Cobb, Marietta Schools Make Schedule Changes For March 18

COBB COUNTY, GA — Cobb County Schools and Marietta City Schools have altered their class schedules for Thursday as the looming threat of severe weather and high winds continues, the district announced Wednesday night.

The National Weather Service issued a hazardous weather outlook Wednesday night for North and Central Georgia due to potential tornadoes. Scattered to numerous strong to severe storms are expected late Wednesday through Wednesday night with an approaching strong disturbance and frontal system.

All Cobb County School District students will learn remotely, and all district staff and teachers will work remotely as well. Essential workers will be contacted directly by their supervisors with specific direction and work schedules, the district said Wednesday.

"We often talk about the safety of Cobb students and staff being our highest priority. Avoiding the dangers associated with severe weather when students are riding buses and staff are driving to work is an example of that priority.

"We understand that unplanned changes to the learning schedule impact each of our families in different ways and appreciate your partnership as we keep our students and staff as safe as possible," the district said in a statement.

Marietta City Schools will not hold in-person or virtual classes Thursday, the district said in a letter to parents Wednesday night. The district will also offer free child care at select schools from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for students age 4 to 11 whose families register in advance.

“We have elementary students who likely went home today without their school-issued device and, to complicate matters, there is a high probability that we will have power outages tomorrow morning,” MCS Superintendent Grant Rivera told parents in a letter.

“As we know from the last time we tried virtual learning after a storm, it doesn’t work well without power,” the letter said. “Tomorrow, let’s take the day to decompress; it has been a hard year.”

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