Smyrna Rep Asks Cobb Schools For Answers On Attendance Options

COBB COUNTY, GA — The chairman of Cobb County's legislative delegation is demanding answers from the Cobb County School District over its decision not to give parents another opportunity to choose in person or virtual schooling, despite parent concerns over rising COVID-19 cases.

State Rep. Erick Allen, who represents Smyrna in the state House, sent the letter to Superintendent Chris Ragsdale and the entirety of the school board Tuesday, The Marietta Daily Journal reported.

Allen said he received concerns from parents over the district's mask policy — in which masks are not required regardless of vaccination status — and "the inability for them to change their attendance preference after that decision was made," he wrote in the letter obtained by The MDJ.

See Also: No Mask Mandate This Fall At Cobb County Schools

Parents had to register for virtual or in-person school in 2021-22 between April 19 and May 2 of this year, when there was still a mask mandate in the district and before concerns over the Delta variant of COVID-19 came to light.

Cobb & Douglas Public Health officials warned that cases and hospitalizations have been rising locally in recent weeks.

"When parents were asked to decide on virtual or in-person learning, the spread of COVID-19 was on the decline and Cobb Schools mandated mask wearing by everyone inside the school," Allen wrote, according to The MDJ. "[Two] weeks before the school year started, the mask mandate was lifted but parents were unable to change their selection."

According to The MDJ, the district has responded with the same statement to both the newspaper and parents:

"Recognizing that Cobb families want to be able to choose the learning environment that best supports the needs of their family, it was important to Superintendent (Chris) Ragsdale that all Cobb families were given a choice between face-to-face and virtual classrooms for the upcoming school year," reads a statement from the district. "Establishing a registration process, and deadlines, has allowed our online learning staff to navigate those challenges while ensuring our face-to-face teachers remain focused on their face-to-face students."

Read more from The Marietta Daily Journal.