During the October 17 Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale kept his promise to give the community an opportunity to learn more about how the District keeps students and staff safe.
In fact, the Cobb County School District is taking a proactive approach to ensure the safety and security of students and staff. As announced during the meeting, Cobb Schools is now partnering with members of the intelligence community to enhance the District’s already robust safety supports outlined on Cobb Shield.
"We aim to bring nationally vetted agents to help safeguard your community and protect your children. Of the many causes we have supported, we can think of no higher purpose than ensuring the safety of future generations," one member of the national intelligence team told the Board.
Prior to the meeting, active members of the intelligence community assessed the security of several Cobb schools. Although they were impressed with our schools’ preparedness, they identified safety solutions that could be employed and tailored specifically for each Cobb school. During the meeting, they explained how, with their help, Cobb Schools can manage risks proactively, identify threats before incidents occur, and keep safety measures “left of launch,” which means stopping an incident before it happens.
“Over the past months, our work has put Cobb County on the forefront of school safety in the state of Georgia and on a national level," the national intelligence partner said.
Through the partnership, Cobb could assess the safety and security of each school campus through the same lens used by members of the national intelligence community. The District could also access a customized monitoring solution that provides real-time monitoring tailored to Cobb's needs. The help of counterintelligence could identify and mitigate outside threats such as gang recruitment, cyber exploitation, or community violence. Socio-cognitive analysis, tailored to each school, could recognize early warning markers and provide an opportunity for early interventions with the collaboration of school counselors, psychologists, and the community.
“This approach allows us to preemptively address these risks before they escalate to significant safety issues for students. This is essential for staying 'left of launch.' To do this, we have created a framework of 16 counter-intelligence-informed safety indicators. These indicators help us manage risks ranging from mental health crises and gang activity to online exploitation or domestic violence spillover. These indicators are crafted specific to Cobb County," another national intelligence partner explained.
As the safety experts advised, threats to student safety adapt, so schools must adapt with them. The Cobb Schools public safety team already partners with multiple local, state, and federal organizations to keep students safe. By adding the intelligence community to the District’s list of partners, Cobb Schools can ensure each school has access to the experience and supports that help keep the entire nation safe.
As a result, Cobb Schools will be a leader in proactive school safety.
"Our staff already has every tool to react to potential threats as quickly as humanly possible. By partnering with the intelligence community, we believe we can get in front of threats, before they start,” said Board Chair Randy Scamihorn.
Superintendent Ragsdale echoed the Board Chair when he explained why the proactive partnership is needed as part of the District's safety plan.
"No price is too high to protect students and staff," Superintendent Ragsdale declared.
The afternoon session of the Board of Education meeting highlighted another way the District is keeping students safe. As part of the ongoing commitment to transparency and the safety of students, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale announced the removal of six additional books for containing sexually explicit material not suitable for students to have unrestricted access.
October Board Recognitions:
K-12 Inventure Prize Competition State Finals, First Place K-2 Division – Kennesaw Elementary School 2nd grade gifted students with Totally Tubular – Mia Gonzalez, Grace Kerns, Emery Russell, and Teacher Dr. Valerie King
K-12 Inventure Prize Competition State Finals, First Place 6-8 Division – Mabry Middle School 7th grade gifted resource students with Allergen Avenger – Students Michael Baker, Danny Johnson, Andrew Steskal, and Teacher Scott McCord, competition and state final support provided by Dr. Ingle Larkin
2024-2025 Classified Employee of the Year, Elementary School – M. Allison Johnson, Baker Elementary School
2024-2025 Classified Employee of the Year, Middle School – Angie Bruner, McClure Middle School
2024-2025 Classified Employee of the Year, High School – Ragina Worthy, Sprayberry High School 
2024-2025 Classified Employee of the Year, District Office – Melissa Boschen, Academic Division
National School Bus Safety Week – October 21-25, 2024
Cobb County School District Bus Driver Appreciation Week – October 21-25, 2024
