On Thursday, July 16th, the Cobb County Board of Education decided to follow Superintendent Ragsdale’s recommendation to begin the school year virtually with no clear indication of what factors and timeline will be considered to bring our students back to the classroom. This decision was made despite the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics that children should return to in-person learning.  It was made without acknowledging that data shows the risks associated with COVID-19 to school-aged children is lower than the annual flu and that asymptomatic children have not been known to spread the virus.  Finally, it was made without consideration of the risks to our children’s well-being by not being in a face-to-face learning environment.

By providing both a virtual and face-to-face learning option for parents to choose for the first half of the 2020-2021 school year, the county was on the right path to allow families to provide the best environment for their family’s needs in this unprecedented time. We trusted that our leadership understood the full impact that both the virus and the risks of isolation on our children has had including:

- an increase in the drop out rate;
- decisions by our top students to reduce their rigor due to the feasibility of learning such difficult subjects online;
- a lack of mental health services/intervention for our highest risk kids;
- the inability of our working parents to provide supervision for their young children;
- the financial strain on our families trying to provide the resources for their children to learn virtually;
- the inability for students to build their peer groups and lasting relationships that only a face-to-face environment provides;
- the lack of diversity and enrichment that allows our children to develop career paths and life goals; and
- the inability of our teachers to evaluate students learning styles and identify problems students are having.

The reversal of your decision without public input has left your constituents without a voice and many without proper resources to ensure their children don’t fall behind.  We know that you care very much for our future.  We are asking that the Cobb County Board of Education reverse this decision, allowing parents the freedom to choose what is best for them.