COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Marietta City Schools is hosting a series of school-specific virtual town hall meetings this week in preparation for the reopening of schools.
During the meetings, the principal of each school and Superintendent Dr. Grant Rivera will respond to questions and suggestions from MCS families.
“Everyone is uncertain as we are,” Alice Darby said.
Darby and her husband, Eric, have twin children who are incoming freshmen at Marietta High School.
“We want our kids at home,” Darby said.
As a family, the Darbys opted for virtual learning over in-person instruction. MCS is offering both.
“We’re just not sure with the cases spiking,” Eric Darby said. “If something was to happen with a student or a teacher getting ill, what would be the next step?”
MCS is requiring face masks for all staff, students and visitors. Everyone will need to wear it in buildings and school buses. Exceptions will be made for medical reasons.
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The Cobb County School District is recommending masks but it’s not required.
“I don’t feel comfortable sending my kids to school if masks are only strongly encouraged,” said Sara Rylander, who has two daughters in Cobb County schools.
CCSD is asking parents to choose between a face-to-face or full remote learning model for the first semester.
“I’m not interested in my children being guinea pigs,” said Rylander. “We’ve kept our kids home for months now, and we don’t know what it’s going to look like when we push all of them back together.”
Cobb County delayed its opening to Aug. 17th. Marietta intends to start on Aug. 4th.
If a directive from the Governor’s office or health agencies change the projected start dates, the districts say it will immediately tell families.