COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Some parents plan to protest Thursday over the Cobb County school district deciding not to reinstate its mask mandate this school year.
"I feel like I am dropping my child off in a war zone every day," said Suzanne Wooley.
Many parents feel the same as. They don’t feel like the district is doing enough to protect students from COVID-19 exposure.
Masks are currently optional in Cobb County schools.
Parents like Wooley and Kristy Remshik have banded together writing emails to the superintendent and school board members to try to convince them to bring the mandate back.
The kids aren’t vaccinated they’ve got to be at school we want them to be in the class face to face i feel like we should be masked," said Remshik.
She says she sent an email to one board member who sent back a link to a site that provided information that disputes CDC guidelines.
As of Aug. 6, positive COVID cases among Cobb County children 5 to 17 had increased by 357 cases over two weeks.
Earlier Wednesday, parents’ fears became reality at East Side Elementary.
The entire fifth grade class was ordered to quarantine and learn virtually due to the “ongoing covid-19 pandemic and high positive case numbers.”
"The precautions in place last year worked and are what the CDC is recommending that schools should even be doing now and our school didn’t do it and that’s extremely frustrating and disappointing," said Tehas Mehta whose son is a fifth grader at the school.
Without even a virtual learning option some parents are considering pulling their kids out of the district completely, unless masks are required again.