The Cobb County School District sent out the following news release stating that classes will be online for the coming week due to the spike in COVID-19 cases in the county:
Based on our commitment to student and staff safety, Cobb Schools Superintendent Chris Ragsdale announced all students, in all grades, would transition to remote learning beginning Tuesday, January 19 through Friday, January 22.
The District remains committed to offering face-to-face and remote learning options for all families, and face-to-face and remote classrooms will resume on Monday, January 25.
This decision comes as a result of daily consultation with local and state public health officials regarding the high numbers of staff and students recently informed to quarantine. This break will provide our families and staff an opportunity to quarantine and work together to fight COVID-19 from our homes by limiting large gatherings, enforcing social distancing, wearing a mask when social distancing is not possible, and regularly washing our hands. According to the Center for Disease Control and Department of Health guidelines, it is crucial that students and staff who display COVID-19 symptoms quarantine and do not report to school or work.
In recent remarks made by Dr. Janet Memark, Director for Cobb & Douglas Public Health, parents are being encouraged to consider remote learning, if possible, while commending the school District for continuing to offer face-to-face classrooms for those who need that option.
Following our observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday, January 18, our Team members will shift to remote learning for all students for the remainder of the week to help limit virus spread. The separation period will allow our staff and students to return on January 25 after a time of quarantine, better prepared to teach and learn in face-to-face and remote classrooms to honor the instructional delivery models our families have chosen.
Cobb Schools will offer food and nutrition services to students in need through meal kit pickups. Further details on meal kit options for students, specifically for the week of January 19 through January 22, can be found here. After-school programs (ASP) will not be offered during this week but will resume when students return to face-to-face classrooms.
You can expect further communication from your student’s teacher through the CTLS Parent app, email, or text message, which will include remote learning details for his/her class. Students and staff will continue to communicate COVID-19 symptoms and positive test results to their local schools.
As always, we encourage you to monitor our Reopening Plan at www.cobblearningeverywhere.com, which includes the latest COVID-19 announcements, health and safety protocols, COVID-19 FAQs, COVID-19 case counts by school, a variety of resources to support remote learning, and all COVID-19 related resources.
Too bad their “concern” wasn’t expressed during a recent school board meeting where Superintendent Chris Ragsdale and Board Member David Banks refused to wear a mask when asked during a moment of silence as a tribute to teacher Patrick Keys who died from COVID on Christmas Day. Three other teachers died in quick succession. So it’s obvious CCISD administration do NOT stand behind their insincere words as the health of teachers and students are put at risk in order to keep classrooms in action. Remote learning saves lives. Wear your masks. And that includes you, Ragsdale and Banks. Nice PR from the write-up in the Washington Post. Shame on you.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/01/24/georgia-teachers-deaths/
Link to Washington Post article from Jan 24.