COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Cobb County school board members and the superintendent met Thursday night for another school board meeting.
Several concerned parents, educators, health experts, and students stepped up to the microphone during public comment to make their voices heard.
Jennifer Susko was included in that group. She's a former Cobb County counselor who resigned publicly last summer due to the critical race theory ban.
Susko went viral after asking the board and superintendent to briefly wear a mask for a moment of silence to honor a Cobb County teacher who died on Christmas one year ago.
"Teachers in Cobb County are really breaking down. All of the extra work they’re shouldering, this board and the superintendent don’t mention and they’re not aware of because they’re not in the building," she said.
Thursday she stepped up to the microphone in honor of her fellow former colleagues.
"I saw a couple of teachers who resigned once they announced the new guidelines, once they said we're not contact tracing. They resigned because they feel so disrespected," she said.
We asked her on camera if she feels like she's being heard whenever she attends the public meetings.
"No. The superintendent typically is on his cellphone that's why I don't look up when I speak because its so frustrating," she added.
Pediatrician Dr. Laura Verigan also stepped up to the microphone. She said she has been doing everything to keep her kids safe -- from wearing masks, to not going out to eat at restaurants.
She says her son still contracted COVID-19 at school back in August and has been sick since.
"My son missed 42 days of school because of ongoing COVID symptoms. It's now been four months. He is not yet back to normal. He has long COVID," she said.
11Alive reporter Paola Suro also stepped up to where the board members and superintendent speak. She asked Superintendent Chris Ragsdale for an interview. He has declined several interviews despite many of our efforts.
He declined to answer any questions and called up security to escort the 11Alive crew away from where he was sitting.
Suro and Susko weren't the only ones who did not get answers from Ragsdale that night.
After Ragsdale delivered his superintendent message in which he mentioned the COVID-19 guidelines once again, board member Jaha Howard tried starting a conversation.
"Are we still not doing any questions? A speech with no interactions?" Howard asked.
Chairman Davis Chastain replied, "Well, if you have any questions call the superintendent."
"Wow. You don’t think that’s a bit disgusting that we’ve been waiting to talk about this for a long time? We’re choosing not to discuss COVID?" Howard responded.
11Alive spoke to Howard after the school board meeting. He reiterated the need for open dialogue between the board, community members, and the superintendent.
“A lot of information was shared but to not have Q&A is problematic," he said. "Our board chose not to have Q&A. Our board chose to not have any professionals in the health space to come in and talk to us."
The latest COVID-19 guidelines made by the superintendent include no contact tracing.
During his remarks, Ragsdale took time to clear up some points he brought up during the Jan. 6 board meeting.
"The perception has been that you can return to school or work if positive, but asymptomatic. That is not the case and has never been the case," he said. "If you test positive, follow isolation protocol put in place by the CDC."
Susko said that Ragsdale was not clear during the last board meeting, when he announced this new guideline. In fact, she said the lack of discussion on these guidelines means some educators have returned to the classroom ill.
“Chris Ragsdale was not clear," she said. "I know what he said was if you are a close contact, not positive, but it wasn’t clear. And he waited two weeks to clarify that. So a lot of teachers have said, 'Do we go to school? Do we not? So some of them are going back sick.'"
Ragsdale gave another shoutout to Governor Brian Kemp for making contact tracing optional earlier this month, and added clarity to some other guidelines.
“We have been modifying protocols and we will be changing the reporting of numbers on our webpage. You will eventually see no numbers reported on our webpage after the omicron variant goes through," he said.
Numbers have not been updated on the districts' site since December.
Ragsdale added that the district is:
- Still sending informational communication of potential contact with positive cases within their group -- that includes whether they are in the same classroom and same bus.
- Continuing to switch classrooms to virtual learning whenever a high number of positive COVID-19 cases are presented.
- Making sure that when those classes return to face-to-face, only those who tested positive will wear the mask in class with the isolation protocol.