Cobb schools announce classroom return dates Archives

Cobb school superintendent honored

The Cobb County School District on Thursday announced the dates for students returning to classroom instruction, starting with K-5 and special education students on Oct. 5.

Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said in an announcement posted on the district’s website and social media channels that the tentative starting date for middle school students will be Oct. 19, and high school school students will return on Nov. 5.

Those are all tentative dates, based on any COVID-19 conditions in Cobb County. More details on the reopening plan can be found here.

Here’s more that was released by the district right before 11 a.m., and this story will be updated:

Today, we are pleased to announce that the three parameters of community spread, effective contact tracing protocol, and efficient testing timeliness impacting our decision to offer face-to-face instruction have all been trending in a positive direction. This news allows us to announce the start date for our phased plan to provide both face-to-face and remote learning environments. On the Monday following Fall break, October 5th, 2020, we plan to begin Phase One of our return to face-to-face instruction. We trust that everyone will continue to do everything we can to keep the numbers moving in the right direction.

As we previously indicated, you will be able to submit your choice for face-to-face or remote beginning at 8:00 AM on September 7th through the ParentVue portal. The choice portal will close at midnight on September 20th.

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For more information visit: https://www.cobblearningeverywhere.com/

In a video portion of that presentation, Ragsdale also said the following:

“One critical aspect of our plan is that as parents choose either face-to-face or remote-learning classrooms, students will continue to be taught by their current teachers. Face-to-face and remote-learning students in the same class will receive the same instruction from the same teacher. This will prevent disruptions to existing relationships students have made with teachers and will protect teachers from being asked to do two jobs at the same time.”

Unlike Ragsdale’s original face-to-face learning plans that recommended but did not require mask-wearing, the district said today that masks will be mandatory for staff and students, in school buildings as well as on school buses.

Masks also will be required, “whenever possible, when teachers are teaching.”

Other safety protocols include social distancing when possible, hand sanitizing stations at multiple locations through school facilities, daily cleaning and limiting volunteers and visitors.

As for how breakfasts and lunches will be provided, the district is saying only for now that its food service staff “will will continue making sure our students have nutritious meals.”

The district said more details will be provided about reopening plans on Friday.

The Cobb school district was to have started the school year Aug. 1, but Ragsdale announced in June a delay to Aug. 17 as COVID-19 cases began spiking in the county and across Georgia.

The initial plan was to give parents a choice between classroom and virtual learning.

But in July, he told the Cobb Board of Education that the year would be starting online-only, due to continued high community spread of the virus.

Guidance from public health officials indicated that anything more than an average of 100 cases per 100,000 people is considered high community spread.

During mid-summer, that figure was well over 500 cases per 100,000. As of Wednesday, Cobb was averaging 235 cases per 100,000 over the last two weeks, within the range of what Ragsdale said he was targeting for a classroom return.

Those figures come from the Georgia Department of Public Health, which reported that Cobb County has 17,210 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 395 deaths, both among the highest figures in the state.

Ragsdale’s decision to switch to all-online learning angered some parents who staged rallies before the start of classes.

During the first two weeks of virtual learning, the district’s expanded online learning portal experienced several outages that further frustrated parents.

This week no seriously technology issues have been reported.

Parents will be able to select an online or classroom option starting Monday through Sept. 20.