Cobb parents consider school alternatives as COVID-19 cases surge

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Some Cobb County parents are looking into alternative schooling options for their children as COVID-19 cases surge in the county.

Channel 2′s Audrey Washington was in Marietta, where one parent pulled her child from school and still hasn’t sent her back.

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Pooja Gupta said she may never send her daughter back if COVID-19 cases continue to rise, with no virtual learning option offered in the district. Parents could have signed their children up for the Cobb Learning Academy over the summer, but the registration period is now closed.

“We’re still not sure when to send her back to school because she’s still at home, upstairs doing her work, so we’re still not sure what to do,” Gupta said. “Honestly I am very very scared. We are very uncertain.”

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Last week, the East Side Elementary School principal sent all fifth graders home due to extremely high numbers of COVID-19 cases. The school has reported a total of 49 cases since the start of the school year.

Though Gupta’s daughter is in third grade at the school, as a precaution, she took her out of school. Now she’s considering private school.

“But that may not be the solution,” Gupta said. “If we pull her out and put her in private school, there are still going to be cases.”

Gupta is not alone in wanting to keep her daughter home.

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Tara Hill said she wants the school system to put last year’s protocols back into place and take the virus just as seriously as they did last year. Another parent told Washington last week that she wants a virtual option for her child, who is at King Springs Elementary. That school has reported nine COVID-19 cases since the start of school.

On Thursday, parents on both sides of the mask debate clashed in front of Cobb County’s district headquarters. Some of those parents also demanded a virtual option.

The district said, in part:

“We remain committed to providing options which support safe, high-quality learning environments for all 110,000 of our students, their families, and our staff.”

Cobb County Schools has reported 822 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the school year.

Parents protest, demand mask mandate at Cobb County schools A group of concerned parents protested outside Cobb County School headquarters Thursday afternoon demanding that the district make masks required for students a

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