By Rebecca Gaunt

A promised presentation on safety at Thursday’s school board meeting may have raised as many questions as it answered.

Superintendent Chris Ragsdale announced that the Cobb County School District is partnering with the intelligence community as part of a new safety endeavor, which will focus on intelligence gathering and the analysis of that information.

Four employees of the company were at the evening session to present on the collaboration, but only disclosed their first names, saying it was for security reasons. The name of the company? Also not disclosed.

Also unknown: the cost.

Board member Becky Sayler inquired about the price tag. Ragsdale did not disclose any details with regard to the budget, but said the money will come from local funds the district already has and state funds for school security. Ragsdale also clarified that additional details will only be shared in executive session with board members, and not in the view of the public. Nor will it be a matter that comes to the board for a vote.

“The board will know, but it will not be publicized exactly what or who is going to be doing the job,” Ragsdale said.

What was shared is that physical threat assessments have already been conducted at three schools, which were not named. Nor does the venture require hiring new personnel within the district. In response to a question from board member Brad Wheeler, the company can also work with current equipment already in place, such as security cameras, applying their own coding and using artificial intelligence.

“This is going to be a new era of student and staff safety as far as what the Cobb County School District is going to do moving forward,” Ragsdale said.

The process, as he referred to it, will help the district get ahead of dangerous events such as active shooters. The military phrase “Left of Launch” was applied to describe preventing events before they occur. It will not replace CCSD procedures already in place such as Code Red drills.

“They have the ability to not only monitor social media, but scrape social media down to raw data, and have the ability to analyze that raw data to be able to customize a solution for Cobb County,” Ragsdale said.

Rob, one of the presenters, introduced himself as the founder and CEO of the private intelligence company and a former Navy Seal. 

“After two years of successful implementation with the Department of Defense, we believe that with customization, this approach can enhance not only national security, but also the security of our communities and schools,” Rob said.

Another presenter, Michelle, said her background is in federal law enforcement, supporting the FBI in counterintelligence. She presented the methodology for threat detection and prevention as a five-stage process which included collecting data from surveillance and social media, and sharing actionable information with school leaders.

Robert, the third presenter, focused on the socio-cognitive analysis of behavioral risks and early warning signs, such as social isolation. He said they would collaborate with school counselors, psychologists and the community.

Courtney shared the final pillars, real-time risk monitoring and providing school leaders with real-time visibility of risks.

“We are known for being tip of the spear,” Ragsdale said. “I think that what we have embarked on is a journey that is going to serve as a template for other school districts.”

Board member David Chastain asked what sets this company’s safety intelligence strategies apart from traditional strategies. Michelle described their methods as proactive versus reactive.

“If an event happens the response is created in hopes that it will prevent another response. We’re saying that we want to get ahead of that,” she said.

Chastain replied, “So what I think you’re saying is, traditionally, we’ve never done it this way before. This is new, new, new.”

Ragsdale said he believes this new “Left of Launch” method will benefit Cobb County as a whole and that he is in talks with local law enforcement, including Cobb Police Chief Stuart VanHoozer and Cobb Sheriff Craig Owens.

The district currently spends about $35 million per year on safety.

Presenter Robert told the board, “We’re not looking at this as ‘identify the threats, identify the potential active shooters.’ These are kids that need help, these are kids that need community support and what this system does is it identifies early on, where support is needed, what type of support is needed…” 

Ragsdale closed, saying, “I think that the last 10-15 minutes really should help all of our community understand the length that we’re willing to go to keep our staff and students safe.”

See the presentation in full on the district website Watch Meetings Online (cobbk12.org).