Cobb County School District Superintendent Chris Ragsdale has repeatedly defended decisions to remove sexually explicit books and other materials for the last few years, without reservation.
That includes remarks he made recently at a kickoff rally for teachers and staff in which he referenced a pivotal race for the Cobb Board of Education in November with party control at stake—Post 4 in Northeast Cobb.
He tied the introduction of sexually explicit materials to young people with sex trafficking, and pushed back against critics who have accused the district of imposing book bans.
“What’s even more disturbing is that the environment that I just described—there are some of those very people who think that we are doing the wrong thing by removing these inappropriate sexually explicit materials who have chosen to run for the Board of Education,” Ragsdale said at the kickoff, which took place at Harrison High School.
“Make no mistake about it. It’s about the protection and safety of kids. Nothing having to do with politics. There is no room for disagreeing with what we’re doing. Somebody that disagrees with it has no business in education or anywhere around education, where there is responsibility of kids.”
Ragsdale didn’t mention anyone by name, but the Post 4 challenger Micheal Garza, a Democrat, came out swinging in response earlier this week.
He called Ragsdale’s speech a “tirade” that “was not only appalling in its content, but even more so in that he felt like this is what teachers needed to hear days before their first day of classes. Our teachers deserve a leader who doesn’t question their integrity because they don’t agree with the decisions he makes.”
Garza—who is trying to unseat Post 4 three-term Republican incumbent David Chastain—didn’t get much support when he posted those comments last weekend on his campaign’s Facebook page.
“Was his speech long winded? Yes. Should he have brought up politics? No. Is he perfect? No,” wrote a commenter who has been a Cobb teacher for 15 years. “But he has done an amazing job as superintendent. I feel supported with staff, supplies, trainings as well as the the money I am making.”
Another said that “I thank the good Lord for Ragsdale, who has the courage to stand against the forces that are eager to corrupt other people’s children. We must re-elect David Chastain. Sorry Garza, you are so wrong on this issue.”
But at a Cobb Board of Education meeting on Thursday, tensions rose even higher, and Ragsdale’s critics came out in full force during a public comment period.
Some read from social media comments from anonymous staff and teachers, or spoke on behalf of them “because they don’t feel safe speaking up for themselves.”
One of them is Katie Hearn, the mother of Hillgrove High School graduates, who told the board that “teachers are disheartened, and stunned by their superintendent’s lack of professionalism and leadership.”
She read from a comment from an unidentified teacher/staffer who claimed that Ragsdale’s “condescending remarks about a school board candidate” were “a conflict of interest in a speech meant to be inspirational.”
Laura Judge of East Cobb, who ran as a Democrat in 2024 for Post 5, told the board that “when taxpayer-funded events leave staff questioning the person leading them, our board should pay attention.”
At a Thursday night school board meeting, Ragsdale didn’t back down, repeating his comments about the need to purge sexually explicit materials.
He also said that “contrary to what it is now being suggested by some political campaigns, we do not fire educators simply because they read books to children.”
That was a swipe at Garza, who has been critical of the district’s decision to terminate former Due West Elementary School teacher Katie Rinderle in 2023.
She was the subject of a parental complaint for reading a book to her fifth-grade class about gender identity.
Ragsdale said she was fired “for making a decision for parents and intentionally elementary-age students to content with which which some families might disgree,” among other reasons.
He would up his comments by insisting that “I shall not be moved” and that “sexually explicit materials in schools is not a political issue, it is a student safety and protection issue.”
The district highlighted that comment in a release distributed after the meeting, as well as a statement from Chastain, the current school board vice chairman, that “we choose what’s best to nurture a young mind and to nurture a young heart.
“So yes, certain books are not permitted in the Cobb County School District, and that is because we’re thinking about protecting children.”
Chastain made similar remarks on Monday at a campaign fundraiser that included U.S. Rep. Clay Fuller, who told an audience at the Governor’s Gun Club that the school board race in Post 4 was “a fight of good vs. evil.”
At that event, Chastain touted Cobb as the “the largest conservative school district” on the country. “Family values and conservative principles are what guide us. This election is about maintaining that stability . . . that is how we ensure that students have a learning environment that is free from distraction.”
But on Thursday Garza noted that Ragsdale spoke about sexually explicit materials for 14 minutes during the school board meeting and only a few seconds about an incident at Campbell Middle School in which a student was found with a gun.
(Ragsdale said he couldn’t say much because of an ongoing “multi-state investigation” and that the student in question is in custody “and will face the full consequences.”)
Garza countered that “our students don’t need to be protected from books. They need to be protected from the growing epidemic of gun violence in our schools and communities. Our families are worried about it. Our teachers are worried about it.
“Those are the conversations that we should be having. But we’re not having them because of this board—a board that fails to hold our Superintendent and district accountable. We can change that with one single race in November.”
Related:
- East Cobb high schools stand out in U.S. News rankings
- Letter to the Editor: Drag queen author’s book in Reading Bowl
- Cobb school board to get demographic update at work session
- East Cobb students named to Cobb Youth Leadership class
- Campaign to ‘flip’ Cobb school board control intensifies
- 3 East Cobb school PTAs get School of Excellence recognition
- 2026 Milestones test results: East Cobb middle, high schools
- 2026 Milestones test results: East Cobb elementary schools
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
On the sideline in Cobb
