ABC Newsletter: Cobb Schools picks a fight against apartments
Apartments in Cobb? ADUs in Kennesaw? And what will a task force on homelessness present to Cobb commissioners? May has been a busy month in Cobb.
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There’s a battle brewing in Cobb County between the Cobb County School District and those who want to see more housing built.
There’s no question that we have a housing shortage, and with housing costs increasing so much to both own or rent, it’s troubling when a School District attacks forms of new housing instead of focusing on their mission and objective of educating all students in the district.
“That is more than disturbing. It is alarming.” - Cobb Schools Superintendent Chris Ragsdale, May 15, 2025
Ragsdale’s remarks accentuate an attack from him and his school district’s administration on what it calls “a troubling trend that harms schools” — the “rapid approval of multi-family housing.”
The salvo was fired as part of the district’s presentation earlier this month on its “comprehensive demographic study to analyze student enrollment trends, evaluate building capacity, and forecast future needs.”
These attacks continue a pattern of targeting any attempted change made by the County Commissioners related to housing or transportation:
We could bullet point or summarize the district’s assertions on multi-family housing and apartments here, but perhaps better to leave most of it to you, dear reader. One of the district’s contentions is thus:
During county and city zoning meetings, school representatives routinely raise red flags about the negative impact of multi-family housing projects on nearby schools. Specifically, students who move from residence to residence (and school to school) perform consistently worse than students who do not move regularly.
Yet, East Cobb News mentioned that they haven’t seen the Cobb School District speak up enough about school impacts. Read their op-ed here: https://eastcobbnews.com/editors-note-apartments-and-the-future-of-cobb-schools/
The need for multiple housing options and inventory within each within Cobb is an issue A Better Cobb has and will continue to strive for as part of its mission.
As a rebuttal to the district’s claims, A Better Cobb released last week a comprehensive report of our own: “School District Data Misses the Truth: Cobb Needs Better Housing Policy.”
Here were our takeaways:
The permitting and building of new housing supply, including apartments, is actually down compared to historical trends.
Building new apartments doesn’t cause transiency. Housing instability due to a lack of housing supply is the main cause of transiency.
Our recommendations include housing policy changes to increase supply, more collaboration between the county and the school district, and direct support for the community under attack by the school system.
Instead of providing support and assistance to the communities most in need, Cobb Schools continues to use them as a political attack.
An excerpt from our research:
We found that new multi-family apartments do not correlate with a significant rise in student transiency. Our focus should instead be on mitigating factors that lead to families making the difficult choice to move their children to another community, like housing costs. In this article, we’ll discuss methods to address these real issues impacting families of all shapes and sizes.
…
… Cobb County can embrace growth and change in a way that benefits both schools and families. Cobb’s student mobility rates are average and stable, and where mobility challenges do exist, they are rooted in housing affordability and stability issues that can be addressed through better policy.
By focusing on inclusive zoning, walkable neighborhoods, and housing affordability – Cobb can ensure that families of all incomes can find stable homes and keep their kids in the same schools year after year. Rather than fearing apartments, we should harness good development as a tool: more housing diversity can mean more stable, long-term residents, which ultimately means stronger schools and a stronger community for Cobb County.
Commissioners, city leaders meet on apartment growth
Taking Superintendent Chris Ragsdale’s “alarming” remark to heart, Cobb Commission Chair Lisa Cupid convened Wednesday a gathering of multiple stakeholders across the county for an open dialogue, which per the Marietta Daily Journal “included four of the five members of the Cobb Board of Commissioners, county zoning staff and representatives from the cities of Powder Springs, Smyrna, Austell, Acworth and Mableton.
“Two of the Democrats on the Cobb Board of Education, Becky Sayler and Leroy Tre’ Hutchins, attended, but neither Ragsdale nor any member of his staff showed,” the newspaper reported.
School district leaders days earlier, despite the “alarming” matter at hand, pooh-poohed Cupid’s near-immediate offer to quickly discuss the matter, citing the district’s previously scheduled high school graduation ceremonies.
A Better Cobb’s research was printed out and given to every attendee at the meeting and both the County and mayors expressed that the impact of new apartments on schools was being exaggerated by the School District.
County’s Unhoused Taskforce to update county commissioners
Tuesday’s county happenings also include a Cobb Board of Commissioners work session at 1:30 p.m., which will include an update from the county's Unhoused Taskforce.
The agenda for the Tuesday afternoon meeting provides little insight as to what the Unhoused Taskforce will present. According to the Marietta Daily Journal, Tuesday’s work session will be the first time the full Board of Commissioners and the public will hear from the task force, which is meeting quarterly after it began forming earlier this year.
Like the Board of Commissioners business meetings, this and other work sessions are open to the public and streamed on the county’s Youtube channel. However, work sessions do not have public comment periods.
The topic of the unhoused, also sometimes referred to as “homelessness,” has been the focus of a significant amount of coverage from the Marietta Daily Journal, with its coverage on the topic compiled here.
We feel that this is yet another example of the lack of housing supply and rising housing costs impacting the most vulnerable in our community.
Kennesaw officials: Possible ‘accessory dwelling units’ policy to receive public input
The City of Kennesaw will soon schedule town hall discussions on a potential policy allowing accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, according to the Marietta Daily Journal.
What is an ADU? The American Planning Association defines it as “a smaller, independent residential dwelling unit located on the same lot as a stand-alone (i.e., detached) single-family home.” It goes on to explain:
ADUs go by many different names throughout the U.S., including accessory apartments, secondary suites, and granny flats. ADUs can be converted portions of existing homes (i.e., internal ADUs), additions to new or existing homes (i.e., attached ADUs), or new stand-alone accessory structures or converted portions of existing stand-alone accessory structures (i.e., detached ADUs).
In Kennesaw, the city as part of its proposal governing ADUs is looking to restrict them to just a few zoning categories, cap them at 900 square feet and bar them from being rented, the MDJ reported, adding that one council member has publicly voiced resistance to the proposal.
A Better Cobb’s Policy team sent an email to the Kennesaw City Council with these recommendations:
Increase or remove the overly restrictive setbacks
Remove unnecessary HOA or Design Committee approval
Remove the burdensome buffers between ADUs
Remove the yearly proof of owner-occupancy
So… What can you do? Get Involved!
Housing policy is difficult and opaque to discuss and we are battling against decades of exclusionary policy and fearmongering tactics that can be grouped into two categories: fear of change and fear of other people.
To combat this, we encourage everyone to do one of 3 things:
Discuss the topics with your friends, neighbors, colleagues. Either online or in person, the more people hear about the topics you support and why you support them, the more support we get.
Attend upcoming city council or county Commissioner meetings. The next Commission meeting is Tuesday, May 27, at 7 p.m. To speak, we recommend showing up at 6 p.m. If you’d like to attend or speak, let us know by emailing us or messaging us on our social channels.
Email your city council or commissioners. Let them know you support more housing, whether its ADUs, missing middle, starter homes, or apartments. The only way we address the current crisis is to get our voices heard.
Upcoming A Better Cobb Events
Come out and meet other A Better Cobb advocates at the following events
Tuesday, May 27, 7 p.m.: Cobb Board of Commissioners Meeting
EVERY Saturday: Marietta Bike Social 10 a.m. from Marietta Food Hall
Thursday, June 5, 6 p.m.: Climate & Cocktails at The Third Door
Tuesday, June 10, 9 a.m.: Cobb Board of Commissioners Meeting
Wednesday, June 18: Monthly Social: Walking Tour around Cumberland (details to come)
Tuesday, June 24, 7 p.m.: Cobb Board of Commissioners Meeting
Check out our events page for a live calendar.
What are A Better Cobb events like?
Our goal in hosting and attending events is bringing together a community that advocates for the housing, safety, and transportation policies we support. Take a look at the photos below for some photos taken at recent events.
Tuesday, June 27th Board of Commissioners Preview
As always, here is a preview of the upcoming Board of Commissioners Meeting:
General Announcements & Proclamations (5 items)
Public Comment (10 speakers, up to 3 minutes each on any topic)
Consent Agenda (29 items)
Item 20: Engineering firm selection for George Busbee Corridor Trail
Regular Agenda (7 items, all Transportation)
Item 35: Submission of Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Application Submission for the implementation of the Multi-Corridor Safety Improvements Project (Windy Hill Road, Pat Mell Road, and Olive Springs Road)
Public Comment Round 2 (10 speakers, up to 3 minutes each)
Appointments & Announcements (7 items)
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