At the December Council meeting of the Northwest Cobb Area Chamber, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale was given the opportunity to discuss the District's plans for the second career academy, which will be located on the campus of Allatoona High School. 

He mentioned that some people have wondered why Allatoona was chosen since it is on the outer edge of the county, right near the Paulding County line. 

"What we're trying to do is place the career academies in specific parts of the county where students can have easy access," he explained. "Our responsibility as a school district is to provide as many paths to success as we possibly can. More students than not are now seeing the need for other career pathways. We have got to make sure that we are preparing our students, whether it's the workforce, the military, trade school, or college. When we chose Allatoona as the location for the second career academy, we were already thinking down the road for the third one."

The Superintendent went on to thank the Chamber for its support in helping to promote Ed-SPLOST, which funds the career academies, along with all of Cobb’s school buildings, safety supports, and technology. 

While he couldn't give specifics on the Allatoona Career Academy until the Board makes more decisions, the Superintendent did highlight some of the impressive results coming out of the current career academy—the Cobb Innovation and Technology Academy (CITA)—located on Osborne's campus. The interest in the career academy model is growing rapidly, and applications for CITA are at an all-time high. Partnerships with local businesses, internships, industry certifications, and direct employment after graduation are just some of the many benefits available to CITA students. WellStar Health System has made long-term and significant investments into CITA and its students that will benefit the community for many years to come. 

With his remaining time, Superintendent Ragsdale answered two questions from the audience about safety and academic performance. He addressed both topics with typically direct answers: 

"The tragedy at Apalachee brings safety to the front of everyone's mind," he said somberly. "Something has definitely changed in today's schools, and we need to change our response. The pivot that we're making is from being reactive to being preventative." 

Part of that pivot to preventative includes a new partnership with former members of the intelligence community at Servius Group. 

The Superintendent also mentioned that safety and security are always a major part of the Cobb Schools budget. "We are not in any way diminishing what we're already doing," he said. "For the last ten years, we have invested more than $35 million per year on student and staff safety. Teaching and learning is the goal, but that can't happen if students and staff don't feel safe." 

Regarding Cobb's academic excellence, Superintendent Ragsdale pointed out that the District regularly outperforms the rest of the state. "We exceed the state and national standards for everything that you want to measure. But there's always room for improvement. We will continue to get better at everything we do. We want to attract and retain the best teachers on the planet," he said.

Performance in the classroom, high pay for educators, and forward-looking professional development opportunities like Georgia's BEST are just a few of the factors that help to bring the best of the best to Cobb. The annual budget is always employee-centric, with 94% spent on Cobb’s approximately 19,000 teachers and staff. He highlighted that the District's unprecedented Triple-A credit rating and the county's strong support for Ed-SPLOST enable the focus to be on building the best educational team possible. 

"When you see major projects like CITA, CITA 2, and hopefully CITA 3, the rebuild at Sprayberry, the rebuild at Walton and Pebblebrook, every high school getting a new gym and theater, these are only possible due to the community support of SPLOST. And for that, we thank you," the Superintendent told the Chamber in closing. "And please tell our teachers how much you appreciate them the next time you see them."