EAST COBB, Ga. — A new dialogue has been started in Cobb County between judges and principals.
“We hope that this is the beginning of a great partnership and collaborative effort,” Adolphus Graves, court administrator for Cobb Co. Juvenile Court, said. “We wanted to start a conversation and engagement with the school principals and assistant principals, to really open up the lines of communication on how to work with children that are causing disruptions in schools and how to address the needs of court-involved children.”
In the last two weeks, Cobb County Schools have seen three major incidents requiring police intervention. On August 6, a student attacked an administrator at Walton High School, then threatened to kill everyone at the school. On August 12, a South Cobb High student was arrested for punching a teacher. And, most recently on August 16, a Wheeler High student was arrested after bringing a loaded gun to campus.
Juvenile judges say the purpose of Wednesday’s meeting was to maximize community safety by opening up communication.
“It was a great opportunity to hear from school principals about what they need in their schools, the support that they need,” Graves said. “And the judges have done a great job of opening up this line of communication. We just want to keep it going to make sure that we're supportive of the community, addressing the needs of these children even before they’re presented to the court in a formal manner.”
“I think this is great because it takes a community to work and help students,” Catherine Mallanda, principal of Walton High School, said. “The school has a big responsibility. There are so many different things out there, and sometimes as a school person, you don't know all of them. So anytime you can do that and look at a collaborative effort in putting together all different systems, I think you end up benefiting students the best.”
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