Cobb school board OKs armed, non-police security for schools as protesters disrupt meeting

MARIETTA — As protesters chanted “delay the vote” and shamed officials, the Cobb County Board of Education on Thursday night approved Superintendent Chris Ragsdale’s request to add armed, non-police security personnel to schools, a new policy billed as a way to improve safety in case of a mass shooting.

A group of about 20 attendees argued during public comment that increasing the number of guns in schools, and allowing employees who are not certified police officers to wield them, would not make schools safer.

When the item came up for a vote at the end of the meeting, opponents staged a protest, chanting “delay the vote” and interrupting the meeting. The board went into recess for several minutes before returning. Board Chair David Chastain, shouting into his microphone so other board members could hear, continued to conduct proceedings amid the chaos.

The policy was approved 4-2 along partisan lines before Chastain adjourned the meeting. The board’s four Republican members voted in favor, while Democrats Dr. Jaha Howard and Leroy Tre Hutchins voted against. Board member Charisse Davis was absent from the meeting — Chastain said she was out sick.

Ragsdale presented the proposed policy to board members at its work session earlier Thursday. The superintendent said that hiring more security, even if they are not “POST-certified” (referring to the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council) is needed to increase security coverage across the district’s 114 schools. The district’s police department has 67 officers.

“If the board gave me a blank check and said, ‘Go hire a school resource officer for every single school in Cobb County,’ I could not do that,” Ragsdale said. “We could try. But we, just like every other law enforcement agency around us, even across the country, are having tremendous difficulty in hiring law enforcement officers.”

One provision which was later removed caused alarm by saying that teachers could carry weapons if the superintendent determines that a teacher has “unique qualifications” to do so. Jeff Hubbard, president of the Cobb County Association of Educators, said he heard from many concerned teachers about the provision. Ragsdale removed that language before the vote.

“I’m not in favor of arming teachers,” Ragsdale said. “Teachers have one job, and that’s to teach. If we decide to arm teachers, there are two jobs.”

Public commenters, including Alicia Bellezza-Watts, a parent of two Cobb students, expressed relief that teachers would not be armed, but were still concerned that security who have not received the same training as police would be present in schools.

“What information will we, the parents, have about these extra armed individuals that you are proposing to bring on campus? … How will we know who or how many armed individuals our students may be coming into contact with each day?” Bellezza-Watts said. “And how are our children, who are already traumatized by the news of other elementary schools, supposed to know that someone else who they see is armed is safe, if they are not a school resource officer?”

Alisha Thomas Searcy, a Cobb parent and the Democratic nominee for state school superintendent, also spoke out against Ragsdale’s proposal. As part of her campaign, Searcy has been conducting roundtables on school safety. She said all stakeholders she’s met with have agreed that only police officers should be carrying guns in schools.

“To my knowledge, neither of the Cobb law enforcement agencies have been involved in this process. And that concerns me, because of course, we have to leave the enforcement and protection of our schools to law enforcement professionals,” Searcy said.

Charles Andrew Cole, a father of two, said the policy was yet another instance of officials reacting to societal issues with a stick, instead of a carrot.

“We can work together to craft a more effective, more specific policy. And we can act in ways that reduce risks and the frequency of these incidents,” Cole said. “This is not the right policy. This policy would be scooping water out bucket by bucket instead of working together to address the gigantic leak that is in our boat.”

Policy details

The policy includes language requiring training in “judgment, pistol shooting, marksmanship, and a review of current laws relating to the use of force for the defense of self or others.” It also states, however, that the superintendent can waive certain training requirements if the person has already received training from prior law enforcement or military experience.

The policy gives the superintendent authority over the types and quantity of weapons and ammunition the employees can use.

The new security will be subject to background checks, the policy says. Ragsdale said they would also receive psychological screening. Training and screening, he said, will ensure that “when a balloon pops, you’re not pulling your firearm.”

When discussing school security in recent months, Ragsdale has emphasized the importance of keeping secret certain details of district procedures, to prevent a would-be attacker from accessing that information. To that end, he said of the new security, “we’re not going to identify who these people are.”

Meeting derailed

The policy was the last item on the board’s agenda Thursday night. When it came time to vote, protesters stood and chanted “delay the vote” repeatedly. Chastain called a short recess.

Protesters included members of Everytown for Gun Safety, a pro-gun control group, and the Cobb chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

The superintendent and board members huddled, then left the room for several minutes as police stood by. The meeting was delayed for about 10 minutes as protesters continued chanting, at one point sharing a bottle of water as their voices grew sore. Board member Randy Scamihorn approached Cobb SCLC President Ben Williams, shaking his hand, but Williams continued to chant “delay the vote.”

Eventually, board members returned to the room and reconvened. Protesters briefly stopped as Howard made a motion to postpone the vote until the board’s August meeting. It failed, with only Howard and Hutchins voting in favor. Then, despite the continued shouts, the board’s Republicans approved the policy and the meeting ended.