Bells Ferry ES Second, third class moves; Ragsdale removes Dugard’s memoir

By Rebecca Gaunt

Second- and third-graders at Bells Ferry Elementary in Marietta will attend school at Chalker Elementary starting in August 2025 during a major construction update to the main building.

Cobb County Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said it was necessary because of a lack of space. The move is expected to last two years and is expected to be completed in 2027.

“With the implementation of this project, there will be some growing pains. The land is limited at Bells Ferry,” he said.

Detailed information went out to families Friday, according to the superintendent.

Transport will not be affected. Pupils are picked up at their regular bus stops and taken to Chalker.

Winter Construction is managing the project, which was approved by voters as part of the 2021 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).

Bells Ferry serves 750 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, according to the district’s website. It was built in 1972.

Chalker Elementary School in Kennesaw is less than three miles from Bells Ferry.

Book Removals

Ragsdale announced at Thursday’s work session that two more books have been pulled from all Cobb schools, bringing the total to 34.

Students will no longer have access to “Triangles” by Ellen Hopkins or “A Stolen Life: A Memoir” by Jaycee Dugard in school media centers.

Three other titles by Hopkins were previously pulled from circulation in the district: “Crank,” “Tricks” and “Identical.”

Read more here: Cobb inspector announces six more ‘spooky’ books taken out of circulation – Cobb Courier

Ragsdale did not explain the reasons for pulling “Triangles,” but he spoke at length about Dugard’s memoir. The book tells about her experience of being kidnapped in 1991 and held for 18 years by her captors.

“It is extremely difficult to imagine a human being treating another human being, especially a child, in such a tragic way. The reason “A Stolen Life” is being removed from general circulation is the very graphic descriptions of the rapes and other sexual assaults she suffered, as well as the language used throughout the book…it is a parent’s decision when or if their child has access to this material,” he said.

Ragsdale referred to an article in the Marietta Daily Journal “Sex trafficking pipeline runs through Cobb” by Hunter Riggall, He said he was shocked to learn that 91% of trafficked children attend public school at some point while being victimized.

“Going forward, our partnership with Servius will allow us to identify indicators of human and child trafficking occurring in Cobb County, which will then allow us to focus intervention efforts on making human trafficking in Cobb a difficult crime to commit,” he said.

Servius is the intelligence-gathering company whose partnership with CCSD was announced at the October school board meeting. The secretive nature of the presentation, where the presenters refused to reveal the name of the company or the full names of the staff, has attracted criticism in the community. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution broke the story that same month about who was really behind the company: a former Navy Seal named Rob Sarver, who used to provide security for the wealthy on vacation through the company.

Rebecca Gaunt earned a degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in education from Oglethorpe University. After teaching elementary school for several years, she returned to writing. She lives in Marietta with her husband, son, two cats and a dog. In her spare time, she loves to read, binge Netflix and travel.