Georgia Association of Educators Suit Against State

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF FULTON COUNTY
STATE OF GEORGIA
GEORGIA ASSOCIATION OF EDUCATORS,

on behalf of its educator members;
M.J., on her own behalf and on behalf of her

minor child, R.J.,
CIVIL ACTION
Plaintiffs,
v. NO. _____________________
BRIAN P. KEMP, Governor of the State of

Georgia, in his individual capacity;
RICHARD WOODS, State School

Superintendent of the Georgia Department of
Education, in his individual capacity;
KATHLEEN TOOMEY, Commissioner of the

Georgia Department of Public Health, in her
individual capacity;
BRIAN OTOTT, Superintendent of the Paulding

County School District and member of the
district’s Board of Education, in his individual
capacity;
NICHOLAS CHESTER, member of the

Paulding County School District’s Board of
Education, in his individual capacity;
THERESA LYONS, member of the Paulding

County School District’s Board of Education, in
her individual capacity;
JOHN DEAN, member of the Paulding County

School District’s Board of Education, in his
GLEN ALBRIGHT, member of the Paulding

County School District’s Board of Education, in
his individual capacity;
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KIM COBB, member of the Paulding County
School District’s Board of Education, in her
JEFF FULLER member of the Paulding County

DAN NOLAN, member of the Paulding County

Defendants.
_____________________________________
COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

_____________________________________
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT
1. In this action, Plaintiffs seek protection for themselves and their families against
the unreasonable risk of exposure to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2
(“SARS-COV-2” or “the novel coronavirus”), and of the debilitating and life-threatening
illnesses that can result therefrom, caused by the Defendants’ acts and omissions. Those acts and
omissions amount to an abject failure at all levels of Georgia government, from the state to the
school district, to adequately address the threat that the novel coronavirus poses to public school
students, staff, and their families—a chain of failure that violates rights guaranteed by the
Georgia Constitution and by state statutory and common law.
PARTIES
2. Plaintiff Georgia Association of Educators (“GAE”) is a non-profit membership
organization with more than 28,000 members employed as public-school teachers, counselors,
and education support professionals by school systems throughout the State of Georgia. GAE’s
mission is to advance the teaching profession and the quality of public education throughout the
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State and to support, protect, and strengthen the education employees who nurture Georgia’s
children.
3. GAE brings this action on behalf of its members, who would otherwise have
standing to sue in their own right as they are directly and adversely affected by Defendants’
violation of their constitutional, statutory, and common-law duties. The interests that GAE seeks
to protect in this action—safeguarding the health and lives of education employees and
students—are germane to GAE’s purpose. Because this action seeks only declaratory and
injunctive relief, and does not raise any issues of individual damages, neither the claims asserted
nor the types of relief requested require the participation of individual members in the lawsuit.
4. Plaintiff M.J. is an education employee who works for a public school within
Paulding County School District and a parent of Plaintiff R.J., a student at a public school within
Paulding County School District. Plaintiffs M.J. and R.J. are proceeding pseudonymously
because they fear retaliation by school district officials. Plaintiffs M.J. and R.J. are collectively
referred to herein as “the Individual Plaintiffs.”
5. Defendant Brian P. Kemp is the Governor of the State of Georgia. He is sued in
his individual capacity.
6. Defendant Richard Woods is the State School Superintendent of the Georgia
Department of Education. He is sued in his individual capacity.
7. Defendant Kathleen Toomey is the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of
Public Health. She is sued in her individual capacity.
8. Defendants Kemp, Woods, and Toomey are collectively referred to herein as “the
State Defendants.
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9. Defendant Brian Otott is the Superintendent of the Paulding County School
District and a member of the district’s Board of Education. He is sued in his individual capacity.
10. Defendant Nicholas Chester is a member of the Paulding County School
District’s Board of Education. He is sued in his individual capacity.
11. Defendant Theresa Lyons is a member of the Paulding County School District’s
Board of Education. She is sued in her individual capacity.
12. Defendant John Dean is a member of the Paulding County School District’s
Board of Education. He is sued in his individual capacity.
13. Defendant Glen Albright is a member of the Paulding County School District’s
14. Defendant Kim Cobb is a member of the Paulding County School District’s Board
of Education. She is sued in her individual capacity.
15. Defendant Jeff Fuller is a member of the Paulding County School District’s Board
of Education. He is sued in his individual capacity.
16. Defendant Dan Nolan is a member of the Paulding County School District’s
17. Defendants Otott, Chester, Lyons, Dean, Albright, Cobb, Fuller, and Nolan are
collectively referred to herein as “the School District Defendants.”
JURISDICTION AND VENUE
18. This Court has jurisdiction over this action under the Georgia Constitution and
under O.C.G.A. §§ 9-4-2 to 9-4-3 and 9-5-1.
19. Venue is proper in Fulton County as Plaintiffs seek equitable relief against a
Defendant residing in Fulton County. See O.C.G.A. § 9-10-30.
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FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS
A. COVID-19 GENERALLY
20. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (“COVID-19”), is an infectious disease caused by a
new strain of coronavirus known as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2
(“SARS-COV-2” or “novel coronavirus”). Those infected with the novel coronavirus commonly
experience respiratory problems, including dry cough, sore throat, loss of taste and smell, and
difficulty breathing—as well as influenza-like symptoms such as fever, body aches, headaches,
and extreme fatigue. Some infected people experience severe respiratory problems, including
clogging of lung air sacs, and inflammation of the lungs. Among those with severe symptoms,
some develop acute respiratory distress syndrome, multi-organ failure, septic shock, and blood
clots. COVID-19 is not, however, limited to the respiratory system. Many people who become
ill from infection by the novel coronavirus suffer damage to the heart and vascular system, to the
gastrointestinal organs, to the kidneys, and to the brain.
21. Although most people who contract COVID-19 recover, the disease is fatal in a
significant number of cases—particularly among older persons and those with certain underlying
conditions. To date, more than 200,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, among them
more than 6,500 Georgians. And even among those who recover from the disease, many suffer
long-term problems, including cardiovascular, pulmonary, renal, gastrointestinal, and/or
neurological damage.
22. Some populations are especially vulnerable to the consequences of COVID-
19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (hereafter, “CDC”) recognizes that the risk
of severe illness from COVID-19 increases progressively with age, such that persons who are
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over 50 face increasingly higher risks at and above ages 60, 70, and 85.1 The CDC also
recognizes that persons of all ages are at increased risk if they have cancer, chronic kidney
disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a weakened immune system resulting from
organ transplants, obesity, serious heart conditions, sickle cell disease, or Type 2 diabetes
mellitus.2 In addition, the CDC recognizes a host of other conditions that may increase a
person’s risk, including moderate to severe asthma, cystic fibrosis, hypertension,
immunocompromised state resulting from disease or medication, liver disease, pregnancy,
smoking, and Type 1 diabetes mellitus.3
23. COVID-19 is highly contagious. The most common ways for COVID-19 to
spread is through close interaction with an infected person that allows the virus to spread through
airborne and/or aerosolized droplets released through exhalation, talking, coughing, or sneezing;
COVID-19 can also be spread through contact with contaminated surfaces. The risk of infection
through spread increases dramatically when individuals are in close physical proximity (i.e.,
within six feet of each other), particularly when such individuals are indoors, in places with poor
outside-air ventilation, and for extended periods of time—as is typical in the school setting. The
risk of infection increases exponentially for those in contact with infected persons who sneeze or
cough or otherwise project secretions into the air.
24. COVID-19 can be spread by individuals who show no symptoms or only mild
symptoms. For this reason, the CDC and other health authorities throughout the United states
1
CDC, “Older Adults” (updated Sept. 11, 2020), available at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-
ncov/need-extra-precautions/older-adults.html.
2
CDC, “People With Certain Medical Conditions” (updated Sept. 11, 2020), available at
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-
conditions.html.
3
Id.
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and the world have recommended that every individual should take significant efforts to avoid
close contact with persons outside of their own households, whether those other persons appear
to be infected or not, and to take further measures such as wearing face coverings when in
public. Research published by the CDC suggests that a single person with COVID-19 is likely to
infect five or six other individuals unless strict physical distancing practices and other
precautions are taken.4
B. COVID-19 ENDANGERS CHILDREN, EDUCATORS, AND SUPPORT STAFF
25. Children of all ages can become infected with the novel coronavirus; they also
can become ill, sometimes seriously ill, from such infections—although at a lower rate than
adults do.5 While children between the ages of 1 and 5 tend to be less likely than older children
and adults to contract severe illness from COVID-19 infection, as children grow their
susceptibility to COVID-19 increases as well.6 And when children require hospitalization due to
COVID-19, they require treatment in intensive care units as often as hospitalized adults with
4
See Steven Sanche, et al., “High Contagiousness and Rapid Spread of Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2,” Emerging Infectious Diseases Vol. 26, No 7 (July 2020),
available at https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/7/20-0282_article.
5
See Mayo Clinic Staff, “COVID-19 (coronavirus) in babies and children” (Aug. 14, 2020),
available at https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-
in-babies-and-children/art-20484405; Lara S. Shekerdemian, et al., “Characteristics and
Outcomes of Children With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), Infection Admitted to US
and Canadian Pediatric Intensive Care Units,” JAMA Pediatrics Vol. 174, No. 9 (May 11, 2020),
868-873 available at https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2766037.
6
See Rebecca Leeb, et al., “COVID-19 Trends Among School-Aged Children — United States,
March 1–September 19, 2020,” CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report (Oct. 2, 2020),
available at https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6939e2.htm;Taylor Heald-Sargent,
“Why children are not immune to Covid-19,” BBC Future (March 31, 2020), available at
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200330-coronavirus-are-children-immune-to-covid-19.
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COVID-19 do.7 Moreover, children of all ages with certain underlying conditions—including
metabolic disorders, obesity, diabetes, asthma and chronic lung disease, or
immunosuppression—face the risk of serious illness from contacting the virus.8 And some
children who have been infected with or exposed to the virus contract multisystem inflammatory
syndrome, a serious and sometimes life-threatening condition in which organs and blood vessels
become inflamed.9
26. The CDC recently analyzed data from a single reporting system that confirmed
more than 275,000 COVID-19 infections among school children from March 1 to September 19,
2020. Neary 60% of those children experienced at least one symptom of the disease. More than
3,000 were hospitalized, including more than 400 who were admitted to intensive care units, and
51 died from the disease.10 The CDC points out that that the actual incidence is apt to be higher,
since the study examined data from one reporting system, and also because testing is more
common for individuals with symptoms and asymptomatic infection in children is common.11
7
See Mayo Clinic Staff, “COVID-19 (coronavirus) in babies and children” (Aug. 14, 2020),
available at https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-
in-babies-and-children/art-20484405.
8
See CDC, “People with Certain Medical Conditions” (Updated Sept. 11, 2020), available at
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-
conditions.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-
ncov%2Fneed-extra-precautions%2Fgroups-at-higher-risk.html#children-underlying-conditions.
9
See Mayo Clinic, “Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and COVID-19”
(June 12, 2020), available at https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-
depth/mis-c-in-children-covid-19/art-20486809; CDC, “Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in
Children (MIS-C) associated with COVID-19” (May 20, 2020), available at
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/children/mis-c.html.
10
See Rebecca Leeb, et al., “COVID-19 Trends Among School-Aged Children — United States,
March 1–September 19, 2020,” CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report (Oct. 2, 2020),
available at https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6939e2.htm.
11
Id.
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Moreover, this CDC study showed that the number of reported cases of COVID-19 in school-
aged children began rising in early September as many children returned to their schools.12
27. Similarly, a recent study by the American Academy of Pediatrics shows that the
proportion of COVID-19 cases among children nationally has risen substantially since the
Spring—rising from 3% of new weekly cases in April to between 12-15.9% of new weekly
reported cases from late July through late September.13 This dramatic increase in COVID-19
cases coincides with the reopening of schools in many jurisdictions.
28. In addition to facing the risk of serious illness and death themselves, school-aged
children who are infected the novel coronavirus can put those with whom they are in close
contact at risk of serious illness and death. While children ages 1 to 5 who are exposed to the
novel coronavirus are less likely to spread the virus than are older children or adults, children
between the ages of 10 and 19—a group that includes students in grades 5 through 8 and all high
school students—spread the virus just as readily as adults do.14 Because children are more likely
to have a mild or asymptomatic infection, infections among children may go undetected or
12
Id.
13
See Blake Sisk, et al., “National Trends of Cases of COVID-19 in Children Based on US State Health
Department Data,” Pediatrics (Sept. 23, 2020), available at
https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/early/2020/09/25/peds.2020-0766.full.pdf.
14
See Park, Young Joon, et al., “Contact Tracing during Coronavirus Disease Outbreak, South
Korea, 2020,” Emerging Infectious Diseases Vol. 26, No. 10 (Oct. 2020), available at
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/10/20-1315_article?s=09; Apoorva Mandavilli, “Older
Children Spread the Coronavirus Just as Much as Adults, Large Study Finds,” N.Y. Times (July
18, 2020; updated July 30, 2020), available at
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/18/health/coronavirus-children-schools.html.
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undiagnosed. As a result, infected children with only mild symptoms, or none at all, can
unknowingly spread the novel coronavirus for weeks.15
29. Educators, education support professionals (e.g., bus drivers, cafeteria workers,
custodial staff), and their families face serious risks from the resumption of in-person instruction
without adequate safeguards given that their work involves being indoors or other, more limited
enclosed spaces like buses, with large numbers of children and other employees throughout the
day. These risks are particularly acute for the significant number of education employees who
are at high risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19, as well as family members of
education employees who are at high risk: A recent study has shown that more than 40% of
school employees meet the CDC’s criteria for being at increased risk of severe illness from a
COVID-19 infection and that more than 63.2 percent of school employees live in households
with at least one adult who meet the CDC’s criteria for increased risk.16
C. INTERNATIONAL, NATIONAL, AND STATE RESPONSES TO THE COVID-19

PANDEMIC
30. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (hereafter, “WHO”) declared
COVID-19 to be a global pandemic.
31. On March 13, 2020, President Donald Trump declared a national state of
emergency in the United States by reason of the COVID-19 pandemic.
15
See Roberta L. DeBiasi, et al., “Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Viral Shedding in Pediatric
Patients Infected With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2),”
JAMA Pediatrics (Aug. 28, 2020), available at
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2770149.
16
Thomas M. Selden, et al., “The Risk Of Severe COVID-19 Within Households Of School
Employees And School-Age Children,” Health Affairs Vol. 39, No. 11 (September 17, 2020),
available at https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.01536.
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32. On March 14, 2020, Defendant Kemp declared a public health state of emergency
“due to public health emergency from the spread of COVID-19.” That declaration
acknowledged the CDC’s warnings “that COVID-19 is proliferating via ‘community spread,’
meaning people have contracted the virus in areas of Georgia as a result of direct or indirect
contact with infected persons, including some who are not sure how or where they became
infected.” The declaration states that it is “necessary and appropriate to take action to protect the
health, safety, and welfare of Georgia’s residents and visitors to ensure that COVID-19 remains
controlled throughout the state” and accordingly ordered the Georgia Department of Public
Health “to take any action necessary to protect the public’s health” by, among other things,
“[e]stablishing protocols to control the spread of COVID-19” and “[i]mplementing quarantine,
isolation, and other necessary health interventions.”
33. Defendant Kemp renewed the March 14, 2020 state of emergency declaration
seven times. The latest renewal issued on September 30, 2020 and remains in effect as of the
date of this Complaint.
34. As of the date of this Complaint, the Georgia Department of Public Health has
reported more than 320,000 cases of COVID-19, more than 7,200 deaths from COVID-10, and
more than 29,000 hospitalizations due to COVID-19.17
35. The WHO, the CDC, and doctors, scientists, and epidemiology and public health
experts throughout the world agree that infection from COVID-19 can be minimized only by
slowing the spread of the disease, principally by limiting human-to-human contact (including
17
Georgia Department of Public Health COVID-19 Daily Status Report, available at
https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report (accessed October 7, 2020).
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through physical distancing) and by taking other preventative measures, such as the use of
personal protective equipment and frequent handwashing and sanitization of physical objects.
36. Public health experts across the country and the world have issued extensive
recommendations regarding whether and how schools should reopen. While these
recommendations vary in terms of their details and precise thresholds for reopening schools, a
clear consensus has emerged that schools should only be opened for in-person instruction where
levels of COVID-19 transmission in the surrounding community are low; and once that criterion
is met, schools must implement mitigation measures to reduce the risk of transmission.18
37. The WHO has advised that the test positivity rate—that is, the percentage of
diagnostic COVID-19 tests that are positive—should be below 5% before communities reopen.19
38. On May 20, 2020, the CDC issued detailed guidelines (hereafter, “CDC
Guidelines”) concerning when, and under what conditions, to reopen schools as part of a
comprehensive document concerning the surveillance and control of COVID-19 entitled “CDC
Activities and Initiatives Supporting the COVID-19 Response and the President’s Plan for
Opening America Up Again,” available at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-
ncov/downloads/php/CDC-Activities-Initiatives-for-COVID-19-Response.pdf.
39. The CDC Guidelines call for “a gradual scale up towards pre-COVID-19
operating practices” in schools that is tied to the CDC’s three-phase framework for gradually
18
See Harvard Global Health Institute, “The Path to Zero and Schools: Achieving Pandemic Resilient
Teaching and Learning Spaces” (July 2020), available at https://globalepidemics.org/wp-
content/uploads/2020/07/pandemic_resilient_schools_briefing_72020.pdf ; John Lowe, et al., “COVID-
19 Back to School PlayBook: Guiding Principles to Keep Students, Teachers, and Staff Safe in K-12
Schools,” Univ. of Neb. Medical Center College of Public Health (Aug. 8, 2020), available at
https://www.nebraskamed.com/sites/default/files/documents/covid-19/K-12-
Playbook.pdf?date=08052020.
19
See WHO, Public health criteria to adjust public health and social measures in the context of COVID-
19 at 1-2 (May 12, 2020), available at https://apps.who.int/iris/rest/bitstreams/1277773/retrieve.
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lifting restrictions. Each of those phases, in turn, is tied to six separate “‘gating’ indicators” that
set thresholds for entering each phase, to wit, (1) a downward trajectory (or near-zero incidence)
of documented cases over a 14-day period; (2) a downward trajectory (or near-zero incidence) in
emergency department and/or outpatient visits for COVID-like illness; (3) a downward trajectory
(or near-zero incidence) in emergency department and/or outpatient visits for influenza-like
illness; (4) a downward trajectory (or near-zero percent positive) of positive tests as a percentage
of total tests over a 14-day period; (5) the ability to treat all patients without crisis care
(measured by intensive-care-unit-bed capacity, no staff shortages, and adequate supplies of
personal protective equipment); and (6) a robust testing program (measured by the percentage of
positive tests and the speed with which results are available).
40. The CDC Guidelines state that for communities that are in the first phase, schools
that are closed should remain closed. For “[c]ommunities with low levels of COVID-19 spread
and those with confidence that the incidence of infection is genuinely low (e.g., communities that
remain in low transmission or that have entered Step 2 or 3)” the CDC advised that schools
implement specific health and safety measures “as part of a gradual scale up of operations.”
Those health and safety measures include:
a. Implementing healthy hygiene practices, including:
i. Hand-washing and proper cough and sneeze etiquette; wearing of

face coverings, particularly when physical distancing is difficult.
ii. Having adequate hygiene supplies, including soap, hand sanitizer

with at least 60 percent alcohol (for staff and older children who
can safely use hand sanitizer), paper towels, tissues, and no-touch
trash cans.
iii. Posting signs on how to stop the spread of COVID-19, properly

wash hands, promote everyday protective measures, and properly
wear a face covering.
b. Intensifying cleaning, disinfection, and ventilation, including:
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i. Cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces in the school
and school buses.
ii. Ensuring ventilation systems operate properly and increasing

circulation of outdoor air.
c. Social distancing, including by:
i. Ensuring that student and staff groupings are as static as possible

by having the same group of children stay with the same staff.
ii. Restricting mixing between groups.
iii. Cancelling all field trips, inter-group events, and extracurricular

activities
iv. Limiting gatherings, events, and extracurricular activities to those

that can maintain social distancing, support proper hand hygiene,
and restrict attendance of those from higher transmission areas.
v. Restricting nonessential visitors, volunteers, and activities

involving other groups at the same time.
vi. Spacing seating/desks to at least 6 feet apart.
vii. Closing communal use spaces such as dining halls and

playgrounds where possible or otherwise staggering use.
viii. Serving meals in classrooms instead of cafeterias.
ix. Staggering arrival and drop-off times or locations, or put in place

other protocols to limit close contact with parents or caregivers as
much as possible.
x. Creating social distance between children on school buses.
d. Planning for when a staff member, child, or visitor becomes sick,

including by:
i. Establishing procedures for safely transporting anyone sick home

or to a healthcare facility.
ii. Notifying local health officials, staff, and families immediately of

a possible case while maintaining confidentiality consistent with
the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other laws.
iii. Closing off areas used by a sick person, waiting 24 hours, and then
cleaning and disinfecting.
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iv. Advising sick staff members and children not to return until they
have met CDC criteria to discontinue home isolation.
v. Inform those who have had close contact to a person diagnosed

with COVID-19 to stay home and self-monitor for symptoms and
to follow CDC guidance if symptoms develop.
e. Maintain healthy operations, including by:
i. Implementing flexible sick leave policies and practices.
ii. Creating a communication system for staff and families for self-
reporting of symptoms and notification of exposures and closures.
41. On September 1, 2020, the CDC released guidance titled “Operating Schools
During COVID-19: CDC’s Considerations” (hereafter, “CDC Considerations”), available at
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/schools.html.
42. The CDC Considerations state that schools should “make decisions about school
reopening based on available data including levels of community transmission and their capacity
to implement appropriate mitigation measures in schools to protect students, teachers,
administrators, and other staff.”
43. The guidance also provides detailed recommendations for appropriate mitigation
measures schools can take to reduce the spread of COVID-19, including “key” measures such as
physical distancing within buses, classrooms and other areas of the school; healthy hygiene
habits; cleaning and disinfection; use of masks; staggering student schedules; and planning for
staff and teacher absences.
44. On September 15, 2020, the CDC released further guidance on reopening schools
titled “Indicators for Dynamic School Decision-Making” (hereafter, “CDC Indicators”),
available at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-
childcare/indicators.html.
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45. The CDC Indicators identify two “core” factors that should be considered in
deciding whether to open schools for in-person learning—the level of community transmission,
and the school’s ability to implement critical mitigation measures like contact tracing, physical
distancing, and use of masks—as well as “secondary” factors such as the number of local
hospital beds and the 7-day change in the number of new cases.
46. The CDC Indicators note that schools are at the highest risk for transmission
where they are located in communities with test positivity rates over 10%.
47. As of October 6, 2020, Georgia’s overall test positivity rate stood at 10%, and the
positivity rate over the prior two-week period stood at 5.9%. In 32 counties, including many of
the most populous counties in the state, the positivity rate for the past two weeks was more than
10%, placing them in the CDC’s highest risk category and well above the WHO’s 5% threshold
for reopening. In four of those counties, as of October 6, the two-week positivity rate was 20%
or higher.20
48. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the State Defendants have steadfastly
refused to issue meaningful, binding requirements for school districts concerning how they are
expected to operate during the pandemic. The Defendants’ treatment of schools stands in sharp
contrast to standards it has set for other entities such as restaurants, retailers, or summer camps.
49. On March 16, 2020, Governor Kemp issued Executive Order 03.16.20.01, which
closed all public elementary, secondary, and post-secondary schools through March 31, 2020.
Governor Kemp extended that order through April 24, 2020 via Executive Order 03.26.20.02,
20
See Georgia Department of Public Health Daily Status Report, available at
https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report (accessed October 7, 2020).
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and subsequently extended it through the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year through
Executive Order 04.01.20.01.
50. On April 2, 2020, Governor Kemp issued Executive Order 04.02.20.01,
establishing statewide shelter-in-place restrictions to stop the spread of COVID-19.
51. On May 28, 2020, Governor Kemp issued Executive Order 05.28.20.02, which
restricted “Gatherings of Persons” across the state. The order imposed limitations on gatherings
for a variety of entities including restaurants, summer camps, and non-profits. The order also
specified steps businesses needed to take to mitigate exposure and spread of COVID-19 if they
wished to remain open including requiring hand washing, screening workers, and observing
physical distancing.
52. Executive Order 05.28.20.02 exempted summer school programs from limitations
on gatherings, and while it directed districts to implement “additional measures to prevent the
spread of COVID-19” it did not identify any specific mandatory standards and instead offered
suggestions for steps districts “may” take such as “[e]ncouraging handwashing” or
“discouraging” students from sharing phones, desks and other equipment. At the time of this
executive order, community transmission rates, as measured by the 7-day moving average of
new daily cases, were more than 25 times what they were when Defendant Kemp closed schools
on March 16 and more than double what they were when Defendant Kemp instituted his April 2,
2020 shelter-in-place order.21
21
As the Georgia Department of Health’s data shows, the 7-day average of daily new cases on was 30.6
on March 16, 514 on April 2, and 740 on May 28. See Georgia Department of Public Health Daily Status
Report, available at https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report (accessed October 7, 2020).
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53. The Governor justified his differential treatment of schools in Executive Order
05.28.20.02 not by pointing to any decreased risk of disease transmission or severe illness in
schools, but because of “the limited resources of school districts in this state.”
54. On July 13, 2020, GADOE and the Georgia Department of Public Health released
guidance on reopening schools titled “Georgia’s Path to Recovery for K-12 Schools” (hereafter,
“July Guidance”). At this time, community transmission rates in Georgia were sky-high, with an
average of more than 3,300 new cases per day—more than 100 times what they were when
Defendant Kemp closed schools on March 16, and more than six times what they were when
Defendant Kemp instituted his April 2 shelter-in-pace order.22
55. The July Guidance encouraged school districts to establish practices to prevent
and address the spread of COVID-19, including closing schools where necessary—but stressed
that the actions recommended therein were “not mandated, or state required.” Exhibit A at 1
(emphasis in original).
56. On July 15, 2020, Governor Kemp issued Executive Order 07.15.20.01,
“Providing Additional Guidance for Empowering a Healthy Georgia in Response to COVID-19.”
Like previous pronouncements, Executive Order 07.15.20.01 restricted “Gatherings of Persons”
across the state. It allowed “Critical Infrastructure” businesses to open, but orders them to
implement telework “to the maximum extent practicable.” For both essential and non-essential
businesses, the order imposed mandatory standards to prevent the spread of COVID-19. For
example, the order requires childcare facilities to screen children before admitting them to the
facility and observe cleaning protocols for toys. The order requires gyms and bars to provide
22
As the Georgia Department of Health’s data shows, the 7-day average of daily new cases on was 30.6
on March 16, 514 on April 2, and 740 on May 28. See Georgia Department of Public Health Daily Status
Report, available at https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report (accessed October 7, 2020).
- 18 -
hand sanitizer to patrons, requires movie theaters to employ ushers to enforce physical
distancing, and prohibits restaurants from operating self-serve food stations.
57. By contrast, Executive Order 07.15.20.01 directed school districts to implement
“additional measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19” but only mandated that schools screen
symptomatic employees and students and require them to stay home and seek medical attention,
despite the fact that the novel coronavirus has an incubation period of up to two weeks and that
some twenty percent of those who contract the novel coronavirus are asymptomatic—a number
that climbs to 40% among school-aged children.23 While the Order suggests school districts
implement additional measures like reducing class sizes, disinfecting surfaces, and ensuring
adequate ventilation, districts need only take these steps “as appropriate,” “as practicable,” or in
a manner that “encourages” or “discourages” particular behaviors on the part of staff or students.
58. Governor Kemp has issued four subsequent executive orders since Executive
Order 07.15.20.01 that address “Providing Additional Guidance for Empowering a Healthy
Georgia in Response to COVID-19,” most recently on September 15, 2020. Each order contains
the same language as Executive Order 07.15.20.01 with respect to school reopening; none
impose additional requirements on public school districts, and they continue to largely exempt
schools from safety measures required of other entities by citing “the limited resources of school
districts in this state.”
23
Studies published from March to June 2020 showed that up to one in five persons infected with the
novel coronavirus do not show symptoms of the disease. See Diana Buitrago-Garcia, “Occurrence and
transmission potential of asymptomatic and presymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections: A living systematic
review and meta-analysis,” PLOS Medicine Vol. 7 No. 9 (Sept. 22, 2020), available at
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003346. The CDC has found that only about 60% of school-aged
children infected by the novel coronavirus show any symptoms. See Rebecca Leeb, et al., “COVID-19
Trends Among School-Aged Children — United States, March 1–September 19, 2020,” CDC
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report (Oct. 2, 2020), available at
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6939e2.htm.
- 19 -
59. Clear warning signs as to dangers posed by Defendant Kemp’s laissez faire
approach to schools emerged well before schools even began to resume in-person instruction. In
June 2020, a summer camp in north Georgia that operated in compliance with Defendant Kemp’s
executive orders—which contain similarly inadequate requirements for summer camps—quickly
became a super-spreader event. In early July of 2020, it was widely reported that the camp was
forced to close within days after the first camp employee developed symptoms and that at least
85 campers and staff had tested positive.24 A subsequent study by the CDC, first released on
July 31, 2020, showed that in the end, 260 of the 344 children and staff at the camp had become
infected.25
60. National and regional news regarding school reopenings in other states also
should have set off alarm bells. On August 1, 2020, the New York Times reported that one of the
very first school districts in the country to resume in-person classes, Garfield Central Junior High
in Indiana, “did not even make it a day before” learning that a student had become infected with
the novel coronavirus and ordering all those who had contact with that student to go into
quarantine.26 And on August 2, it was reported that a school that opened in neighboring
24
See Lori Daniel, et al., “YMCA camp in Georgia closes after a staff member tested positive for
coronavirus,” CNN (updated July 6, 2020), available at https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/05/us/georgia-
ymca-camp-coronavirus/index.html; Cox Media Group National Content Desk, “85 campers and staff test
positive for COVID-19 at YMCA summer camp,” WFTV 9 (July 11, 2020), available at
https://www.wftv.com/news/trending/85-campers-staff-test-positive-covid-19-ymca-summer-
camp/OPSPVDSXRFCLZOD7SEMLCYN2OA/.
25
Christine M. Szablewski, et al., “SARS-CoV-2 Transmission and Infection Among Attendees of an
Overnight Camp — Georgia, June 2020” CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (Aug. 7, 2020;
posted online as an Early Release on July 31, 2020), available at
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6931e1.htm.
26
See Eliza Shapiro, “A School Reopens, and the Coronavirus Creeps In,” N.Y. Times (Aug. 1, 2010),
available at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/01/us/schools-reopening-indiana-coronavirus.html.
- 20 -
Mississippi on July 27, 2020 had a student tested positive for the novel coronavirus during the
first week of classes.27 That case led to a quarantine of 116 students and staff.28
61. Despite these clear warning signs, Defendants still failed to provide any
meaningful, binding guidelines for when, and if so to what extent and under what conditions,
schools could resume in-person instruction. And predictably, when some Georgia schools
reopened in August of 2020, prematurely and without even the most essential safeguards,
outbreaks promptly occurred and forced schools to reclose.
62. On Monday, August 3, 2020, several school districts in Georgia opened for in-
person instruction, including the Paulding County School District and the Cherokee County
School District.
63. Shortly after North Paulding High School students shared photos on social media
from the first days of school, showing hallways packed wall-to-wall with mask-less students
crowded together, the school announced that six students and three staff members had tested
positive for the novel coronavirus and that the school would be closed for two days so that
buildings could be disinfected.29 The school, which had been planning to hold softball and
27
Justin Vicory, “Corinth School District, first to reopen in Mississippi, reports COVID-19 case,”
Mississippi Clarion Ledger (Aug. 2. 2020), available at
https://eu.clarionledger.com/story/news/2020/07/31/student-covid-corinth-mississippi-first-week-school-
reopening/5559279002/.
28
See Jaclyn Peiser, “A Mississippi town welcomed students back to school last week. Now 116 are home
in quarantine,” Washington Post (Aug. 6, 2020), available at
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/08/06/school-coronavirus-outbreak-mississippi/.
29
Derek Hawkins, “Georgia school in viral photos will close for cleaning after nine people test positive
for coronavirus,” Washington Post (Aug. 9, 2020), available at
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/08/09/nine-people-test-positive-coronavirus-georgia-
school-where-photos-packed-hallways-went-viral/.
- 21 -
volleyball games, also cancelled extracurricular activities.30 The superintendent of the Paulding
County School District, Defendant Otott, stated that “[t]here is no question that the photo does
not look good” and defended the district’s approach, claiming that it was not possible to require
students to wear face coverings.31 At the same time, the school disciplined a student who had
shared the images on social media, reversing that decision only after drawing media attention
and a massive public outcry.32
64. At a news conference on August 10, 2020, Defendant Kemp stated, “I think quite
honestly this week went real well other than a couple of virtual photos.”33
65. Within two days of that assessment, 11 schools in the Cherokee County School
District were forced to close, and school officials asked some 1,200 students and staff members
to quarantine due to possible COVID-19 exposure.34
66. Also during the first week of reopening, the Deputy Superintendent of the
Camden County School District, amid rumors that a staff member had tested positive, sent a
memorandum to all school administrators on August 5, 2020 forbidding staff who have tested
30
Brakkton Booke, “9 Test Positive For Coronavirus After In-Person Classes Resume At Georgia High
School,” NPR (Aug.t 10, 2020), available at https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-
updates/2020/08/10/900846570/georgia-high-school-temporarily-switches-to-virtual-learning-after-9-
positive-te.
31
See Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio, “Suspension Lifted of Georgia Student Who Posted Photos of
Crowded Hall,” N.Y. Times (Aug. 6, 2020; updated Aug. 12, 2020).
32
Id.
33
See Associated Press, “Georgia governor: School openings going well except photos of crowded
hallways,” Politico (Aug. 10, 2020), available at https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/10/georgia-
crowded-schools-governor-393151.
34
Richard Fausset, “1,193 Quarantined for Covid. Is This a Successful School Reopening?,” N.Y. Times
(Aug. 12, 2020), available at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/12/us/georgia-school-coronavirus.html.
- 22 -
positive from “notify[ing] any other staff members, parents of their students or any other
person/entity” of their possible exposure.35
67. On August 12, 2020, in the midst of school closures due to outbreaks of COVID-
19 among students, the Georgia Department of Health issued interim guidance for school
districts, titled “Guidance for Georgia K-12 Schools and School-Based Programs” (“August
Guidance”), available at https://dph.georgia.gov/document/document/guidance-georgia-
schools/download.
68. Like Defendant Kemp’s executive orders, the August Guidance from the
Department of Health is grossly inadequate to protect the health of students, staff, and their
families. The actions required of school districts by the August Guidance can be boiled down
into just two components. First, districts must require teachers, staff and students to stay home
from school if they have tested positive or are showing COVID-19 symptoms, or if they have
had close contact with a person with COVID-19. Second, schools are required to notify their
public health department about cases, clusters and outbreaks of COVID-19 identified in the
school setting.
69. The August Guidance “recommends”—but does not require—that school
districts:
a. Take measures to effect social distancing, including placing desks six feet
apart, reducing class sizes, or installing signs around school buildings
reminding students and staff to maintain physical distance;
b. Discontinue self-service food and beverage distribution in school

cafeterias;
c. Provide personal protective equipment or cleaning supplies for staff;
35
Dan Levin, “Covid in the Classroom? Some Schools Are Keeping It Quiet,: N.Y. Times (Aug. 22,
2020), available at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/22/us/school-reopenings-coronavirus-
reporting.html.
- 23 -
d. Require students and staff to wear cloth face coverings, while at the same
time acknowledging that face coverings are “most essential” in instances
where physical distancing is difficult;
e. Consider ways to accommodate students, staff and families at higher risk

for severe COVID-19 illness;
f. Implement protocols for cleaning and disinfecting school buildings and

school buses;
g. Ensure building ventilation systems operate properly, and water systems

are safe;
h. Conduct screenings of people entering school buildings, such as checking

temperatures with touchless thermometers; and
i. Make reliable, age-appropriate, and culturally responsive information

available to students, families, and staff about COVID-19 prevention and
mitigation strategies.
70. While the State Defendants have issued grossly inadequate guidelines, or
otherwise failed to act responsibly to help avoid schools’ predictably becoming nodes of
widespread virus transmission—and the School District Defendants have, in turn, used their
latitude to generally spurn all guidance from the CDC and the state, apart from the few wholly
inadequate requirements issued at the state level—the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak
havoc on the health and lives of Georgians statewide. As of October 6, 2020, the Georgia
Department of Health has confirmed at total of more than 324,000 COVID-19 cases since the
beginning of the pandemic, resulting in more than 29,000 hospitalizations, more than 5,400 ICU
admissions, and more than 6,500 deaths.36
71. Reported transmission of the novel coronavirus remains high statewide, even as
the state’s largest testing site at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has closed. The
seven-day average of daily new cases stands at over 1,200. Although that figure is down from
36
Georgia Department of Public Health Daily Status Report, available at https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-
19-daily-status-report (last accessed Sept. 20, 2020).
- 24 -
the staggering seven-day average of over 3,700 daily new cases reached in late July, the current
average of daily new cases is still far above the that reached during the initial wave of infections
in April, when Defendant Kemp issued his shelter-in-place order.37 Indeed, the Georgia
Department of Health’s figures show that that initial wave had barely begun to level off before
the staggering wave of infections in July—which more than tripled the case rate during the peak
of the state’s initial wave of infections—followed Defendant Kemp’s relaxation of COVID-19
restrictions in his executive orders of May and June. Similarly, the seven-day average of
COVID-19 deaths remains high statewide, at 42—roughly equal to the highest seven-day
average during the initial wave that resulted in Defendant Kemp’s shelter-in-place order.
72. Just as with cases, the number of deaths also exploded in late July and early
August, after Defendant Kemp relaxed the shelter-in-place and other COVID-19 restrictions in
his executive orders of May and June. The following two graphs from the Georgia Department of
Health’s daily update starkly illustrate these facts:
37
Id.
- 25 -
73. Notwithstanding the continuing high transmission, hospitalization, and death rates
from COVID-19, the State Defendants have given Districts free rein open for full in-person
instruction regardless of community infection rates, their ability or willingness to implement key
mitigation strategies, or other factors related to the health and well-being of students, staff and
community members while the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage within the state.
74. A recent report from the White House Coronavirus Task Force similarly reports
that Georgia remains in the “red zone” of states having more than 100 new cases per 100,000
residents over the prior week.38 With its rate of 132 deaths per 100,000 over the prior week, the
report notes, Georgia had the 12th highest rate of new infections in the country, despite a decline
in cases from the statewide peak in late July.39
38
White House Coronavirus Task Force State Report: Georgia (Sept. 6, 2020), available at
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/7204532-Georgia-9-6-20.html.
39
Id.
- 26 -
75. At the local level, the White House Coronavirus Task Force Report, as well as a
recent report from the Georgia Department of Health, paint a dire picture. The White House
report found that 75% of Georgia counties had moderate or high levels of community
transmission, with Fulton County, Gwinnett County, and Cobb County having the highest
number of new cases over the prior three weeks; together, those three counties alone accounted
for nearly 22% of the new cases in the state.40 The most recent update from Georgia Department
of Health on COVID-19 trends shows that 58 counties have what the department considers ‘High
Transmission Indicators,” meaning that in those counties, the 14-day rate of new cases is over
100 for every 100,000 residents, more than 10 new cases were identified over the 14-day period,
and the 14-day average positivity rate for the novel coronavirus is over 10%.41 That report also
shows grim trends with respect to the criteria that the CDC has recognized as critical “Gating
Indicators” for entering phases of reopening: in 32 counties, the two-week average of new
confirmed cases is rising, with 29 of those counties showing a rise of 5% or more; in 69 counties,
emergency department visits with COVID-19 Syndrome is rising, with 53 of those counties
showing a rise of 5% or more; and in 74 counties emergency department visits with influenza-
like illness is rising, with 61 of those counties showing a rise of 5% or more.42
40
Id.
41
Georgia Department of Public Health, “DPH Provides Update on COVID-19 Trends in Georgia” at 1
(Sept. 15, 2020), available at
https://dph.georgia.gov/document/document/dphnewsrelease-covid-19update9-15-2020pdf/download.
42
Id. at 2-6.
- 27 -
D. THE INDIVIDUAL PLAINTIFFS ARE AT RISK BECAUSE
THE STATE AND SCHOOL DISTRICT DEFENDANTS HAVE FAILED TO
INSTITUTE EVEN MINIMALLY ADEQUATE COVID-19
MITIGATION MEASURES FOR SCHOOLS
76. Plaintiff M.J. has worked in the Paulding County School District for almost two
decades. She is a career educator who holds several professional degrees related to teaching.
77. Plaintiff M.J. the sole source of income for her household. She is a single mother
whose entire career has been dedicated to teaching the Georgia public school students.
78. Plaintiff M.J.’s work experience has been as a public school teacher. If she is
unable to continue teaching, she will not be able to obtain another job to support her family.
79. Plaintiff M.J. lives with an adult parent who is nearly eighty years old and has
been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (“COPD”), a chronic inflammatory
lung disease that creates obstructed airflow from the lungs. Plaintiff M.J.’s parent requires
supplemental oxygen to breathe and is considered to be at high risk if exposed to COVID-19.
80. Plaintiff M.J. also has children who attend Paulding County School District, one
of whom requires medical interventions to control an upper respiratory illness.
81. On August 3. 2020, the first day of school in the Paulding County School District,
the two-week test positivity rate for Paulding County was 9.3%. It remained over 9% throughout
the first week of school.
82. Plaintiff M.J. did not receive any formal training from the Paulding County
School District on reducing the risk of COVID-19 exposure prior to the reopening of her school.
School administrators informally told Plaintiff R.J. to keep the classroom clean and keep kids
distanced, but the school district did not distribute any formal protocols, policies or additions to
the employee handbook regarding COVID-19 exposure.
- 28 -
83. School administrators told Plaintiff M.J. that mask wearing is not required at
school by faculty, staff, administrators, or students.
84. At Plaintiff M.J.’s school, only a very small percentage of the school community
wears any face covering. Most of the students on campus do not wear masks.
85. School administrators told Plaintiff M.J. that she could not tell students to wear
masks even though she is concerned about her own exposure to COVID-19 and the impact that
has on the family in her household, including her mother.
86. School administrators told Plaintiff M.J. that she could not support or oppose
mask wearing on school grounds.
87. Since reopening, the school where Plaintiff M.J. teaches has already once been
returned to virtual instruction after twenty-four cases of COVID-19 were reported. Most
recently, the school district transitioned some schools back to a hybrid instructional program as a
scheduled fall break has kept the school closed for five days.
88. Plaintiff R.J. attends school in the Paulding County School District. R.J. is a
strong student, active in extra-curricular activities and enjoys being part of the PCSD
community.
89. Plaintiff R.J. has a compromised respiratory system and suffers from asthma and
severe allergies that require pharmaceutical treatment. Plaintiff R.J. carries an inhaler and must
be careful to monitor her breathing.
90. Plaintiff R.J. has been unable to access virtual instruction because the complexity
of the subject matter and the rigorous workload of her curriculum made virtual instruction a poor
choice.
- 29 -
91. According to Plaintiff R.J., a very small population of the school community,
including faculty, staff, administration and students, wears masks. Plaintiff R.J. reports that a
culture of “no mask wearing” exists inside the school community.
92. Plaintiff R.J. reports that social distancing is not required by school administrators
and that the physical proximity of students inside the classrooms, hallways, and common areas
such as the cafeteria is much closer than six feet.
93. When on campus, Plaintiff R.J. wears a mask all the time.
94. The Paulding County School District has not updated its infectious disease policy
since 2001. That policy states as follows:
The Paulding County Board of Education recognizes the importance of protecting

the health and welfare of students, teachers, and other employees of the
educational system from the spread of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
(AIDS). The Board, the Paulding County Health Department and/or the Georgia
Department of Human Resources has the authority to require immunizations or
other preventive measures including quarantine, isolation and segregation of
persons with communicable disease or conditions likely to endanger the health of
others.
95. In July 2020, the Paulding County School District announced that in-person
instruction would resume in the 2020-2021 school year. The school district gave students an
option to either attend in-person instruction or register for virtual instruction.
96. By August 4, 2020, the virtual instruction option was fully subscribed and the
school district had neither the staffing nor the resources to accommodate all families that sought
to exercise the virtual option.
97. The Paulding County School District formally announced that for students
returning to in-person instruction, “[t]he school district recognizes that wearing a face mask is a
personal choice for families and, therefore, will not mandate that masks be worn. See Exhibit 1,
PCSD Back to School Supplemental Q&A.
- 30 -
98. Superintendent Otott reported to the Board of Education on August 11, 2020 that
the District has approximately 20,000 students attending for face to face instruction, and for the
first time, the District is offering a virtual program for all three levels with 3,726 attending
elementary, 2,495 attending middle and 3,088 attending high school. See Exhibit 2, Paulding
County Board of Education Minutes, August 11, 2020.
99. Following that meeting, four of the five high schools in Paulding County reported
on-campus cases of COVID-19. On August 12, 2020, the day after the Board meeting, North
Paulding High School announced thirty-five confirmed cases of COVID-19. See Exhibit 3,
Letter from NPSH to In-Person Instruction Parents, dated August 12, 2020.
100. Paulding County High School, East Paulding High School, South Paulding High
School and McClure Middle School all reported on-campus cases of COVID-19.
101. Despite the confirmed cases, the school district continued to provide in-person
instruction while not requiring masks or social distancing.
102. The Paulding County School District posts an updated table of “new confirmed
cases of COVID-19 as reported to the central office by each school for each week of the school
year beginning August 3, 2020.” As of October 5, 2020, the school district reported 289
COVID-19 cases in the school community.
103. In the face of these grim realities, the State Defendants have failed to require local
school districts to adhere to the kinds of measures that public health authorities from the CDC on
down have recognized as effective for mitigating the risk of virus transmission in schools—
measures governing whether it is safe to resume any level of in-person learning, and if so when
and under what conditions to do so. And the School District Defendants—granted free rein by
the State Defendants to resume in-person instruction regardless of community infection rates,
- 31 -
their ability or willingness to implement key mitigation strategies, or other factors related to the
health and well-being of students, staff, families, and community members—have used that
freedom irresponsibly, failing to delay or provide alternatives to in-person instruction or to
implement the most critical health and safety measures necessary before beginning any amount
of in-person instruction. Through their utterly inadequate actions as the COVID-19 pandemic
continues to rage within the state, the Defendants have failed to protect students and staff, as well
as their families and communities, from the spread of the novel coronavirus in violation of
constitutional, statutory, and common-law duties.
CLAIMS FOR RELIEF
COUNT I:
FAILURE TO PROVIDE AN ADEQUATE PUBLIC EDUCATION UNDER
ARTICLE VIII, SECTION 1, PARA. I OF THE GEORGIA CONSTITUTION
(AGAINST THE STATE DEFENDANTS)
104. The allegations in Paragraphs 1-17, 20-103 are re-alleged and incorporated herein
by reference.
105. The Georgia Constitution provides, in emphatic and mandatory terms, that “[t]he
provision of an adequate public education for the citizens shall be a primary obligation of the
State of Georgia.” Ga. Const. art. VIII, § 1, Para. I.
106. Even a “minimum” education “must provide each child with an opportunity to
acquire the basic minimum skills necessary for the enjoyment of the rights of speech and of full
participation in the political process.” McDaniel v. Thomas, 248 Ga. 632, 644, 285 S.E.2d 156,
165 (1981) (quoting San Antonio School District v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 1, 37 (1973)). And an
adequate education lies “beyond this minimum.” Id.
107. As many state supreme courts have recognized, an education system that lacks
critical safety standards for protecting the health and safety of students, staff and communities is
- 32 -
not “minimal,” let alone “adequate.” See, e.g., Abbott v. Burke, 710 A.2d 450, 470 (N.J. 1998)
(“The State's constitutional educational obligation includes the provision of adequate school
facilities.”); Hull v. Albrecht, 950 P.2d 1141 (Ariz. 1997) (holding that the legislature was
required to establish standards for adequate school facilities); Campbell Cty. Sch. Dist. v. State,
907 P.2d 1238, 1275 (Wyo. 1995) (“Safe and efficient physical facilities with which to carry on
the process of education are a necessary element of the total educational process”).
108. The Defendants have violated the duty to provide an adequate education by
failing to set any meaningful and binding standards to ensure that Georgia’s public schools
reopen only when it is safe to do so and with the necessary mitigation measures to ensure that
students have access to a public education that does not place their health and the health of their
families and communities at risk.
109. As a result of the Defendants’ failure to meet their obligations under the
Education Clause and set standards to ensure schools reopen safely, the Individual Plaintiffs will
suffer increased exposure to unsafe, inadequate school facilities that violate the student
plaintiff’s right to education under Ga. Const. Art. VIII, § I, Para. I.
COUNT II:
PUBLIC NUISANCE
(AGAINST THE SCHOOL DISTRICT DEFENDANTS)
110. The allegations in Paragraphs 1-17, 20-103 are realleged and incorporated herein
by reference.
111. The School District Defendants’ acts and omissions have created or substantially
assisted in the creation of a public nuisance under Georgia’s long-standing common-law of
nuisance, as presently codified by the General Assembly at O.C.G.A. §§ 41-1-1 and 41-1-2. See
Hill v. McBurney Oil & Fertilizer Co., 112 Ga. 788, 793, 38 S.E. 42 (1901) (holding that earlier
- 33 -
iteration of Georgia’s nuisance statute was “not intended to change the common–law definition
of a nuisance”).
112. “A nuisance,” as a general matter, “is anything that causes hurt, inconvenience, or
damage to another and the fact that the act done may otherwise be lawful shall not keep it from
being a nuisance.” O.C.G.A. § 41-1-1. “A public nuisance is one which damages all persons
who come within the sphere of its operation, though it may vary in its effects on individuals.
O.C.G.A. § 41-1-2. To establish a public nuisance, it is not necessary “that every person in the
area must have been actually hurt or injured”; rather, “[i]t is sufficient if it injures those of the
public who may actually come in contact with it.” Atlanta Processing Co. v. Brown, 227 Ga.
203, 211, 179 S.E.2d 752 (1971).
113. Acts and/or omissions that are injurious to the health of others plainly qualify as a
public nuisance. See, e.g., Savannah, F. & W. Ry. Co. v. Parish, 117 Ga. 893, 45 S.E. 280, 280
(1903) (evidence that company failed to drain stagnant pond, into which “filth” was drained or
thrown, to the detriment of plaintiff’s health sufficient to show a public nuisance); De Vaughn v.
Minor, 77 Ga. 809, 812, 1 S.E. 433, 434 (1887) (evidence that defendant’s having allowed a
broken dam to form a pond that “was a potential factor in producing malarial diseases” supported
public nuisance claim). See also Restatement (Second) of Torts § 821B (1979) (noting that it has
long been recognized at common law that “a significant interference with the public health”
constitutes a public nuisance).
114. By their actions and inactions as alleged herein, Defendants are causing and,
unless enjoined will continue to cause, public school students and staff, including but not limited
to the Individual Plaintiffs, to be exposed to a heightened risk of contracting the novel
coronavirus virus, a risk that could be mitigated by the adoption of measures that public health
- 34 -
authorities, including the CDC and the Georgia Department of Health, have recognized as
effective to contain the spread of the virus in school settings. The Defendants’ acts and omissions
not only expose public school students and staff to this heightened risk but also heighten the risk
that members of their families and communities may contract the novel coronavirus, thus
substantially and unreasonably creating and assisting in the creation of a grave risk to public
health and safety that constitutes a public nuisance as defined by O.G.C.A. §§ 41-1-1 and 41-1-2.
115. The acts and omissions of the Defendants that create and assist in the creation of a
public nuisance cause special damage to the Individual Plaintiffs and to the myriad education
employee members of GAE on whose behalf GAE brings this action, as required to bring a
private action for public nuisance under O.G.C.A. § 41-1-3. As the Georgia Supreme Court has
repeatedly recognized, adverse effects an individuals’ health constitutes special injury under
public nuisance doctrine. See Savannah, F. & W. Ry. Co. v. Parish, 117 Ga. 893, 45 S.E. 280,
280 (1903) (“[T]he public cannot be said to enjoy health or suffer sickness. In the very nature of
things, that can only be predicated of the individual. Whatever affects his health affects him
specially, and him alone. Such damage is special damage within the meaning of the Code, and
the fact that other citizens suffer similar special damages does not convert his injury into the
nature of public damages.”); De Vaughn v. Minor, 77 Ga. 809, 815, 1 S.E. 433, 436 (1887) (“All
injury to health is special, and necessarily limited in its 816 effect to the individual affected, and
is, in its nature, irreparable. It matters not that others within the sphere of the operation of the
nuisance, whether public or private, may be affected likewise.”).
116. The Individual Plaintiffs and the education employee members of GAE on whose
behalf GAE brings this action suffer special damage in another respect, inasmuch as public
school students and staff, bear transmission risks that arise by reason of conditions that are
- 35 -
particular to the school setting—e.g., being in close proximity to children and other employees in
poorly ventilated rooms for extended periods of time. And this is all the more the case given
that, as a result of the Defendants’ acts and omissions, public schools operate under far more lax
requirements than do restaurants, bowling alleys, or the other enterprises covered by defendant
Kemp’s executive orders. The risks that students, staff, and their families face are particular to
the school setting and constitute special harm within the contemplation of O.G.C.A. § 41-1-3 for
these reasons as well.
117. It is not necessary, for the purposes of bringing an action to declare and abate a
public nuisance affecting health and safety, that Plaintiffs show that they have already suffered
illness or infection. Where, as here, adverse health consequences are reasonably certain to occur,
“a court of equity may interfere to arrest a nuisance before it is completed.” De Vaughn, 77 Ga.
at 815, 1 S.E. at 436.
COUNT III:
VIOLATION OF THE DUTY TO PROVIDE A SAFE WORKPLACE
(AGAINST THE SCHOOL DISTRICT DEFENDANTS)
118. The allegations in Paragraphs 1-17, 20-103 are realleged and incorporated herein
by reference.
119. The Georgia common law of master and servant has long recognized that
employers owe employees a duty to exercise ordinary care to provide employees a safe place
within which to work. See Williamson v. Kidd, 65 Ga. App. 285, 15 S.E.2d 801, 801 (1941) ;
J.S. Betts Co. v. Hancock, 139 Ga. 198, 77 S.E. 77, 80 (1912); Horton v. Ammons, 125 Ga. App.
69, 72, 186 S.E.2d 469, 473 (1971), aff’d sub nom. Smith v. Ammons, 228 Ga. 855, 188 S.E.2d
866 (1972). As the Georgia Court of Appeals has recognized, “it is just as much the duty of a
master to use reasonable care to protect his servants against dangers of the employment which
- 36 -
may reasonably be expected to produce disease as it is to use reasonable care to protect his
servants against dangers of the employment which may produce physical injuries.” Connell v.
Fisher Body Corp., 56 Ga.App. 203, 208, 192 S.E. 484, 487 (1937).
120. As is the case with public nuisance law, the General Assembly codified these
common-law principles in the statute that in its present form is set forth at O.C.G.A § 34-2-10,
which provides that “[e]very employer shall furnish employment which shall be reasonably safe
for the employees therein, shall furnish and use safety devices and safeguards, shall adopt and
use methods and processes reasonably adequate to render such an employment and place of
employment safe, and shall do every other thing reasonably necessary to protect the life, health,
safety, and welfare of such employees.” The terms “safe” or “safety,” for the purposes of this
duty, “include conditions and methods of sanitation and hygiene reasonably necessary for the
protection of the life, health, safety, and welfare of employees.” O.C.G.A § 34-2-10. These
standards have been held to be congruent with those of the common law. See Williamson, 65 Ga.
App. at 285, 15 S.E.2d at 801; Horton, 125 Ga. App. at 72, 186 S.E.2d at 473.
121. By their acts and omissions as alleged herein, the School District Defendants have
manifestly violated their duty to provide their employees a reasonably safe workplace.
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs respectfully request that the Court:
1. Declare that each named minor child and student Plaintiff has a right, pursuant to
Ga. Const. Art. VIII, § I, Para. I, to school facilities that meet basic health and safety standards.
2. Declare that the Defendants, by failing to impose binding standards that are
reasonably calculated to ensure that schools operate safely in the midst of the COVID-19
- 37 -
pandemic, have violated and are violating Plaintiffs’ constitutional right to an adequate
education.
3. Enter injunctive relief to remedy the State Defendants’ violation of their duties
pursuant to the Education Clause of the Georgia Constitution by requiring the State Defendants
to issue binding standards that are reasonably calculated to ensure that schools operate safely in
the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and consistent with the guidelines issued by recognized
public health authorities such as the CDC.
4. Declare that Defendants’ actions and inactions have created and/or assisted in the
creation of a public nuisance injurious to public health and to the health of Plaintiffs.
5. Enter injunctive relief to abate Defendants’ creation and/or assistance in the
creation of a public nuisance by ordering Defendants to adopt binding standards that are
reasonably calculated to ensure that schools operate safely in the midst of the COVID-19
pandemic and consistent with the guidelines issued by recognized public health authorities such
as the CDC.
6. Declare that the School District Defendants have violated their duty to provide a
reasonably safe workplace.
7. Enter injunctive relief to remedy the School District Defendants’ violation of
their duty to provide a reasonably safe workplace by ordering the School District Defendants to
adopt, and ensure the implementation of, binding standards that are reasonably calculated to
ensure that schools operate safely in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and consistent with
the guidelines issued by recognized public health authorities such as the CDC.
8. Award to Plaintiffs the attorneys’ fees, expenses, and costs incurred in
prosecuting this lawsuit.
- 38 -
9. Grant to Plaintiffs any additional relief this Court may deem just and proper.
Respectfully submitted this 7th day of October, 2020.
Gerald Weber Philip A. Hostak*

Georgia Bar No. 744878 National Education Association
Post Office Box 5391 1201 16th Street, NW, Suite 820
Atlanta, Georgia 31107 Washington, DC 20036
(404) 932-5845 (telephone) Telephone: (202) 822-7035
wgerryweber@gmail.com phostak@nea.org
*Pro Hac Vice pending
Craig Goodmark Alice O’Brien*
Georgia Bar No. 301428 National Education Association
Goodmark Law Firm, LLC 1201 16th Street, NW, Suite 820
One West Court Square, Suite 410 Washington, DC 20036
Decatur, GA 30030 Telephone: (202) 822-7035
404-719-4848 phostak@nea.org
cgoodmark@gmail.com *Pro Hac Vice pending
Kristin Haller*
National Education Association
1201 16th Street, NW, Suite 820
Washington, DC 20036
Telephone: (202) 822-7035
phostak@nea.org
*Pro Hac Vice pending
- 39 -
EXHIBIT 1
Paulding County School District BACK TO SCHOOL

Updated: August 4, 2020 SUPPLEMENTAL Q&A
This document presents a list of common questions that may not be addressed in the materials provided so far relating to
the school district’s back-to-school plan and the options available. The district is providing this supplemental Q&A to reach
as many parents as possible as quickly as possible. The information in this document may be updated as needed. The date
in the header at the top of the page will reflect the most recent update.
QUESTION ANSWER
ADDED AUGUST 4, 2020
The school district has created a Paulding Virtual Academy

Waiting List application for families who may have missed the July
13 deadline to enroll their student in one of the Paulding Virtual
My student is scheduled to return to in-person
Academies. Parents may use this application to add their student's
instruction, but I would like for him/her to be
name to a waiting list, and, if staffing and resources become
a virtual student. How do I add my student’s
available, students will be accommodated on a first-come, first-
name to the PVA Wait List?
served basis. We encourage families to continue in-person
learning while they wait to be contacted regarding PVA.
https://www.paulding.k12.ga.us/PCSDVirtualWaitList
Our virtual program relies on certified staff to provide instruction

and support students. We have accommodated all the seats
currently available. As seats come open, we will contact families.
In the meantime, we encourage you to send your child to their
My student is on the PVA Wait List. When can districted school for in-person instruction. For high school
I expect to hear from someone, and who do I students, contact Dr. Labossiere at
contact with questions? vlabossiere@paulding.k12.ga.us with questions. For elementary
and middle school, contact your local school administrators with
questions. The elementary, middle, and high school Virtual
Academies are in the process of admitting PVA Wait List students
as staffing and resources become available.
Yes, it is possible. Each of the Paulding Virtual Academies

(elementary, middle & high) operates independently, so it is
One of my children on the PVA Wait List was possible that one Academy has available seats but the other does
approved, but another child in our household not. For example, middle school PVA may have available 6th grade
was not. Is this correct? seats, but the Kindergarten elementary PVA may not have space.
Each Wait List student is added on a first-come-first-served basis,
and so one child may be admitted before another.
My student is currently enrolled in PVA but we Students having trouble logging in should contact their PVA
are having trouble logging in and/or I haven’t teachers for technical support. Please double-check your email
been contacted by a teacher. Who do I contact spam folder for communication from your PVA teacher.
for support?
3236 Atlanta Highway | Dallas, Georgia 30132 | (770) 443-8000 | Fax (770) 443-8089
Accredited by the AdvancEd Accreditation Commission
BACK TO SCHOOL Q&A Page |2
If you find you haven’t been contacted by a virtual teacher and

you are a high school student, contact Dr. Labossiere at
vlabossiere@paulding.k12.ga.us with questions. Elementary and
middle school parents who have not yet been contacted by a
virtual teacher should contact local school administration with
questions.
Relevant documents including Student/Parent Handbooks, daily

Where can I access more information about schedules and updates for virtual instruction can be found on the
the Paulding Virtual Academies? Virtual Academy website here:
https://www.paulding.k12.ga.us/virtual.
We are excited to be able to serve approximately 9,000 Paulding

students through our Virtual Academies. Teachers and
administrators have been preparing rigorous digital learning
experiences for your student(s). During the first 10-days of school,
you may feel that PVA is not a good fit for your student. We ask
that you carefully consider your decision prior to making a request
to return to in-person instruction, as you will not be able to
reapply to one of our Virtual Academies until registration opens
for the second semester. If you would like for your student to
return to in-person instruction at your home school, please put
your request in writing as directed below:
• Elementary & Middle School – Email the request to
return to your student’s PVA teacher and the
My student is currently enrolled at PVA. What administration of your districted school.
is the process and the timeline for returning to
in-person instruction? • High School – Email the request to return to your
student’s PVA teacher and to Dr. Labossiere,
vlabossiere@paulding.k12.ga.us.
As a reminder, all requests must be received on or before the 10th

day of school, Friday, August 14, 2020. PVA students without a
written request by that date are required to remain in PVA for the
entire fall semester.
After the 10-day window closes, the district will have to adjust
staffing at both our Virtual Academies and local schools. This
process will take some time to coordinate, and we ask for your
patience as we make staff and student schedule adjustments.
Students requesting return to in-person instruction can expect to
be reassigned to their home school after the Labor Day holiday.
Yes, it is possible. Each of the local schools operate independently,

so it’s possible that one school has available seats in the in-person
One of my children was able to return to in- classroom, while another does not. For example, your middle
person instruction, but another child in our school may have available, in-person seats in 6th grade, but not in
household was not. Is this correct? 8th grade. The same is true between levels. A high school may
have in-person seats available, but an elementary school may not
have in-person seats available in your student’s grade-level.
ORIGINAL Q&A
Will students in Advanced or Honors classes be

able to take equivalent courses in the middle Advanced, accelerated, and honors classes will be available for
school virtual program, or will it be a general qualifying middle school students.
curriculum for all students?
Honors and AP courses are available to students at the Paulding

Virtual High Academy. Once you are enrolled in Paulding Virtual
Will the Paulding Virtual High Academy offer
High Academy, a representative from PVHA will assist you in the
Honors and AP classes?
scheduling process which will review your course options and
decisions for the Fall Semester.
If my child is in one of the district’s high school Magnet program courses will not be available through Paulding
magnet programs, will they remain in the Virtual Academy. However, if you are a Magnet student who
magnet program if we choose the virtual chooses to attend the Virtual Academy, you are eligible to return
option? to the Magnet.
If my child is enrolled in a school of choice, will

Yes, if you choose to return to face-to-face instruction following
they be able to stay in that school of choice if
the first semester, you are eligible to return to the school you were
they opt to return to in-person instruction
attending prior to virtual enrollment.
following the first semester?
Schools will employ social distancing as it is feasible and practical.

While the district will encourage students, teachers and bus
Will students be socially distanced in
drivers to wear masks, in most cases it will not be possible to
classrooms and on school buses?
enforce social distancing in classrooms or on school buses unless
it is a class or a bus with fewer students.
Information about Open Houses is available on the school district

When are open houses, and how will they
web site, or you can download the informational document by
work?
clicking here. (Updated 7/15)
No, having students switch back and forth between the in-person
and virtual programs would create logistical and staffing issues.
Can students switch to the virtual program if Students who register for the virtual program are committing to
the in-person instruction doesn’t work out, one semester. However, beginning August 3rd there will be a one-
and vice versa? time 10-day window where parents may withdraw their student
from the virtual program and enroll them for in-person instruction
at their school.
Yes, Learning Bridge is currently registering students. Please visit

https://learningbridgepaulding.com/ for cost and registration
information. Learning Bridge is currently updating their
Will there be an after-school program for
reopening protocols according to guidance from Georgia’s Bright
elementary students, i.e., Learning Bridge?
From the Start, the state department that licenses and monitors
Georgia daycares. All Learning Bridge safety updates and
protocols will be posted directly to their company website.
The school district recognizes that wearing a face mask is a

personal choice for families and, therefore, will not mandate that
Will the school district reconsider optional
masks be worn. However, the school district does strongly
masks for students and staff and make them
encourage that all students and staff wear masks. Should the
mandatory?
wearing of masks be mandated by local, state or federal
requirement, the school district will follow that direction.
In some cases, students may be asked to physically visit the school

to complete certain academic tasks or take assessments. If
parents/students object to this requirement, the school will work
Will students in the virtual program be
with the student to find an alternate solution. In the case of
required to physically visit their school to
standardized assessments, please note that the Georgia
complete academic tasks or take assessments?
Department of Education has filed a request with the federal DOE
to exempt all Georgia students from standardized tests this school
year. That request has not yet been approved.
Yes. Special education services will be provided differently in an

online environment. Once a student with a disability has been
Will students with special needs and an IEP registered with PVA, the Exceptional Students Education Program
receive instruction to meet their needs under (ESEP) coordinator will facilitate an IEP to discuss possible
the virtual option? amendments to the student’s IEP to reflect acceptance into PVA.
Please read the document for parents of students with special
needs here: www.tinyurl.com/pcsdbacktoschool
Can middle school students who choose the No, students who wish to take band or chorus classes must opt for
virtual option participate in band or chorus the in-person instruction option as these classes will not be
classes? available under the virtual option.
ADDED QUESTIONS
Is the school district considering pushing back

No, the first day of school remains August 3, 2020. (Added 7/13)
the start of school?
The school district will work closely with the Department of Public
Health and will handle each situation on a case-by-case basis. The
What will happen if there is a confirmed case
district’s response may vary due to the facts and circumstances of
in a student or staff member?
each case. Parents will be informed of any confirmed case in a
school. (Added 7/13)
Yes, the school district will take a more flexible stance with
attendance this school year because it is extremely important that
Will the school district’s attendance policy any student who is not feeling well and is exhibiting fever or other
change? symptoms stay home from school. For that reason, PCSD schools
will not be offering attendance incentives this school year. (Added
7/13)
Elementary students enrolled in PVEA will be taught live,

interactive, videocast lessons between the hours of 8:00 AM and
2:30 PM just like their peers who choose the option for in-person
instruction. Live lessons and instructional support will be video
cast and interactive, so students must be online to attend the live
lessons (ex., Zoom meetings). However, they will not be sitting in
live lessons all day. The daily schedule of the live lessons will be
determined by each teacher and communicated to parents in
advance.
As the parent of an elementary student, if I
choose the virtual option how much time will
When not attending the live video cast lessons, students will have
be spent at the computer each day?
independent classwork and assignments to complete on their own
time. Parents can determine the other hours of the day when their
children complete independent work. Just like the face-to-face
classrooms, students will have a mixture of whole group lessons,
small group support with the teacher, independent classwork,
independent reading, activities, and assessments. Elementary
parents can expect their children to participate in scheduled, live
lessons and unscheduled independent classwork for a total of 4-5
hours each school day. (Added 7/13)
Will my elementary gifted student receive

Yes, gifted services will be provided to students who have chosen
gifted services (Venture) if I choose the virtual
the virtual back to school option. (Added 7/13)
back to school option?
If you missed the deadline to apply for one of the Paulding Virtual
Academies, you should plan to send your student to school on
August 3rd under the In-Person Instruction Option. However, you
If I missed the July 13 deadline to enroll my
may contact your school front office to request that your student
student in the Virtual Option, is there still a
be placed on a waiting list for a transfer to the Virtual Option.
way to enroll them?
Waiting list transfer requests will be granted only if additional
staffing becomes available to accommodate additional students at
the Virtual Academies. (Added 7/15)
Information about your child’s bus can be found on the

Transportation web site by clicking here. On this web page you will
find the School / Bus Stop Locator, as well as instructions for how
Where can I find information about my child’s
to download the Here Comes the Bus app. We recommend all
bus, and where can I download the Here
parents download Here Comes the Bus as it is a very useful tool
Comes the Bus app for my phone?
for keeping track of your child’s bus in real time. You can set up an
account now and the app will become active when the buses begin
transporting students on August 3rd. (Added 7/17)
10/2/2020 Print Meeting Minutes for Regular Board Meeting
EXHIBIT 2
Paulding County Schools Regular Board Meeting
08/11/2020 05:00 PM
Meeting Minutes
Printed : 10/2/2020 10:14 AM EST
Executive Session at 5:00PM and Regular Board Meeting at 6:30PM

Attendees
Voting Members
Jeff Fuller, Chair
John Dean, Vice Chair
Glen Albright, Board Member
Nick Chester, Board Member
Kim Cobb, Board Member
Theresa Lyons, Board Member
Daniel Nolan, Board Member
Non-Voting Members
Mr. Tom Cable, Board Attorney
Dr. Brian Otott, Superintendent
Michele Taylor, Supt. Secretary
I. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order by Mr. Fuller, Board Chair.
Nick Chester joined the meeting via teleconference.

II. Adoption of Agenda
Motion to adopt the agenda.
Motion made by: Daniel Nolan
Motion seconded by: John Dean
Voting:
Jeff Fuller - Yes
John Dean - Yes
Glen Albright - Yes
Nick Chester - Yes
Kim Cobb - Yes
Theresa Lyons - Not Present
Daniel Nolan - Yes
The motion passed by a vote of 6-Yea, 0-Nay and 1-Not Present.
III. Adjourn to Executive Session
Motion to adjourn to Executive Session for the approval of Executive Session minutes, personnel,
hardship, safety, and legal, inviting the Board Attorney into the session.
IV. Executive Session
V. Reconvene
Motion to return to regular session.

Motion made by: Jeff Fuller
Motion seconded by: Daniel Nolan
Voting:
Jeff Fuller - Yes
John Dean - Yes
Glen Albright - Yes
Nick Chester - Yes
https://simbli.eboardsolutions.com/Meetings/PrintMinutes.aspx?S=4125&MID=86859 1/4
Kim Cobb - Yes

Theresa Lyons - Yes
Daniel Nolan - Yes
The motion was approved by unanimous vote.
Nick Chester left the meeting.

VI. Call to order the Regular Board Meeting at 6:30PM
The regular meeting was called back to order by Mr. Fuller, Board Chair.
VII. Invocation/Pledge
The invocation was given by Paul Richardson, West Ridge Church, followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance to the Flag.
VIII. Approval of Minutes
a. Public Hearing minutes, July 28, 2020
Motion to approve the July 28, 2020, Public Hearing minutes as posted.
Motion made by: Theresa Lyons
Voting:
Jeff Fuller - Yes
John Dean - Yes
Glen Albright - Yes
Nick Chester - Not Present
Kim Cobb - Yes
Theresa Lyons - Yes
Daniel Nolan - Yes
b. Regular Meeting minutes, July 28, 2020
Motion to approve the July 28, 2020, regular meeting minutes as posted.
Motion seconded by: John Dean
Voting:
Jeff Fuller - Yes
John Dean - Yes
Glen Albright - Yes
Kim Cobb - Yes
Theresa Lyons - Yes
Daniel Nolan - Yes
IX. Public Participation
Mr. Fuller recognized Dave Carmichael, Paulding County Board of Commissioners Chairman.
The following members of the public addressed the School Board.
1) Stuart Reynolds

2) Meredith Hanft
3) Jennifer Whitlock
4) Rachel Adamus
5) Rhonda Kelley
Jeff Fuller made a motion to extend the Public Participation segment of the Board Meeting another
15 minutes, seconded by Theresa Lyons.
Jeff Fuller - Yes
John Dean - Yes
Glen Albright - Yes

Kim Cobb - Yes
Theresa Lyons - Yes
Daniel Nolan - Yes
The Public Participation continued with the following members of the public addressing the School
Board:
6) Jon Gargis
7) Jamie Sebastian
8) Mariah Krakowski
9) Valerie Tribuiani
X. Superintendent Report
Dr. Otott shared that the District has approximately 20,000 students attending for face to face
instruction, and for the rst time, the District is offering a virtual program for all three levels with
3,726 attending elementary, 2,495 attending middle and 3,088 attending high school.
NPHS reopening plans will be released tomorrow to aid in the challenges of the crowded hallways.
Dr. Otott thanked the North Paulding community and the entire staff at North Paulding High
School.

Starting Friday, August 14th, the District will provide the number of positive cases weekly for each
of the 33 schools. The District is working with the Department of Public Health to monitor COVID
spread in both our schools and community. Dr. Otott shared guidance when a positive report of
COVID-19 is at one of our schools.

Dr. Otott thanked the most fantastic, dedicated, and caring staff who work daily to support not only
the instructional needs of our students but also the social emotional component of teaching that is
so important.
XI. Recognitions
a. Young Georgia Authors
Dr. Susan Browning recognized Amaris Lynch, a 2020 graduate of Paulding County High
School, as the 12th Grade State Honorable Mention Young Georgia Authors for her
submission of The Will of Death.
XII. Business Items
a. Fundraiser Report
The fundraiser report was presented for review.
XIII. Action Agenda
a. Revision to Policy IHA: Grading Systems
Motion to accept Superintendent's recommendation to revise Policy IHA: Grading
Systems to re ect the current standards that have been adopted by the Georgia Department
of Education and taught in the Paulding County School District.
Motion seconded by: Kim Cobb
Voting:
Jeff Fuller - Yes
John Dean - Yes
Glen Albright - Yes
Kim Cobb - Yes
Theresa Lyons - Yes
Daniel Nolan - Yes
b. Approval of Personnel
Motion to accept Superintendent's recommendation to approve Personnel Items #1 through

#100.
Motion made by: John Dean
Voting:
Jeff Fuller - Yes
John Dean - Yes
Glen Albright - Yes
Kim Cobb - Yes
Theresa Lyons - Yes
Daniel Nolan - Yes
XIV. Board Member Comments
Ms. Lyons asked for the community's assistance with the Boys and Girls Club, as they are risk of
being closed in December. She stated that they have until October to raise the needed funds and a
5-year sustainability report. For information, contact Raiko Jones, Executive Director of the Boys
and Girls Club.
Mr. Dean discussed the wearing of masks is a divided issue within our schools. This pandemic is a
community issue and we all need to work together, and cleanliness is mandatory. We need to work
on better communication between the community, District, and staff.
Ms. Cobb thanked the speakers. The Board is here to represent the community and when everyone
wants something different, it makes it dif cult. She shared that she is here to represent the
community and appreciates community involvement.
Mr. Albright shared his appreciation for the speakers. As a board and leaders, we cannot make
decisions made on fear but on courage. We need our community to support each other. We have a
plan and as things come up, we will work to adjust and move forward.
Mr. Nolan thanked the speakers and it is the Board's job to listen whether we agree and disagree.
We feel it is important the individuals come to the meetings and share what they feel is important
and impacting your lives. He asked for everyone to continue supporting the schools.
Mr. Fuller appreciated all the speakers. He addressed and clari ed comments he made at a previous
meeting and apologized if his comment came across as harsh. He asked for the community's help to
keep the schools safe for the students and teachers and hoped for one of the best school years.
XV. Adjourn
Motion to adjourn.
Motion made by: Theresa Lyons
Motion seconded by: Jeff Fuller
Voting:
Jeff Fuller - Yes
John Dean - Yes
Glen Albright - Yes
Kim Cobb - Yes
Theresa Lyons - Yes
Daniel Nolan - Yes
Chairperson Secretary
EXHIBIT 3
Engage. Inspire. Prepare. North PauldiNg high school
August 12, 2020

Dear North Paulding High School In-Person Instruction Parents/Guardians:
Before the school year began, we shared that this would be a school year unlike any other, and that there
would be challenges ahead that would require us to adjust, adapt, and be flexible. We knew that would be
especially true at NPHS, the largest high school in Paulding County with more than 2,000 students and staff
on campus at any given time. We have received results from pending COVID-19 tests, and with new
positive results we now have at least 35 confirmed cases in the NPHS community since the first day of
school. Obviously, the rate of COVID-19 spread is a concern that will require us to adapt our plan for in-
person instruction to protect the health and safety of our students and staff.
The plan we have developed will reduce the number of students on campus by half, will reduce hallway
congestion, will improve traffic flow during class transitions, and will help mitigate other challenges we
have identified since in-person instruction started.
Digital Learning will continue the rest of this week.

Beginning Monday, August 17th, in-person instruction at North Paulding High
School will move to a hybrid schedule that combines in-person instruction with
Digital Learning.
Here is how it will work:
If student last name begins A-K, you are: Group AK

If student last name begins L-Z, you are: Group LZ
Beginning Monday, August 17, 2020
MONDAYS & WEDNESDAYS

GROUP AK On-campus, in-person instruction
GROUP LZ Online Digital Learning
TUESDAYS & THURSDAYS
GROUP AK Online Digital Learning
GROUP LZ On-campus, in-person instruction
FRIDAYS
Online Digital Learning to complete assignments and
ALL STUDENTS
participate in individual or small group support as needed.
NOTE: Students residing in the same household will not be split up. Families that wish to keep all
students in their household on the same schedule should go by the last name of the oldest child.
2
DIGITAL LEARNING
On days that students are home for Digital Learning teachers will post assignments and
expectations for that day by 9:00 a.m.
EXTRA-CURRICULAR ATHLETICS & BAND

Will continue to follow GHSA guidelines.
Volleyball & Softball Will resume Thursday, August 13th
Football, Band, ROTC, Cross Country Will resume Monday, August 17th
SPECIAL PROGRAMS
Students will follow the PCCA schedule Monday-Friday
as well as their hybrid schedule for in-person instruction
on campus. Transportation will continue to be provided
Paulding
for PCCA students both to school and to PCCA. If this
College & Career Academy
creates a transportation problem for students who do
not have transportation home, please contact the
PCCA and they will work with you to find a solution.
Students will continue to follow the hybrid schedule for
Work-Based Learning in-person instruction and continue as scheduled for
their Work-Based Learning assignments.
Students will continue to follow the hybrid schedule for
Dual-Enrollment in-person instruction, as well as their Dual Enrollment
schedule.
Over the last week we have been able to make improvements to our protocols and will begin implementing
staggered hallway transitions so that even-numbered classrooms exit two minutes early. We also will
continue with staggered dismissal times:
3:15 PM Car riders and student drivers

3:25 PM Bus riders and athletes
Our intent is to return to full in-person instruction as soon as possible. In the coming weeks we will re-
evaluate the plan along with the COVID-19 environment to determine if or when a return to full in-person
instruction is feasible. If the hybrid model is not successful, our only remaining option will be to return to
Digital Learning for all students.
We apologize for any inconvenience this schedule change may cause, but hopefully we all can agree that
the health and safety of our students and staff takes precedence over any other considerations. As a parent,
the most proactive measures you can take to keep classrooms safe and healthy are to screen your child’s
health according to the following guidelines:
1. Check their child’s temperature at least twice a day.

2. Check for COVID-19 symptoms, such as:
o Fever or chills, headache, sore throat, cough, or fatigue
o New loss of taste or smell
3
o Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

o Congestion or runny nose
o Muscle or body aches, nausea or vomiting
If your child exhibits any of these COVID-19 symptoms, the CDC and Department of Public Health (DPH)
recommend your child be tested as soon as possible. In addition, please notify the school front office as it
is imperative that students who are showing symptoms stay home and quarantine.
Please know that according to guidelines established by DPH, any students and staff who are confirmed
cases of COVID-19, along with any identified close contacts, must quarantine for at least 14 days and
cannot return to school until they have completed all the requirements of the DPH’s guidance for persons
infected with COVID-19.
Thank you for continuing to be flexible as we adapt our plans to ensure the safest and healthiest possible
learning environment at North Paulding High School. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding
this schedule, please reach out to the school at 770-443-9400.
Sincerely,
Superintendent Principal

Georgia Association of Educators Suit Against State

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Georgia Association of Educators Suit Against State

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IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF FULTON COUNTY

GEORGIA ASSOCIATION OF EDUCATORS,

M.J., on her own behalf and on behalf of her

BRIAN P. KEMP, Governor of the State of

RICHARD WOODS, State School

KATHLEEN TOOMEY, Commissioner of the

BRIAN OTOTT, Superintendent of the Paulding

NICHOLAS CHESTER, member of the

THERESA LYONS, member of the Paulding

JOHN DEAN, member of the Paulding County

GLEN ALBRIGHT, member of the Paulding

JEFF FULLER member of the Paulding County

DAN NOLAN, member of the Paulding County

COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

the unreasonable risk of exposure to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2

(“SARS-COV-2” or “the novel coronavirus”), and of the debilitating and life-threatening

Georgia Constitution and by state statutory and common law.

2. Plaintiff Georgia Association of Educators (“GAE”) is a non-profit membership

referred to herein as “the Individual Plaintiffs.”

5. Defendant Brian P. Kemp is the Governor of the State of Georgia. He is sued in

his individual capacity.

6. Defendant Richard Woods is the State School Superintendent of the Georgia

Department of Education. He is sued in his individual capacity.

7. Defendant Kathleen Toomey is the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of

Public Health. She is sued in her individual capacity.

10. Defendant Nicholas Chester is a member of the Paulding County School

District’s Board of Education. He is sued in his individual capacity.

Board of Education. She is sued in her individual capacity.

Board of Education. He is sued in his individual capacity.

Board of Education. He is sued in his individual capacity.

of Education. She is sued in her individual capacity.

of Education. He is sued in his individual capacity.

Board of Education. He is sued in his individual capacity.

collectively referred to herein as “the School District Defendants.”

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

under O.C.G.A. §§ 9-4-2 to 9-4-3 and 9-5-1.

Defendant residing in Fulton County. See O.C.G.A. § 9-10-30.

20. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (“COVID-19”), is an infectious disease caused by a

gastrointestinal organs, to the kidneys, and to the brain.

long-term problems, including cardiovascular, pulmonary, renal, gastrointestinal, and/or

22. Some populations are especially vulnerable to the consequences of COVID-

person’s risk, including moderate to severe asthma, cystic fibrosis, hypertension,

immunocompromised state resulting from disease or medication, liver disease, pregnancy,

smoking, and Type 1 diabetes mellitus.3

cough or otherwise project secretions into the air.

precautions are taken.4

B. COVID-19 ENDANGERS CHILDREN, EDUCATORS, AND SUPPORT STAFF

metabolic disorders, obesity, diabetes, asthma and chronic lung disease, or

cases coincides with the reopening of schools in many jurisdictions.

to have a mild or asymptomatic infection, infections among children may go undetected or

unknowingly spread the novel coronavirus for weeks.15

C. INTERNATIONAL, NATIONAL, AND STATE RESPONSES TO THE COVID-19

COVID-19 to be a global pandemic.

emergency in the United States by reason of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“[e]stablishing protocols to control the spread of COVID-19” and “[i]mplementing quarantine,

isolation, and other necessary health interventions.”

date of this Complaint.