Cobb parents hold protest demanding school district returns in-classroom option

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — It’s back to school for more students in metro Atlanta starting next week. Some kids will go back to the classroom and others will continue to learn from home.

Cobb County Schools won’t return until Aug. 17 with all virtual-learning to start the year. But a group of parents want a choice and held a protest Saturday morning to make their voices heard.

Channel 2′s Lauren Pozen attended the protest which drew a large crowd at the Cobb County Civic Center in Marietta. The parents we spoke with feel online learning is not a one-size-fits-all solution.

“Kids do not learn as well digitally as they do face-to-face. I just want the choice back to get my son back in school,” mother Anita Merryman said.

With an increase of COVID-19 cases, a handful of metro Atlanta school districts decided to start the year with remote learning only.

“For the board to give us the choice at first to do in person learning and virtual, that was great. That was almost like a tease and then they take it away,” James Checi said.

BACK 2 SCHOOL

• COUNTY-BY-COUNTY: Plans for returning to school this fall
• Hundreds of Cobb County families receiving food boxes during COVID-19 pandemic
• Cobb County parents calling on district leaders to reinstate face-to-face learning

That’s the crux of the issue for many. Amy Henry is part of a newly formed group called “Cobb County Parents For Choice.”

“We want their strategic plan to get us back face to face and we want to be in front of the board to understand how that decision was made and how are we moving forward,” Henry said.

In response to the group’s demands, a Cobb County schools spokesperson said in part:

“We will continue to make decisions based on guidance for high spread counties like Cobb County and what keeps our staff and students safe.”

Parents at Saturday’s protest told Channel 2 they won’t stop until their voices are heard.

“We are not going away until we get in front of the board and we can understand what the plan is because right now they have no plan,” Henry said.

An online petition urging the school district to reinstate a face-to-face learning option has more than 7,500 signatures as of Saturday morning.

Cobb parents trying to figure out how to balance their child's education with own jobs How will your kids truly learn with 100% virtual learning in Cobb County? Channel 2's Chris Jose reports.

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