Federal hearing taking place over Cobb Schools COVID policy
ATLANTA - Lawyers representing some parents in Cobb County will argue before a federal judge in order to force the Cobb County School District to strengthen its COVID-19 protocols.
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The parents are suing the district, saying its current COVID-19 policy puts their medically sensitive students at risk. They are asking for an emergency injunction to compel the school district to begin following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
A hearing is set for10 a.m. Friday at the federal courthouse in downtown Atlanta.
"She has a chronic lung disease that causes recurrent pneumonia, recurrent bronchitis, asthma," said Jessica Zeigler, referring to her daughter.
Zeigler is one of the parents with a medically sensitive student suing the Cobb County School District over its COVID policy. She says it would be too dangerous to send her first grade daughter to school for in classroom learning.
"I couldn't send her into the situation knowing that she had a pretty good chance of getting hurt, so I had to keep her home," she said.
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The Southern Poverty Law Center, which is representing the parents, say the current protocols, which includes a mask optional policy, put the plaintiffs in an impossible situation.
School leaders can't talk publicly about the lawsuit, but Cobb Superintendent Chris Ragsdale has pointed out that cases of COVID-19 within the district are sharply declining. He says this year's mask optional case numbers are statistically similar to last year when they had a mask mandate.
Zeigler is not convinced.
"I have a child who has no access to the school that she so desperately wanted to be at.
However, there are a number of parents who support the district's current policy. It is a balancing act that Cobb Schools is working to maintain in order to make sure the keep students and staff safe. They say they're doing what these parents say they are not.
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