No Mask Mandate This Fall At Cobb County Schools

COBB COUNTY, GA — It’s official: Masks won’t be mandated at Cobb County schools this fall.

In an emailed news release sent Tuesday afternoon, Cobb County School District officials unveiled their “Public Health Protocols” for the coming school year, outlining specifics for face coverings, social distancing, cleaning, isolation and quarantines.

“We look forward to a school year free of distraction, focused on teaching and learning, and know our One Team will be united and ready to succeed for all Cobb students,” spokesperson Nan Kiel wrote in the email.

Although now official, the absence of a mask requirement in Cobb County schools is no surprise. Last week, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale announced at a school-board work session that masks will remain optional moving forward. That followed an earlier announcement by Cobb schools that masks would be optional starting on May 31 for students and staff at all school-related functions.

Again, the announcement did not specify that those without face coverings had to be vaccinated against COVID-19. However, hand sanitizer will be widely available, with high-touch surfaces cleaned daily and school buses disinfected twice daily.

Specifically, the new protocols

• Make face coverings optional for “students and staff in school buildings, on school buses, and at extracurricular activities”
• Require “social distancing in classrooms and school buildings were appropriate and feasible”
• Require “isolation for any student or staff member” testing positive for COVID-19 and quarantine for anyone identified as a “close contact,” in accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Georgia’s health department.

The protocols also promise that parents or guardians will be notified if their student is identified as a “close contact” or if a case of COVID-19 is “identified in their student’s classroom, school bus, or athletic team.”

Masks are mandated — sort of — in only one situation: The school nurse has “the discretion to request” that students be masked or isolated while in the clinic being assessed or waiting for their parents if the students are showing symptoms.

Read the Cobb County School 2021-2022 Public Health Protocols on the district's website.

RELATED:

• Cobb Schools To Announce Updated COVID-19 Protocols In A Few Days
• Cobb County Schools Make Masks Optional, Vaccinated Or Not
• Mask Policy Updated For Fulton Schools, Plans Set For Next Year