During his monthly remarks to the Cobb Board of Education Thursday, Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale lashed out at a county elected official for school-related comments she made at a recent public event.
His target wasn’t any of the seven board members seated around him, but the head of Cobb County government.
Ragsdale was in attendance earlier this month at the Cobb Prayer Breakfast when Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid spoke, giving a mini-county update from her perspective that included a passing reference to schools.
“We have top businesses here and excellent schools for most of us,” Cupid said near the end of the May 4 prayer breakfast, but did not elaborate on the latter.
Cupid, who served two terms as the District 4 commissioner in South Cobb before her election as chairwoman in 2021, has homeschooled her two children.
Ragsdale called the comments “derogatory” and added that some on his staff asked him if he would respond.
“I do not believe that such negativity, especially at a prayer breakfast, deserves a response,” he said, reading from a prepared statement, and referenced Cobb high school valedictorian grade-point average differences from 2022.
“That being said, I will pose this question: Do you know what the difference is between the valedictorian at, stay, Pebblebrook and the valedictorian at Allatoona? About 0.3. . . .
“Or say the valedictorian at South Cobb and the valedictorian at Walton? That would be about 0.23. With one going to Georgia Tech and one going to Duke.
“These are just small examples that show that all of our schools provide an excellent education to all of our students,” Ragsdale said.
“Perhaps instead of hijacking a prayer breakfast to issue a politically-charged statement, one should just remember to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
UPDATED, MONDAY, MAY 22:
We got this response late Sunday evening from Cupid:
“I am grateful Superintendent Ragsdale shares commitment to the success of our county which includes ameliorating existing disparities where data and observation may indicate opportunity for improvement. I have been and will continue to be a champion and partner where our interests overlap.”
According to Cobb real estate records, shortly after her election as chairwoman in early 2021, Cupid and her husband purchased a home with a Mableton address but that is in the Vinings Estates area of the city of Smyrna, the Campbell High School cluster and Cobb commission District 2.
They previously had been living in a home in Mableton, not far from Six Flags and in the Pebblebrook cluster, according to real estate records.
In recent months, Cupid has brought several former antagonists of Ragsdale and the Cobb County School District into county government.
She hired former Mableton Elementary School counselor Jennifer Susko for a short-term diversity role earlier this year, and appointed former school board member Jaha Howard to the Cobb Transit Advisory Board.
Susko resigned her job with the Cobb school district in 2021 after being highly critical of the Cobb school district’s handling of various racial issues, including the school board’s vote to ban the teaching of critical race tbeory and the district’s refusal to take up “anti-racist” and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives.
Related:
- Cobb school board adopts FY 2024 budget; Banks votes present
- Georgia changes English Language Arts standards
- Walton senior named a U.S. Presidential Scholar
- East Side ES students win Delta Credit Union essay contest
- Cobb Library System’s ‘Vision to Learn’ Partnership expanding
- Golden K Kiwanis, East Cobb UMC volunteer at Powers Ferry ES reading challenge
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