County expects of us—providing its children with a world-class education in a safe environment.”
He said some of those critics, especially those who have faulted the district for its response to the deadly school shooting in Barrow County, are making false claims about what can be discussed in public, and that its decision to hire a private intelligence firm without going through a formal contractual vote in public violates state procurement laws.
“In the past four years, more activists than can be named or remembered have attempted to take control of your children’s education and our schools,” he said. “While there is a time and place for political debates, they never have a place in our schools.”
You can watch his full remarks by clicking here.
Republicans held all three Cobb school board seats that the GOP had held going into the elections, including an open seat in East Cobb in Post 5, where John Cristadoro defeated Democrat Laura Judge.
In two of those races, Democrats fielded candidates who’ve been involved in groups that have been vocal against district and Republican school board leadership.
One of them is Judge, who has been part of Watching the Funds-Cobb, a citizens watchdog group that scrutinizes district finances and spending.
At a work session Thursday, Judge said the Cobb school district needs to demonstrate greater transparency in a variety of ways, including re-establishing parent advisory councils at the school level, and to conduct town halls.
She said the board is too accommodating to “the one employee” who directly answers to it—the superintendent.
“I urge you to stop being a rubber stamp and get back to why you originally ran for your seat, versus holding a party line,” she told school board members during a public comment period.
“I will be advocating relentlessly for policies that truly benefit our children. I will be here to make sure the board upholds its responsibilities, and I’m not going anywhere.”
Heather Tolley-Bauer, a Watching the Funds-Cobb leader and East Cobb resident, followed Judge by saying that the group will continue to monitor district fiscal activities.
The group was outspoken against a proposed $50 million special activities center that the school board dropped from consideration after Watching the Funds-Cobb obtained a site plan the district had not publicly revealed.
She said Watching the Funds-Cobb—which has nearly 3,000 followers on its Facebook page—sent out an e-mail about that issue that reached more than 6,500 people, and had a high click-through rate.
“It’s clear people want to know what we have to say,” she said. “While we don’t have the power to put tens of thousands of messages” to parents as the district does through its online portal, “we don’t need it. Our reach is growing fast.”
She referenced an East Cobb News report quoting Cristadoro as “acknowledging the need for improvement in academics, transparency and public communication by the board. We’re optimistic.
“We’re here to stay, and we’re bringing more Cobb parents with us every day.”
At Thursday night’s board meeting, Watching the Funds-Cobb member Stacy Efrat, also of East Cobb and a Democratic appointee to the Cobb Elections Board, echoed those sentiments.
But Ragsdale countered those criticisms by saying his detractors have “a different—and competing—perspective” about what the district’s priorities should be.
“Some believe schools should spend time and money on a whole variety of ideas that have nothing to do with keeping students safe or the knowledge necessary to prepare them for a life of success,” he said. “It is a vision in which parents and the social and religious beliefs in a child’s home are seen as barriers to overcome rather than partners.
“It is a vision built entirely on the goal of disrupting the educational environment, with little to no concern about how it affects and impacts children, families, or educators. It is a goal requiring unreasoning criticism of everything the district attempts to do, regardless of whether the critic knows anything about it.”
On Friday morning, Ragsdale’s critics pushed back with sarcasm.
Micheael Garza of East Cobb, a Democratic candidate for State House 46 and a member of the Cobb Community Care Coalition, another group opposed to district leadership, responded on social media by translating Ragsdale’s comments in mocking fashion:
“How dare you question us about spending money on keeping our kids safe using secret military intelligence from a company that did not exist a few months ago and that has never used this technology in a school.”
And also:
“‘Can’t you all just go away?’ Says leader of district currently under a new lawsuit for violating the first amendment rights of parents who were denied the right to speak.”
The latter is a reference to a lawsuit filed last month by two Cobb parents, also vocal critics of the district, for alleging their free speech rights have been violated.
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