Parents Petition Cobb County Schools To Offer In-Person Option

COBB COUNTY, GA — Parents of Cobb County students have posted an online petition demanding the right to choose-in person teaching for their children this fall if they want it.

The petition follows Cobb County School Superintendent Chis Ragdale’s decision to offer online only in the face of the county’s rising COVID-19 numbers. As of Monday, Cobb ranked fourth out of 159 Georgia counties for the most confirmed cases — 10,240 — of COVID-19. The county has recorded 288 deaths so far, second only to Fulton County.

“The purpose of this petition is to regain our rights to choose, as parents and tax payers,” wrote Michael Shelley, who organized the petition.

The petition cites the American Academy of Pediatrics, which endorses classroom teaching as best for children. The petition also points out that both parents in some families need to work, making home instruction impossible.

Finally, the petition points out the “hefty taxes” parents pay “for the privilege of being in one of the best school districts in the state of Georgia.”

Not everybody is on board with the petition, though, including many Cobb County teachers.

“We all agree that an in-person classroom is the absolute best option for most students,” said Connie Jackson, president of the Cobb County Association of Educators. However, she told The Marietta Daily Journal, she’d received hundreds of emails from teachers scared to go back to work.

“Unfortunately, due to what’s going on with COVID, (teaching in person) is not the safest and best for teachers and students at this time,” Jackson said to the Marietta newspaper.

As of late Monday afternoon, nearly 6,800 people had signed the change.org petition.