COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Students across the Cobb County School District returned to class Monday, kicking off a new school year with an increased focus on campus safety, technology and communication with parents.
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Cobb County School District Superintendent Chris Ragsdale spent the morning welcoming students back at Pickett’s Mill Elementary School before sitting down with Channel 2 Action News to discuss the district’s priorities for the year.
Ragsdale said student safety remains the district’s top priority, especially after a student brought a gun to Hillgrove High School last school year, prompting a lockdown.
He said the district’s layered security approach helped staff quickly respond to the incident.
“At Hillgrove High School, we were able to have that resolved within 12 minutes,” Ragsdale said. “As soon as we found out, within 12 minutes it was resolved and over with.”
As part of its expanded security efforts, the school board approved funding to place Vapor Wake K-9s at every Cobb County high school. The specially trained dogs are capable of detecting hidden firearms and explosives during random screenings on campus.
“I asked them for up to $2 million so that we could fast-track getting a Vapor Wake K-9 at every single high school, and this week we have that,” Ragsdale said.
Ragsdale also addressed the growing role of artificial intelligence in education, saying the district wants students to learn how to use AI responsibly rather than avoid it altogether.
“We need to make sure that students can actually utilize the tools and not know nothing about them when they come out, because we’ve taken the approach of, ‘Oh my goodness, this is bad, we need to block it,’” he said.
The district is also introducing a new school bus tracking app this school year that will allow parents to monitor their children’s bus locations in real time.
Ragsdale also responded to criticism surrounding President Donald Trump’s recent visit to Wheeler High School after some questioned whether the event resembled a political rally.
“It’s the president of the United States of America. It’s a huge honor for the White House to have reached out to us wanting to come to Cobb,” Ragsdale said.
Ragsdale said the district’s security measures continue to evolve each year and expressed confidence that students and staff are well protected as another school year gets underway.
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