COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Cobb County Schools Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said at Thursday’s Board of Education meeting that a recent partnership with members of the intelligence community had led to more support systems in place to protect students.
According to the superintendent, the county is already taking a proactive approach for the safety and security of students and staff at Cobb County School District institutions.
Partnering with the intelligence community, CCSD will be adding more support to their Cobb Shield program.
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Before the board meeting on Thursday, multiple members of the intelligence community assessed security at several Cobb Couty schools, the superintendent told board members.
He said that while they “were impressed” with current preparations, they showed officials several other safety solutions that could be used, and tailored specifically, at the schools they assessed. Those intelligence community members gave a presentation to the board on safety as well.
“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.
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Intelligence community members told the board that using counterintelligence, the school district could both identify and mitigate outside threats affecting their students and staff, like gang recruitment, cyber exploitation and community violence, among others.
They also mentioned using socio-cognitive analysis tailored to each school to recognize early warning signs and create opportunities to intervene with school counselors, psychologists and community members.
“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.
Board Chair Randy Scamihorn said the partnership would help make sure Cobb Schools staff has every tool they need to handle threats as quickly as is humanly possible.
“By partnering with the intelligence community, we believe we can get in front of threats, before they start,” Scamihorn said.
Ragsdale added to that, saying no price was too high to protect students and staff at the county’s schools.
The presentation can be viewed online here.
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